CHARLESTON AIR FORCE BASE, S.C. –
It is time once again to participate in our annual environmental, safety and occupational health compliance assessment.
In preparation, an internal cross-functional team of area experts comprised of Airmen from the 437th and the 315th Airlift Wings will be visiting numerous organizations throughout the base from May 14 - 18 to review our environmental programs.
The team will spend the majority of their time in the more industrialized shops but everyone should pay close attention to their recycling program and the way they communicate, store and use hazardous material. These programs are paramount to our overall environmental program here at Team Charleston.
The Air Force ESOHCAMP program establishes the use of environmental evaluations and management action plans to achieve, maintain and monitor compliance with applicable federal, state, local, Department of Defense and Air Force environmental laws and regulations.
Each year every Air Force Base is required to perform an environmental compliance assessment and every third year, a group from another Air Mobility Command base performs an external assessment giving a fresh review using "another set of eyes." Next year Charleston AFB will undergo an external assessment by AMC and a host base.
These assessments help us to identify environmental problems and develop corrective actions accordingly which ensures we are meeting our environmental responsibilities and to prevent enforcement actions from regulatory agencies. Since we receive several inspections yearly, this matter requires the full Team Charleston support.
The environmental compliance assessment focuses on 14 separate protocols: air emissions management, cultural resources management, hazardous materials management, hazardous waste management, natural resources management, pesticide management, pollution prevention and solid waste management, petroleum/oil/lubricant management, storage tank management, toxic substances management, wastewater management, water quality management, occupational health and other environmental issues. We want the ESOHCAMP team to take a hard look at us, so similar deficiencies are not found during later inspections. Remember, this is an in-house Air Force evaluation and needs to be open and informative. It may sound cliché, but the ESOHCAMP Team is truly here to help us do our respective jobs better.
Tidy up your work areas, put on a positive attitude and show off our outstanding Team Charleston environmental program. Be proactive in helping the team identify problems and solutions, so we can maintain our outstanding compliance record. Questions concerning ESOHCAMP should be directed to the base ESOHCAMP Manager at 963-2690.