U S P H S S C I E N T I F I C A N D T R A I N I N G S Y M P O S I U MJ U N E 1 9 - 2 2 , 2 0 1 2 U N I V E R S I T Y O F M A R Y L A N D C O L L E G E P A R K , M A R Y L A N D

HHS Sustainability and Climate Adaptation

Planning

C A P TA I N E D WA R D A . P F I S T E R , R S, M SP HH H S E N V I R O N M E N TA L P R O G R A M M A N A G E R

O S / A SA / O F M P

Introduction

Severn Cullis-Suzuki, started the Environmental Children’s Organization (ECO) when she was 9-years-old

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At 12-years-old she closed a Plenary Session at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro with a speech, the video is now known as the "The Girl Who Silenced the World for 6 Minutes“

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=5g8cmWZOX8Q

THREE THINGS + 1

1. HHS Strategic Sustainability Performance Plan (SSPP)

2. HHS Climate Change Adaptation Plan (Draft)

3. HHS Environmental Justice Strategy

4. Go Green Get Healthy HHS Initiative

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Part I: HHS Strategic Sustainability Implementation Plan (SSPP)

Executive Order 13514Strategic Sustainability Performance

Plan (SSPP) – 2012 is going through the Departmental review process

Climate Change Adaptation Plan – new for 2012 and will be out soon through the Departmental review process

Oversight by White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) and Office of Management and Budget (OMB)

Publicly available http://www.whitehouse.gov/administration/eop/ceq/sustainability/plans

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Connection

to HHS Mission

HHS Mission

“To enhance the health and well-being of Americans by providing for effective health and human services and by fostering sound, sustained advances in the sciences underlying medicine, public health, and social services.”

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Sustainability“Enduring prosperity of all living things” – American Institute of Architects (AIA) Committee on the Environment

“…to create and maintain conditions, under which humans and nature can exist in productive harmony, that permit fulfilling the social, economic, and other requirements of present and future generations;” Executive Order 13514

HHS Impact

• Employees ~ 83,000• Buildings ~ 3,800 • Vehicles ~591 Owned, 2,150

Leased• Square Feet (gsf) ~52 M

• Owned/Operated ~ 32 M• Leased ~ 20 M• Labs ~ 18M gsf (~277 Bldgs)

• Operating Budget ~ $854 Billion• Energy Cost (owned) > $ 50 M• Solid Waste ~ 50K Mtons • Recycling Rate ~ 23%

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OS & Non-Land-

holders31%

NIH23%

FDA18%

IHS16%

CDC12%

HHS EMPLOYEES BY OPDIV/STAFFDIV

Source: OPM Dec 2010 Data

Key Players 2012 HHS SSPP

1. Chief Sustainability Officer (ASA)

2. Sustainability Steering Committee (OPDIV

Senior Level Leadership)

2. Sustainability Task Force (OPDIV Sustainability

Officers, SMEs, responsible offices)

3. Eleven working groups aligned with goals (OS

lead with OPDIVs representatives)

4. OPDIV Sustainability Officers (sits on task force

& leads OPDIV workgroup representatives)

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HHS Strategic Sustainability Performance Plan –

GOALS/WORKGROUPs

1. Scope 1 & 2 Greenhouse Gas Reduction

2.  Scope 3 Greenhouse Gas Reduction

3. Energy Reduction

4. Fleet Petroleum Use Reduction

5. Sustainable Design / Green Buildings

6.  Reduce Potable Water Intensity

7. Pollution Prevention/Waste Reduction

8.  Sustainable Acquisitions

9.  Electronic Stewardship & Data Centers

10.Innovation

11. Outreach

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Reduce Emissions: What is a Greenhouse Gas?

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HHS Performance Metrics (scorecard)

Scope 1&2 GHG Emission Reduction Target: GREEN - On track for a Scope 1&2 GHG Reduction Target of 10.3% by 2020. (8.7% FY11)

Reduction in Energy Intensity: GREEN - Reduced energy intensity by at least 15 percent and is on track for 30 percent reduction by 2015. (19% FY11)

Use of Renewable Energy GREEN – Acquire 5 percent electricity from renewable sources and on track to increase to 7.5% by 2015.

Reduction in Fleet Petroleum Use: GREEN - 20 % reduction by 2015. (27% FY11)

Reduction in Potable Water Intensity: YELLOW - Reduce by at least 8 and on track to achieve 26% by 2020. (7% Fy11)

Green Buildings: RED - Less than 7 % of building inventory, either by number or buildings or GSF, over 5,000 GSF meets Federal Guiding Principles. (4% FY11)

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Sustainability: Opportunities for Department Wide Integration

Affordable Care Act ATSDR implemented Community Assistance

Panels CDC Health Impact Assessment Communities Deepwater Horizon/Gulf Coast Recovery Environmental Justice Implementation

Strategy HHS Environmental and National

Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) programs HHS Climate Change Adaptation Plan -

DRAFT Healthy People 2020 HRSA Community and Rural Health Grants Let’s Move National Health Security Strategy National Prevention Strategy NIEHS Minority Worker Training Programs 11

“Every American deserves to have a clean, safe and healthy environment. Today, we understand better than ever before that our health is not only dependent on what happens in the doctor’s office but is determined by the air we breathe, the water we drink and the communities we call home” HHS EJ Strategy http://www.hhs.gov/environmentaljustice/strategy.html

PART II: Climate Change Adaptation Plan

Executive Order (E.O.) 13514, “Federal Leadership in Environmental, Energy, and Economic Performance,” requires that each Federal agency evaluate agency climate change risks and vulnerabilities to manage both the short and long-term effects of climate change on the agency’s mission and operations, and prepare a Climate Change Adaptation Plan (Adaptation Plan).

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Climate Change Preliminary Vulnerability Analyses

Protecting the most vulnerable: ensure essential health and human services in the face of weather extremes and climate threats Office on Disability Administration on Community Living/Administration for Children

and Families Administration on Aging Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services Indian Health Service Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response

Incorporating Climate Change Considerations into Regulatory Decisions FDA

Incorporating Climate Change Considerations into Public Health Practice and Research CDC, ATSDR, NIH 13

Climate Change Premises

Warming of the climate systems is clear and unmistakable - Polar regions are warming more rapidly than the rest of the earth

Human activity adds GHG to the atmosphere and is likely responsible for a good part of observed climate change impacts

Climate changes are occurring and expected to continue and increase

Stresses to water resources, energy, agriculture

Increased risk of sea level flooding in coastal areas

Threatened ecosystems 14

Climate Change: Adaptation and Mitigation

Adaptation is a response, the actions necessitated by the actual or anticipated impacts of climate change.

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Mitigation is the effort to stop or slow climate change, usually by reducing the GHG emissions driving the problem.

Two prongs used in concert: mitigation reduces impacts, making adaptation easier .

“A number of scientific panels, including the U.S. Global Change Research Program, and International Panel on Climate Change, have published data indicating that climate change is already negatively affecting human health in the United States, and is likely to continue impacting human health in the future.”

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Interagency Climate Change Report

“Climate change will endanger public health, affecting all sectors of society, both domestically and globally.”

- Executive Summary, Report of the Interagency Working Group on Climate Change and Health.,Published 2010

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A Human Health Perspective on Climate Change: http://www.niehs.nih.gov/health/docs/climatereport2010.pdf

Potential Health Effects of Climate Change

Climate Change

Temperature rise

Sea level rise

Hydrologic extremes

HEAT Heat stress, cardiovascular failure

SEVERE WEATHER Injuries, fatalities

AIR POLLUTION Asthma, cardiovascular disease

ALLERGIES Respiratory allergies, poison ivy

VECTOR-BORNE DISEASES Malaria, dengue, encephalitis,

hantavirus, Rift Valley fever

WATER-BORNE DISEASES Cholera, cryptosporidiosis, campylobacter, leptospirosis

WATER AND FOOD SUPPLY Malnutrition, diarrhea, harmful

algal blooms

MENTAL HEALTH Anxiety, despair, depression, post-traumatic stress

ENVIRONMENTAL REFUGEES Forced migration, civil conflictAdapted from J. Patz

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Integrating climate change and environmental impact considerations into internal management functions and policies

Collecting, analyzing, and utilizing state of the science data

Enhancing issue awareness and specialty training for our employees and the public

Leveraging HHS regional and preparedness programs and existing healthy community and climate change initiatives

Enhancing collaboration with other federal agencies, State, Local, and Tribal governments

Key elements of the HHS approach to incorporating climate change adaptation

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Key Messages for Climate Change and Human Health

Changes occurring in the world’s climate are affecting our health and will have even greater impacts in the future.

Climate change makes many existing diseases and conditions worse, although it may also lessen some cold-weather diseases.

The most vulnerable among us—children, elderly people, those living in poverty, with underlying health conditions, or in certain geographic areas—are likely to have less ability to cope or adapt.

Climate change places stress on our health care systems, public health infrastructure, and ability to deliver and receive health services.

We can take steps now to prepare for changes in our climate that will protect our health, the health of our children, and that of future generations.

Many actions to address and prepare for climate change will yield co-benefits for our health, our environment, our economy, and our society.

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HHS Climate Change Adaptation Portfolio

• CDC Ready States and Cities Initiative (8 states/2 cities) – assessments, strategic plans, partnerships, co-benefits…

• NIH Population Vulnerability to Climate Change Grants.: research on the health effects of air pollution and temperature, water quality and quantity, infectious disease transmission, and mitigation/adaptation actions

• The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) and Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR) partnering on behavioral health needs during disasters and public health emergencies.

• CDC and NIEHS leadership on the Climate Change and Human Health Group, US Global Research Program

“Public Health Effects of Climate Change Remain Largely Unaddressed.” Howard K. Koh, Assistant Secretary for Health

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Co-Benefits: Adaptation/Mitigation

Ancillary benefits related to reductions in toxic air pollution

For example, transportation policies that augment the use of public transportation or provide safer and more convenient means for individuals to walk or bicycle

Co-benefits: • reductions in toxic air pollution • Increases in physical activity

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Measures needed to improve health resilience for climate change effects are the same as those needed for preparedness for bioterrorism, pandemic influenza and other viral infections, and natural disasters.

Examples: improved modeling and assessment capacity, enhanced and integrated monitoring and surveillance networks, and development of rapid response units.

Addition to assisting in adaptation to changes in climate to which the planet is already committed, public health has crucial roles to play in preventing the more severe impacts of climate change and optimizing the policy measures implemented to reduce greenhouse gas emissions

Research need: Greater understanding of the potential for such synergies between climate and public health goals is critically needed.

Co-Benefits: Adaptation/Mitigation

PART III: 2012 Environmental Justice Strategy n

Released February 28, 2012 (reinvigoration of 1995 EJ Strategy based on EO  Executive Order 12898, Federal Actions to Address Environmental Justice in Minority Populations and Low-Income Populations 1994)

Is a significant step in the advancement of HHS’s commitment to integrating EJ into our decision-making and health and human services program activities

Our vision is: “A nation that equitably promotes healthy community environments and protects the health of all people.”

HHS EJ Website: www.hhs.gov/environmentaljustice

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EJ Strategic Elements and Crosscutting Actions

Four Strategic Elements Subcommittees

Policy Development and Dissemination

Education and TrainingResearch and Data

Collection, Analysis, and Utilization

Services

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Seven Cross Cutting Action Teams

• EJ Award Criteria • Vulnerability Assessment and

Climate Change Adaptation Strategy

• Health-In-All-Policies• EJ Website • EJ Education and Training • Community-Based

Participatory Research• Stakeholder Engagement

Group

HHS EJ Resources:

http://www.hhs.gov/environmentaljustice/

2012 HHS Environmental Justice Strategy and Implementation Plan

2012 HHS Environmental Justice Implementation Progress Report

Environmental Justice sites across HHS- CDC/OMHD (http://www.cdc.gov/omhd/amh/EJ.htm) - NIH/NIEHS (

http://www.niehs.nih.gov/research/supported/programs/justice/ )

- NIH/NLM (http://sis.nlm.nih.gov/enviro/environmentaljustice.html) 26

Part IV: Go Green Get Healthy HHS

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INTRANET – Go Green Get Healthy HHS-Tips on Greening Work and Home-Sustainability Awards and Winners-Sustainability Events Calendar-Numerous Resources

http://intranet.hhs.gov/abouthhs/programs_initiatives/gogreen/index.html

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Success at the Non-Landholding OPDIVs Examples of Sustainability and Good

Business

• CMS: Medicare & You Handbook Publication Database update

• ASFR: upgraded Departmental Contract Information System (DCIS) to track green purchases

•ITIO: established Duplex Printing Default Policy

•OS: Humphrey Café Green Cafeteria Contract

•HRSA: IT Asset Donation Program – responsible end of life disposition of electronic devices

•PSC: Parklawn Building –energy and water savings

•SAMHSA: E85 alternative fuel/building lighting energy efficient retrofit

• HHS Green Champs

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HHS Go GREEN Resources

HHS Go Green Get Healthy Resources and Green Guide http://intranet.hhs.gov/abouthhs/programs_initiatives/gogreen/

HHS@Work http://intranet.hhs.gov/index.html

CDC Sustainability http://www.cdc.gov/sustainability/ IHS

http://www.ihs.gov/sustainability/index.cfm?module=dsp_evss_resources

NIH http://nems.nih.gov/Sustainability/Pages/sustainability.aspx

HHS Green Bag Lunch Presentations http://intranet.hhs.gov/abouthhs/programs_initiatives/gogreen/gbpresentations.html

HHS Green Champions 2011 http://intranet.hhs.gov/abouthhs/programs_initiatives/gogreen/2011GreenChampions.html

2010 http://intranet.hhs.gov/abouthhs/programs_initiatives/gogreen/fy2010_champions.html

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HHS Sustainability Work Group Leaders

Workgroup Lead

Scope 1 & 2 Greenhouse Gas Reduction

Ted Kozak, Theodore.Kozak@hhs.gov Jim Kerr (Fleet) Jim.Kerr@hhs.gov

Scope 3 Greenhouse Gas Reduction Jim Egbert james.egbert@hhs.gov

Sustainable Design /Green Buildings Regional and Local Planning

Jonathan Herz, Jonathan.Herz@hhs.gov

Climate Change Adaptation Jonathan Herz, Jonathan.Herz@hhs.gov John Balbus, John.Balbus@nih.gov

 Water Use Efficiency & Management Ted Kozak, Theodore.Kozak@hhs.gov

Pollution Prevention/Waste Reduction Ed Pfister, Edward.Pfister@hhs.gov

Sustainable Acquisitions Kesa Russel, Kesa.Russel@hhs.gov

Electronic Stewardship & Data Centers

Celine Neves, Celine.Neves@hhs.gov

Agency Innovation Ed Rau, Ed.Rau@nih.gov

Communication/Outreach Paul Kalinowski PaulKalinowski@hhs.gov 34

THREE THINGS + 1

1. HHS Strategic Sustainability Performance Plan (SSPP)

2. HHS Climate Change Adaptation Plan (Draft)

3. HHS Environmental Justice Strategy

4. Go Green Get Healthy HHS Initiative

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FEEDBACK/DISCUSSION/QUESTIONS

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Email: GoGreen@hhs.gov