NIH is committed to the protection of the environment and to the responsible use of natural resources as part of the NIH mission to enhance health, lengthen life, and reduce illness and disability. The NIH community embraces pollution prevention and sustainable practices while continually seeking to reduce resource consumption. Specifically, NIH is committed to:
Complying with all Executive Orders; and federal, state, and local environmental laws and regulations;
Preventing pollution by minimizing the generation of waste where possible, reducing and recycling materials, and, where necessary, disposing of wastes in an environmentally responsible manner
Integrating environmental and health considerations into decision-making processes through the implementation of the NEMS; and
Continual improvement of the NEMS to better our environmental performance by setting sustainability goals, measuring progress, taking corrective action when necessary, and communicating the results to NIH management and staff.
All employees of NIH are responsible for being aware of the environmental and health impacts of their jobs and for continually striving to minimize those impacts as set forth in this policy. The NEMS is both a management system and a powerful resource for NIH staff to track and promote activities necessary to achieve environmental objectives.
NIH Policy Manual Chapters 3032 to 3035 below detail key NIH environmental policies, which exist in addition to all federal, state and local requirements:
NIH POLICY MANUAL 3032 – WASTE MINIMIZATION AND MANAGEMENT AT THE NIH
NIH POLICY MANUAL 3033 - PROCUREMENT, USE AND DISPOSAL OF MERCURY AND ITS COMPOUNDS
NIH POLICY MANUAL 3034 – WORKING WITH HAZARDOUS CHEMICALS
NIH POLICY MANUAL 3035 – WORKING SAFELY WITH POTENTIALLY HAZARDOUS BIOLOGICAL MATERIALS