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EPA Receives President's Highest Quality Award for Management Excellence

Release Date: 12/04/2007
Contact Information: Dave Ryan, (202) 564-4355 / [email protected]

(Washington, D.C. - Dec. 4, 2007) EPA received the federal government's highest honor today for strong and effective management – the President's Quality Award for Management Excellence. Deputy Administrator Marcus Peacock accepted the award at a ceremony last night at the Museum of Women in the Arts.

"The management changes we have made at EPA are designed to take the concept of results-oriented government to a whole new level," said EPA Deputy Administrator Peacock. "They are enabling us to measure progress from our actions as never before, to learn what we might do better, and to constantly improve in meeting our mission of protecting public health and the environment."

Of 54 federal agencies that applied for the award, EPA was only one of two applicants for the highest tier of the award – for Overall Management – and the only winner.

EPA was honored for its success in integrating management systems identified under the president's five Government-wide Management Initiatives. These initiatives focus on Strategic Management of Human Capital, Budget and Performance Integration, Expanded Electronic Government, Competitive Sourcing, and Improved Financial Performance. They are designed to enhance service to the American people by creating a government that is citizen-centered, results-oriented and market-based.

EPA's progress in integrating its management systems has culminated in a number of developments that are contributing to better performance. These include a publicly available Quarterly Management Reporting (QMR) system that enables EPA to gauge progress in 60 priority areas, development of a desk-top computer "dashboard" that will enable users at all levels of the agency to monitor Agency progress in real time, and an internal process for identifying best practices in one program or region that can be transferred to improve environmental results more broadly.

For example, after the QMR reports revealed that EPA's Region 3 office was completing twice the water pollution control assessments for impaired waters as other parts of the country, the agency identified the best practices that led to their success, and those practices are now being shared with other regions of the country. Similarly, EPA is now sharing best practices related to retrofitting old diesel engines to reduce air quality emissions, cleanup of lead in homes, and compliance assistance for combined animal feeding lot operations.

The Presidents Quality Award was established in 1988 to recognize excellence in quality and productivity, applying to the public sector similar criteria used for the Malcolm Baldridge National Quality Improvement Awards. In 2002, the award was redesigned to recognize Federal agencies that best achieve the objectives of the President's Management Agenda.

For more information about EPA's performance management activities, go to: epa.gov/ocfo/

Information about the award from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management: http://www.opm.gov/pqa/