Methodology for Understanding and Reducing a Project's Environmental Footprint
EPA developed a methodology to analyze and quantify the environmental footprint of activities often involved in contaminated site cleanup. A project team can use the information gained by application of the methodology to identify best management practices (BMPs) that target large contributions to the footprint at a particular site and help achieve a greener cleanup. The Agency's corresponding report presents a total of 21 metrics corresponding to core elements of a greener cleanup and a seven-step process to quantify the footprint. The report addresses: the purpose of the methodology, the value of footprint analysis, and the associated level of effort and cost; considerations for evaluating and using the analytical results; and illustrative approaches to reduce the footprint through various BMPs.