Chapter 2
Integrating Environmental Considerations
Military operations integrate environmental considerations into planning throughout the operations process, regardless of the echelon or type of operation. What will differ are the specifics of the planning guidance received to support a given operation, the risks associated with the environmental considerations relative to the other mission requirements, and the echelon at which the risks are addressed. Failure to consider the environmental impact of military activities may adversely affect the operation. Potential impacts include endangering Soldier, Marine, and civilian health; causing operational delay; creating adverse public opinion; and incurring excessive financial costs. This chapter discusses the integration of environmental considerations early during planning and the use of the CRM process to aid with the assessment and management of environmentally related risk. Integrating environmental considerations does not require a new process or system. The military can include environmental considerations within the same activities used in the conduct of the operation. For specifics on the joint/multi-Service planning process, see Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (CJCS) Manual 3122.03C, Volume II; FM 5-0; and JP 5-0.
ENVIRONMENTAL COMPOSITE RISK MANAGEMENT
2-1. CRM is the process of identifying, assessing, and controlling risks arising from operational factors and making decisions that balance that risk with mission benefits (see FM 5-19). The five steps (see Appendix D) are performed throughout the planning and the rest of the operations process.
2-2. It is crucial to identify environmental risks associated with an operation early. The earlier the risk is identified, the easier it is to avoid or mitigate. Since many environmental risks have significant impacts on the health of Soldiers, Marines, and civilians, it is especially important to identify these early enough in the process to avoid negative health effects and to take the necessary precautions.
2-3. Risk is characterized by both the probability and the severity of a potential loss that may result from the presence of an adversary or a hazardous condition. During mission analysis, the commander and staff assess the two following kinds of risk:
• Tactical risk (defined as the risk concerned with the hazards that exist because of the presence of either the enemy or an adversary).
• Accident risk (defined as all operational risk considerations other than tactical risk. Includes risks to friendly forces and risk posed to civilians by an operation, as well as the impact of operations on the environment).
2-4. The CRM process addresses safety and other operational issues, and the environmental CRM process is performed in the same manner. Risks to the environment and to the health of Soldiers, Marines, and civilians are identified and analyzed, and mitigation measures are developed to minimize the risks. These risks are included in the course of action (COA) development and selection process, to assist in determining the best COA for a given operation or mission. Appendix D provides additional guidance. The following vignette shows how using CRM can prevent financial expenditure and environmental hazards.
Issue
Fuel leaks from an aboveground storage tank threaten the source of drinking water.
Discussion
Fuel supplies for the heating systems in the barracks of an overseas installation were located in an aboveground storage tank. The storage tank was located 200 meters from a creek, and a buried fuel line supplying the storage tank was leaking, threatening the installation's drinking water supply. Although the storage tank was located in the unit's company area, the unit did not routinely inspect its infrastructure, believing it to be the installation's responsibility.
The unit could have detected the leak by noticing the stains on the ground and the strong smell of fuel oil. Based on these indicators, the unit should have reported the situation to the facility engineers. Because the unit failed to report the situation in a timely manner, the facility engineers were forced to install an expensive extraction fuel/water separator to recover more than 700 gallons of fuel oil.
Techniques and Procedures
• Commanders must conduct risk assessments for items containing HMs located within their unit areas even though the equipment is maintained by other agencies.
• Units should include an inspection procedure in their environmental SOP for aboveground storage tanks.
• Unit environmental officers should be appointed and trained to conduct weekly environmental inspections of the unit areas.
• Individuals may contact the installation environmental management office or during deployment the next higher command environmental officer for more information and assistance.
PLANNING PRINCIPLES AND CONCEPTS
2-5. Integration of environmental considerations begins with planning and must be included in the planning focus at each echelon. Higher echelon environmental planning guidance provides a foundation for corresponding planning at lower echelons. Environmental planning is defined as efforts that consider the impact of operation, training, exercises, or weapon system introduction on the environment and, where necessary, allow decisionmakers to take early action to eliminate or mitigate those impacts. Planning guidance provides the foundation of information for subordinate commanders and staffs to effectively integrate and implement environmental considerations into their planning and operations.
2-6. Planning at the strategic level involves developing strategic military objectives and tasks in support of the national security strategy and developing force and materiel requirements necessary to accomplish those tasks. This is the level that policy is translated into strategic military objectives. Combatant commanders plan at this level by participating in the development of the national military strategy, the theater estimate, and theater strategies. At this level, planners determine broad policy on environmental considerations. These considerations may include making decisions on the rules of engagement for targeting cultural sites, developing guidance for targeting industrial infrastructure as pertains to environmental considerations, deciding which environmental laws and treaties pertain to the situation, and determining the level at which the military may conduct environmental remediation and restoration.
2-7. Planning at the operational level links the tactical employment of the forces to their strategic objectives through design, organization, integration, and implementation of campaigns, major operations, and battles. At this level, planners review and decide how to specifically apply environmental policy and general procedures. Operational-level decisions may include items such as selecting (or not selecting) potential targets, developing guidance for base camp site selection, developing guidance on recycling programs, and planning for the transportation of HM.
2-8. Planning at the tactical level is how units employ tactics to fight and win engagements and battles. These engagements and battles are the means by which units carry out operations. In a similar vein, environmental considerations at the tactical level are the tactics, techniques, and procedures units use to implement guidance from higher headquarters. These tactical-level environmental decisions include items such as unit environmental SOPs, field sanitation, landfill construction, and steps to protect HM and POL stockpiles.
JOINT PLANNING PROCESS
2-9. Operational planning (see JP 5-0, JP 5-00.1, and JP 5-00.2) encompasses all phases required for conducting operations to include mobilization, deployment, employment, sustainment, and redeployment of forces. JP 3-34 provides the framework for the integration of environmental considerations into joint operational engineer planning. Joint operations planning includes deliberate, campaign, and crisis action planning. Although the specific steps are different, these three processes are similar and interrelated.
Deliberate Planning
2-10. Deliberate planning takes place primarily during peacetime to develop OPLANs for contingencies identified in strategic planning documents. It relies heavily on assumptions regarding the political and military circumstances existing when the plan is implemented. Integrating probable environmental considerations during this time is important. Planning for environmental considerations should take into account numerous possibilities, from the likelihood of environmentally driven conflicts, to possible enemy COAs that may impact the environment, to decisions regarding the environmental protection level (defined as the varying level of environmental protection that can reasonably be afforded at any particular time during military operations, given the absolute requirement that such a diversion of resources away from the mission at hand does not adversely affect that mission, any friendly personnel, or indigenous or refugee populations) enforced by U.S. forces. Deliberate planning is a highly structured process that engages commanders and staffs in methodically developing fully coordinated plans for contingencies and transitioning to and from war or other operations. Plans developed because of deliberate planning provide a foundation for campaign and crises action planning.
Campaign Planning
2-11. Campaign planning is employed by the military when the scope of operations requires more than a single operation. Integrating environmental considerations into campaign planning is largely the same as integrating them into deliberate planning. During campaign planning, the standards and guidance for environmental considerations in one or more of the OPLANs may involve significantly different planning guidance given different operational areas or different situations within an assigned area of operation (AO). Causes for these differences include variations within full spectrum operations, international agreements or similar documents, specific operational objectives, and other aspects of the operating environment.
Crisis Action Planning
2-12. Crisis action planning involves developing OPLANs and OPORDs in response to an imminent crisis in a time-sensitive manner. It follows prescribed crises action procedures for formulating and implementing an effective response within the time permitted by the crisis. Planners base this plan on the circumstances existing at the time of the event.
2-13. The military adapts and employs a basic process for planning and executing operations in crises. An adequate and feasible military response to a crisis demands a flexible adaptation of this process. For a crisis, planners follow established crisis action plan procedures to adapt previously prepared OPLANs to meet the specific situation or develop new OPLANs based on the crisis. Maintaining environmental considerations and related information in existing plans becomes critical when dealing with crisis plans.
2-14. Planners integrate environmental considerations into crisis action plans, using environmental considerations already identified in the deliberate planning process or information already obtained regarding a potential AO. As with any operation, the scope of the relevant environmental considerations will vary with the type of mission being executed. In a situation such as a hostage rescue operation, the environmental considerations would be limited to certain targeting or cultural issues. In other situations, such as the response to an environmental disaster, the environment is the key component of the mission. The more information staff sections have about environmental considerations affecting their respective AO, the faster they can integrate them into the OPLAN.
MULTINATIONAL OPERATIONS PLANNING
2-15. Multinational operations planning requires that the staff be aware of the environmental constraints placed on multinational operations by international agreements applicable to U.S. forces. Military material restrictions, such as limitation on depleted uranium ammunition, may also limit the method by which U.S. forces conduct multinational operations. Additionally, the military must consider foreign nation cultural and historical sensitivities as a factor in planning multinational operations. Many international forces with which U.S. forces operate may have different standards for integrating environmental considerations. U.S. forces will have to coordinate and sometimes assist multinational forces in integrating environmental considerations to ensure consistent standards and levels of protection for the environment, the civilian population, and deployed Soldiers and Marines.
MILITARY DECISIONMAKING PROCESS
2-16. Each supporting OPLAN, regardless of the military Service, requires the military to complete a formal planning process. This process, which varies among Services, includes at a minimum a mission analysis, running estimates, COAs, and a command approval process. These supporting plans reflect each Service's specific requirements, including their specific measures for dealing with and integrating environmental considerations. Just as the joint planning process requires staffs to work together to analyze environmental considerations, Service staffs work together to analyze and integrate environmental considerations into their planning documents.
2-17. Staff sections use the guidance provided in their higher headquarters plans and orders to develop their own supporting plans. The military integrates environmental CRM and environmental considerations in varying levels of detail, based on the higher headquarters plan, the situation, and the planning echelon.
2-18. MDMP is a planning tool that establishes procedures for analyzing a mission and producing a plan or order. This process applies across the spectrum of conflict. Table 2-1 depicts the seven steps in the MDMP (see FM 5-0 for more information). Each step begins with input that builds on the previous steps. The output of each step drives subsequent steps; therefore, any initial errors or omissions impact later steps in the process. It is important to integrate environmental considerations into each step of the process.
2-19. Table 2-1 uses the MDMP framework to discuss how to integrate environmental considerations into the MDMP. Environmental considerations are generally addressed as a function of risk, much like safety considerations.