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Lean Government Initiatives at EPA and Other Federal Agencies

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Lean Case Studies

Lean Government is a proven approach to fostering excellence and continuous improvement in government processes and services.  EPA and an increasing number of federal agencies are using Lean methods, pioneered in the manufacturing sector, to dramatically improve process speed, effectiveness, transparency, and efficiency.

Results from EPA Lean process improvement events have been compelling and are featured in a series of EPA Lean case studies below.  In fact,  Region 7 along with Iowa Department of Natural Resources, Kansas Department of Health and the Environment, Missouri Department of Natural Resources, and Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality were recognized by ECOS, with the ECOS Innovations Award (PDF) (About PDF)Exit EPA Disclaimer for their work using lean tools to improve the water quality standards review process in Region 7.

EPA Lean Case studies:

EPA Office of the Chief Financial Officer—Corrective Action Tracking

EPA Region 7 and 4 States—National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES)

EPA Region 7 and 4 States—Water Quality Standards Review Process

Interest in lean process improvement continues to grow throughout EPA—including Headquarters’ offices, the Regions, and the Laboratories.

In October 2009, participants from the EPA Region 6 Pesticides Enforcement Branch conducted a Lean business process improvement event (kaizen event) on the pesticides enforcement case review process. The objective of the 3-day event was to clarify and increase the efficiency of the process. As a result of the event, participants identified ways to significantly reduce the process time of a typical enforcement action from identification of a violation to taking an official action. In addition, staff and managers greatly valued the opportunity to learn a new method for looking at their work that will allow them continuously improve this process as well as others.

Many other federal agencies are also implementing lean, including the Department of Defense, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the National Institute of Standards and Technology, and the Pension Benefits Guaranty Corporation (PBGC).  To view an example presentation from PBGC from January 2008, click here (Microsoft PowerPoint) (24pp, 357K)

For more information about EPA’s Lean Government initiative, contact Jamie Burnett by email or by phone, (202) 566-2205.

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