The U.S. Army maintains an environmental compliance program that identifies compliance problems before they are cited as violations by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA). Beginning in 1985, Major Army Commands (MACOMs) were required to conduct comprehensive environmental assessments at all installations on a 4-year cycle. The installations must also conduct a mid-cycle internal assessment. Because each MACOM was developing a separate assessment system, the Army mandated, through Army Regulation 200-1, one unified Army-wide assessment mechanism. The resulting system combines Federal, Department of Defense (DOD), and Army environmental regulations, along with good management practices and risk-management information, into a series of checklists that show legal requirements and which specific items or operations to review. Each assessment protocol lists a point of contact to help assessors review the checklist items as effectively as possible. The Worldwide Environmental Compliance Assessment System (ECAS) manual incorporates existing checklists from USEPA and private industry. It also integrates information from the Overseas Environmental Baseline Guidance Document (OEBGD), published by DOD in October 1992. Additionally, Worldwide ECAS includes pertinent information from Army Regulations, DOD Directives and Instructions, and it cites good management practices for an overall environmental review.

The U.S. Army has adopted an environmental compliance program that identifies compliance problems before they are cited as violations by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA). Major Army Commands (MACOMs) must conduct comprehensive environmental assessments at all installations on a 4-year cycle and conduct a mid-cycle internal assessment. Because each MACOM developed a separate system, the Army mandated a unified, Army-wide assessment mechanism, which combines Federal, Department of Defense (DOD), and Army environmental regulations; good management practices; and risk-management issues into a series of checklists that show requirements and specific items or operations to review. Each protocol lists a point of contact to help assessors review checklist items. The Worldwide Environmental Compliance Assessment System (ECAS) manual incorporates checklists from USEPA and from private industry. It integrates information from the Overseas Environmental Baseline Guidance Document (OEBGD). Worldwide ECAS includes pertinent information from Army Regulations and DOD Directives and Instructions and cites management practices for an overall environmental review. The ECAS JAPAN supplement incorporates Japanese legislation, regulations, and suggested management practices. It was developed for use in conjunction with the Worldwide ECAS manuals (USACERL SR-EC-93/03) and is updated continually to address changes in Japanese laws and regulations. Environmental Compliance Assessment System (ECAS), Environmental Law-Japan, Environmental Assessment.