Environmental Compliance

Our Approach

FirstEnergy’s Environmental group has developed extensive compliance programs to help prevent incidents that could jeopardize our ability to protect the air, water, land and wildlife in our service territory. FirstEnergy is subject to federal, state and local environmental regulations, including but not limited to those related to the Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, Endangered Species Act and the Coal Combustion Residual Rule.

Some of FirstEnergy’s key environmental management strategies include implementation and clear communication of environmental practices; root cause analysis of incidents and companywide application of corrective actions; and field assessments designed to elevate awareness and improve risk identification.

In addition, our Environmental group works closely with organizations throughout our company during the development and planning phases of any applicable construction project to assess the need for federal, state or local permitting requirements. Obtaining the needed permits in a timely manner supports effective project execution.

Accountability and
Employee Incentives

FirstEnergy manages environmental compliance through Board committee oversight and by including environmental excursions and Notice of Violations (NOV) in our Operations KPIs. Our environmental excursions and NOV KPI metric tracks any regulatory reportable air emission, water discharge or other unauthorized release that exceeds applicable environmental limitations, conditions and deadlines set by federal, state or local regulations. Our threshold, target and stretch goals for this metric are based on our previous year’s performance, and the stretch goal is designed to encourage significant improvement in our commitment to making the environment better. The inclusion of these environmental metrics in our Operations KPIs enhances employees’ awareness and attention to environmental compliance and drives continuous improvement across all areas of our business.

Drones Provide Quick and Non-Invasive Service

At FirstEnergy, our pilots are flying more than airplanes and helicopters—a team of licensed operators is now using drones to perform a variety of inspections and other maintenance work throughout our six-state territory.

From inspecting the nests of protected birds of prey to assessing damage following severe weather, the company’s drone team is finding new, non-invasive ways to improve work practices and mitigate climbing exposure using the technology. The team pilots hundreds of missions each year, including:

• Evaluating substations as part of a program to prioritize and replace wooden poles
• Inspecting osprey nests that are situated on utility poles and power equipment
• Examining equipment damage and construction progress after a gas explosion destroyed several transmission towers in western Pennsylvania
• Identifying more than 200 necessary repairs following the March 2018 nor’easter storms

LEARN MORE

Environmental Programs

FirstEnergy’s Environmental group maintains an extensive portfolio of environmental compliance programs.

• Environmental Training and Awareness: Employees of the Environmental group and generation fleet complete government required training on environmental awareness of spill prevention, stormwater management and environmental regulations. Employees in the Environmental organization also receive environmental and safety communications on operating experience and specific regulatory topics that are published in a daily report. Supervisors are encouraged to use these communications during their pre-job briefings given to employees each morning prior to commencing any work.
• Spill Prevention Control and Countermeasure (SPCC): FEU’s SPCC program includes a universal SPCC plan and a site-specific SPCC plan for each facility. The universal SPCC plan provides guidance for spill preparedness, prevention, reporting and cleanup.
• Environmental Compliance Assistance Program (ECAP): FirstEnergy uses a rigorous ECAP process to help ensure our plants and service centers follow environmental regulations and company policies, and identify best practices we can deploy companywide. In 2018, 19 ECAP inspections were performed.
• Environmental Threat Assessments: These assessments conducted at sites across the company strengthen our environmental performance by identifying potential risks before they become incidents. Assessments are executed by a team of Environmental, Maintenance, Technical and Operations employees along with subject matter experts. In 2018, 12 Environmental Threat Assessments were completed at 11 generation sites and our laboratory facility. In 2019, we plan to conduct 24 Environmental Threat Assessments at generation and operating company locations across our service territory.
• Energy Delivery Compliance Monitoring: As part of our Energizing the Future program, compliance-monitoring personnel ensure our construction activities are within all permit-specific requirements. Deficiencies are sent to project managers for timely resolution.
• Energy Delivery Permitting Program: This program minimizes the environmental impacts of construction activities and daily operations. In pursuing the permits required by federal, state and local regulations, we survey sensitive environmental resources and species located in and around existing and proposed rights-of-way. Then we develop permit plans that avoid or minimize the impacts to these resources and species.
• Environmental Management Program: FirstEnergy uses an environmental management system called Enviance, which is a task-based, third-party notification system to help manage compliance deadlines for reporting, sampling, inspecting and permit renewals. Tasks that approach permit condition deadlines escalate to supervisors to ensure the appropriate level of resources are deployed to achieve compliance.
• Drone Program: FirstEnergy’s Unmanned Aircraft Systems Program uses our FAA-licensed and certified pilots to perform aerial inspections and surveys using drones with high-optic cameras. This program identifies environmental risks—including those posed by nesting birds or other wildlife—as well as needed maintenance to enhance operational reliability and assess damage after a storm. Using drones is often safer, faster, more thorough and less expensive than other options. Drones also mitigate our impact on vegetation and wildlife, while decreasing worker exposure to potentially dangerous conditions by avoiding the use of helicopters and line trucks and reducing the need for climbing.