diff --git a/collectoss/api/gunicorn_conf.py b/collectoss/api/gunicorn_conf.py
index 22c11231a..ee7797471 100644
--- a/collectoss/api/gunicorn_conf.py
+++ b/collectoss/api/gunicorn_conf.py
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@
 
 from collectoss.application.db.lib import get_value
 from collectoss.application.db import dispose_database_engine
+from collectoss.application.environment import SystemEnv
 
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
@@ -20,8 +21,8 @@
 workers = multiprocessing.cpu_count() * 2 + 1
 umask = 0o007
 reload = True
-
-is_dev = os.getenv("AUGUR_DEV", 'False').lower() in ('true', '1', 't', 'y', 'yes')
+# this satisfies the type checker
+is_dev = SystemEnv.get_bool("AUGUR_DEV", False)
 
 if is_dev:
 
@@ -40,7 +41,8 @@
 # set the log location for gunicorn    
 logs_directory = get_value('Logging', 'logs_directory')
 
-is_docker = os.getenv("AUGUR_DOCKER_DEPLOY", 'False').lower() in ('true', '1', 't', 'y', 'yes')
+# this syntax satisfies the type checker
+is_docker = SystemEnv.get_bool("AUGUR_DOCKER_DEPLOY", False)
 accesslog = f"{logs_directory}/gunicorn.log"
 errorlog = f"{logs_directory}/gunicorn.log"
 
diff --git a/collectoss/api/routes/auggie.py b/collectoss/api/routes/auggie.py
index 18642498f..6d036045a 100644
--- a/collectoss/api/routes/auggie.py
+++ b/collectoss/api/routes/auggie.py
@@ -14,6 +14,8 @@
 import requests
 import slack
 
+from collectoss.application.environment import SystemEnv
+
 from ..server import app
 
 
@@ -252,7 +254,7 @@ def get_auggie_user():
     # return Response(response=response, status=200, mimetype="application/json")
     ## From Method
     profile_name = 'collectoss'
-    if os.environ.get('AUGUR_IS_PROD'):
+    if SystemEnv.get('AUGUR_IS_PROD'):
         profile_name = 'default'
     client = boto3.Session(region_name='us-east-1', profile_name=profile_name).client('dynamodb')
     response = client.get_item(
@@ -278,7 +280,7 @@ def update_auggie_user_tracking():
     # return Response(response=response, status=200, mimetype="application/json")
     ## From Method
     profile_name = 'collectoss'
-    if os.environ.get('AUGUR_IS_PROD'):
+    if SystemEnv.get('AUGUR_IS_PROD'):
         profile_name = 'default'
     client = boto3.Session(region_name='us-east-1', profile_name=profile_name).client('dynamodb')
     response = client.update_item(
@@ -326,7 +328,7 @@ def slack_login():
     print("slack_login")
 
     r = requests.get(
-        url=f'https://slack.com/api/oauth.v2.access?code={body["code"]}&client_id={os.environ["AUGGIE_CLIENT_ID"]}&client_secret={os.environ["AUGGIE_CLIENT_SECRET"]}&redirect_uri=http%3A%2F%2Flocalhost%3A8080')
+        url=f'https://slack.com/api/oauth.v2.access?code={body["code"]}&client_id={SystemEnv.get("AUGGIE_CLIENT_ID")}&client_secret={SystemEnv.get("AUGGIE_CLIENT_SECRET")}&redirect_uri=http%3A%2F%2Flocalhost%3A8080')
     data = r.json()
 
     if (data["ok"]):
@@ -340,7 +342,7 @@ def slack_login():
         email = user_response["user"]["email"]
 
         profile_name = 'collectoss'
-        if os.environ.get('AUGUR_IS_PROD'):
+        if SystemEnv.get('AUGUR_IS_PROD'):
             profile_name = 'default'
         print("Making Boto3 Session")
         client = boto3.Session(region_name='us-east-1',
diff --git a/collectoss/api/view/init.py b/collectoss/api/view/init.py
index ab4708793..1ab68912c 100644
--- a/collectoss/api/view/init.py
+++ b/collectoss/api/view/init.py
@@ -1,13 +1,11 @@
 import os
 from pathlib import Path
-from .server import Environment
 from collectoss.application.logs import SystemLogger
 import secrets, yaml
-
-env = Environment()
+from collectoss.application.environment import SystemEnv
 
 # load configuration files and initialize globals
-configFile = Path(env.setdefault("CONFIG_LOCATION", "config.yml"))
+configFile = Path(SystemEnv.get("CONFIG_LOCATION") or "config.yml")
 
 settings = {}
 
diff --git a/collectoss/api/view/server/Environment.py b/collectoss/api/view/server/Environment.py
deleted file mode 100644
index 76b8207ca..000000000
--- a/collectoss/api/view/server/Environment.py
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,52 +0,0 @@
-import os
-
-class Environment:
-    """
-    This class is used to make dealing with environment variables easier. It
-    allows you to set multiple environment variables at once, and to get items
-    with subscript notation without needing to deal with the particularities of
-    non-existent values.
-    """
-    def __init__(self, **kwargs):
-        for (key, value) in kwargs.items():
-            self[key] = value
-
-    def setdefault(self, key, value):
-        if not self[key]:
-            self[key] = value
-            return value
-        return self[key]
-
-    def setall(self, **kwargs):
-        result = {}
-        for (key, value) in kwargs.items():
-            if self[key]:
-                result[key] = self[key]
-            self[key] = value
-
-    def getany(self, *args):
-        result = {}
-        for arg in args:
-            if self[arg]:
-                result[arg] = self[arg]
-        return result
-
-    def as_type(self, type, key):
-        if self[key]:
-            return type(self[key])
-        return None
-
-    def __getitem__(self, key):
-        return os.getenv(key)
-
-    def __setitem__(self, key, value):
-        os.environ[key] = str(value)
-
-    def __len__(self)-> int:
-        return len(os.environ)
-
-    def __str__(self)-> str:
-        return str(os.environ)
-
-    def __iter__(self):
-        return (item for item in os.environ.items())
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/collectoss/api/view/server/__init__.py b/collectoss/api/view/server/__init__.py
index e919a597a..98ce903be 100644
--- a/collectoss/api/view/server/__init__.py
+++ b/collectoss/api/view/server/__init__.py
@@ -1,2 +1 @@
-from .LoginException import LoginException
-from .Environment import Environment
\ No newline at end of file
+from .LoginException import LoginException
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/collectoss/application/cli/__init__.py b/collectoss/application/cli/__init__.py
index 8081d6a8e..b398614e2 100644
--- a/collectoss/application/cli/__init__.py
+++ b/collectoss/application/cli/__init__.py
@@ -10,7 +10,9 @@
 
 from collectoss.application.db.engine import DatabaseEngine
 from collectoss.application.db import get_engine, dispose_database_engine
-from sqlalchemy.exc import OperationalError 
+from sqlalchemy.exc import OperationalError
+from collectoss.application.environment import SystemEnv
+
 
 
 def check_connectivity(urls=["http://chaoss.community", "http://github.com", "http://gitlab.com"], timeout=10.0):
@@ -65,11 +67,11 @@ def new_func(ctx, *args, **kwargs):
             return ctx.invoke(function_db_connection, *args, **kwargs)
         except OperationalError as e:
 
-            db_environment_var = os.getenv("AUGUR_DB")
+            db_environment_var = SystemEnv.get("AUGUR_DB")
 
             # determine the location to print in error string
             if db_environment_var:
-                location = f"the AUGUR_DB environment variable\nAUGUR_DB={os.getenv('AUGUR_DB')}"
+                location = f"the AUGUR_DB environment variable\nAUGUR_DB={SystemEnv.get('AUGUR_DB')}"
             else:
                 with open("db.config.json", 'r') as f:
                     db_config = json.load(f)
diff --git a/collectoss/application/cli/api.py b/collectoss/application/cli/api.py
index a8bb9e53b..4f7077a78 100644
--- a/collectoss/application/cli/api.py
+++ b/collectoss/application/cli/api.py
@@ -17,6 +17,8 @@
 from collectoss.application.cli import test_connection, test_db_connection, with_database, DatabaseContext
 from collectoss.application.cli._cli_util import _broadcast_signal_to_processes, raise_open_file_limit, clear_redis_caches, clear_rabbitmq_messages
 from collectoss.application.db.lib import get_value
+from collectoss.application.environment import SystemEnv
+
 
 logger = SystemLogger("collectoss", reset_logfiles=False).get_logger()
 
@@ -36,7 +38,7 @@ def start(ctx, development, port):
     """Start CollectOSS's backend server."""
 
     try:
-        if os.environ.get('AUGUR_DOCKER_DEPLOY') != "1":
+        if SystemEnv.get('AUGUR_DOCKER_DEPLOY') != "1":
             raise_open_file_limit(100000)
     except Exception as e: 
         logger.error(
@@ -46,7 +48,7 @@ def start(ctx, development, port):
         raise e
     
     if development:
-        os.environ["AUGUR_DEV"] = "1"
+        SystemEnv.set("AUGUR_DEV", "1")
         logger.info("Starting in development mode")
 
     try:
@@ -142,7 +144,7 @@ def get_api_processes():
 def is_api_process(process):
 
     command = ''.join(process.info['cmdline'][:]).lower()
-    if os.getenv('VIRTUAL_ENV') in process.info['environ']['VIRTUAL_ENV'] and 'python' in command:
+    if SystemEnv.get('VIRTUAL_ENV') in process.info['environ']['VIRTUAL_ENV'] and 'python' in command:
                     
         if process.pid != os.getpid():
             
diff --git a/collectoss/application/cli/backend.py b/collectoss/application/cli/backend.py
index a07ddf198..d4586083b 100644
--- a/collectoss/application/cli/backend.py
+++ b/collectoss/application/cli/backend.py
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@
 import requests
 from redis.exceptions import ConnectionError as RedisConnectionError
 
+from collectoss.application.environment import SystemEnv
 from collectoss.tasks.start_tasks import collection_monitor, create_collection_status_records
 from collectoss.tasks.git.facade_tasks import clone_repos
 from collectoss.tasks.github.contributors import process_contributors
@@ -31,7 +32,7 @@
 
 from keyman.KeyClient import KeyClient, KeyPublisher
 
-reset_logs = os.getenv("AUGUR_RESET_LOGS", 'True').lower() in ('true', '1', 't', 'y', 'yes')
+reset_logs = SystemEnv.get_bool("AUGUR_RESET_LOGS", True)
 
 logger = SystemLogger("collectoss", reset_logfiles=reset_logs).get_logger()
 
@@ -61,7 +62,7 @@ def start(ctx, disable_collection, development, pidfile, port):
     signal.signal(signal.SIGINT, manager.shutdown_signal_handler)
 
     try:
-        if os.environ.get('AUGUR_DOCKER_DEPLOY') != "1":
+        if SystemEnv.get('AUGUR_DOCKER_DEPLOY') != "1":
             raise_open_file_limit(100000)
     except Exception as e:
         logger.error(
@@ -71,10 +72,10 @@ def start(ctx, disable_collection, development, pidfile, port):
         raise e
 
     if development:
-        os.environ["AUGUR_DEV"] = "1"
+        SystemEnv.set("AUGUR_DEV", "1")
         logger.info("Starting in development mode")
     
-    os.environ["AUGUR_PIDFILE"] = pidfile
+    SystemEnv.set("AUGUR_PIDFILE", pidfile)
 
     try:
         gunicorn_location = os.getcwd() + "/collectoss/api/gunicorn_conf.py"
@@ -86,10 +87,10 @@ def start(ctx, disable_collection, development, pidfile, port):
     if not port:
         port = get_value("Server", "port")
     
-    os.environ["AUGUR_PORT"] = str(port)
+    SystemEnv.set("AUGUR_PORT", str(port))
     
     if disable_collection:
-        os.environ["AUGUR_DISABLE_COLLECTION"] = "1"
+        SystemEnv.set("AUGUR_DISABLE_COLLECTION", "1")
     
     core_worker_count = get_value("Celery", 'core_worker_count')
     secondary_worker_count = get_value("Celery", 'secondary_worker_count')
@@ -130,7 +131,7 @@ def start(ctx, disable_collection, development, pidfile, port):
     processes = start_celery_worker_processes((core_worker_count, secondary_worker_count, facade_worker_count), disable_collection)
     manager.processes = processes
 
-    celery_beat_schedule_db = os.getenv("CELERYBEAT_SCHEDULE_DB", "celerybeat-schedule.db")
+    celery_beat_schedule_db = SystemEnv.get("CELERYBEAT_SCHEDULE_DB", "celerybeat-schedule.db")
     if os.path.exists(celery_beat_schedule_db):
             logger.info("Deleting old task schedule")
             os.remove(celery_beat_schedule_db)
@@ -144,7 +145,7 @@ def start(ctx, disable_collection, development, pidfile, port):
     manager.keypub = keypub
     
     if not disable_collection:
-        if os.environ.get('AUGUR_DOCKER_DEPLOY') != "1":
+        if SystemEnv.get('AUGUR_DOCKER_DEPLOY') != "1":
             orchestrator = subprocess.Popen("python keyman/Orchestrator.py".split())
 
         # Wait for orchestrator startup
@@ -355,10 +356,10 @@ def export_env(config):
     Exports your GitHub key and database credentials
     """
 
-    export_file = open(os.getenv('AUGUR_EXPORT_FILE', 'collectoss_export_env.sh'), 'w+')
+    export_file = open(SystemEnv.get('AUGUR_EXPORT_FILE') or 'collectoss_export_env.sh', 'w+')
     export_file.write('#!/bin/bash')
     export_file.write('\n')
-    env_file = open(os.getenv('AUGUR_ENV_FILE', 'docker_env.txt'), 'w+')
+    env_file = open(SystemEnv.get('AUGUR_ENV_FILE') or 'docker_env.txt', 'w+')
 
     for env_var in config.get_env_config().items():
         if "LOG" not in env_var[0]:
@@ -403,7 +404,7 @@ def get_backend_processes():
     for process in psutil.process_iter(['cmdline', 'name', 'environ']):
         if process.info['cmdline'] is not None and process.info['environ'] is not None:
             try:
-                if os.getenv('VIRTUAL_ENV') in process.info['environ']['VIRTUAL_ENV'] and 'python' in ''.join(process.info['cmdline'][:]).lower():
+                if SystemEnv.get('VIRTUAL_ENV') in process.info['environ']['VIRTUAL_ENV'] and 'python' in ''.join(process.info['cmdline'][:]).lower():
                     if process.pid != os.getpid():
                         process_list.append(process)
             except (KeyError, FileNotFoundError):
diff --git a/collectoss/application/cli/collection.py b/collectoss/application/cli/collection.py
index b1a93ce80..5127a8d17 100644
--- a/collectoss/application/cli/collection.py
+++ b/collectoss/application/cli/collection.py
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@
 import traceback
 import sqlalchemy as s
 
+from collectoss.application.environment import SystemEnv
 from collectoss.tasks.start_tasks import collection_monitor, create_collection_status_records
 from collectoss.tasks.git.facade_tasks import clone_repos
 from collectoss.tasks.github.util.github_api_key_handler import GithubApiKeyHandler
@@ -45,7 +46,7 @@ def start(ctx, development):
     """Start CollectOSS's backend server."""
 
     try:
-        if os.environ.get('AUGUR_DOCKER_DEPLOY') != "1":
+        if SystemEnv.get('AUGUR_DOCKER_DEPLOY') != "1":
             raise_open_file_limit(100000)
     except Exception as e: 
         logger.error(
@@ -75,7 +76,7 @@ def start(ctx, development):
         keypub.publish(key, "gitlab_rest")
     
     if development:
-        os.environ["AUGUR_DEV"] = "1"
+        SystemEnv.set("AUGUR_DEV", "1")
         logger.info("Starting in development mode")
 
     core_worker_count = get_value("Celery", 'core_worker_count')
@@ -237,7 +238,7 @@ def get_collection_processes():
 def is_collection_process(process):
 
     command = ''.join(process.info['cmdline'][:]).lower()
-    if os.getenv('VIRTUAL_ENV') in process.info['environ']['VIRTUAL_ENV'] and 'python' in command:
+    if SystemEnv.get('VIRTUAL_ENV') in process.info['environ']['VIRTUAL_ENV'] and 'python' in command:
         if process.pid != os.getpid():
             
             if "collectossbackendcollection" in command  or "celery_app.celery_appbeat" in command:
diff --git a/collectoss/application/cli/db.py b/collectoss/application/cli/db.py
index fd5db52cf..e2b1b7e3f 100644
--- a/collectoss/application/cli/db.py
+++ b/collectoss/application/cli/db.py
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@
     process_repo_csv,
     process_repo_group_csv,
 )
+from collectoss.application.environment import SystemEnv
 
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
@@ -379,7 +380,7 @@ def get_api_key(ctx):
     short_help="Check the ~/.pgpass file for CollectOSS's database credentials",
 )
 def check_pgpass():
-    db_environment_var = getenv("AUGUR_DB")
+    db_environment_var = SystemEnv.get("AUGUR_DB")
     if db_environment_var:
         # gets the user, passowrd, host, port, and database_name out of environment variable
         # assumes database string of structure <beginning_of_db_string>//<user>:<password>@<host>:<port>/<database_name>
@@ -495,7 +496,7 @@ def run_psql_command_in_database(target_type, target):
         logger.error("Invalid target type. Exiting...")
         exit(1)
 
-    db_environment_var = getenv("AUGUR_DB")
+    db_environment_var = SystemEnv.get("AUGUR_DB")
 
     # db_json_file_location = os.getcwd() + "/db.config.json"
     # db_json_exists = os.path.exists(db_json_file_location)
diff --git a/collectoss/application/config.py b/collectoss/application/config.py
index 56e6c57ae..051235323 100644
--- a/collectoss/application/config.py
+++ b/collectoss/application/config.py
@@ -7,6 +7,8 @@
 from collectoss.application.db.models import Config 
 from collectoss.application.db.util import execute_session_query, convert_type_of_value
 from pathlib import Path
+from collectoss.application.environment import SystemEnv
+
 import logging
 
 def get_development_flag_from_config():
@@ -27,7 +29,7 @@ def get_development_flag_from_config():
     return flag
 
 def get_development_flag():
-    return os.getenv("AUGUR_DEV") or get_development_flag_from_config() or False
+    return SystemEnv.get("AUGUR_DEV") or get_development_flag_from_config() or False
 
 def redact_setting_value(section_name, setting_name, value):
     value_redacted = value if section_name != "Keys" else "REDACTED"
@@ -167,7 +169,7 @@ def __init__(self, logger, session: DatabaseSession, config_sources: list = None
                 JsonConfig(default_config, logger)
             ]
 
-            config_dir = Path(os.getenv("CONFIG_DATADIR", "./"))
+            config_dir = Path(SystemEnv.get("CONFIG_DATADIR") or "./")
             config_path = config_dir.joinpath("augur.json")
             if config_path.exists():
                 config_sources.append(JsonConfig(json.loads(config_path.read_text(encoding="UTF-8")), logger))
diff --git a/collectoss/application/environment.py b/collectoss/application/environment.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..3a28c12a9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/collectoss/application/environment.py
@@ -0,0 +1,80 @@
+from typing import Optional
+import os
+import warnings
+import logging
+
+logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
+
+def extract_prefix(key: str, prefixes: list[str], separator = "_") -> Optional[str]:
+    """Detect and return the prefix present on the provided key
+
+    Args:
+        key (str): the key to remove the prefix from
+        prefixes (list[str]): the prefixes to look for
+        separator (str, optional): the separator between elements of the key to also remove (if they would otherwise be dangling). Defaults to "_".
+
+    Returns:
+        str: The detected prefix (including any separators) if any, otherwise None
+    """
+    prefix_len = 0
+    for p in prefixes:
+        p = p.upper()
+        k = key.upper()
+        if k.startswith(p):
+            prefix_len += len(p)
+
+            if k[prefix_len] == separator:
+                prefix_len += len(separator)
+            return key[0:prefix_len]
+    return None
+
+
+class SystemEnv:
+    """Centralized environment variable access
+    Built for enabling migration of environment variable names
+    """
+
+    _prefixes = ["COLLECTOSS", "AUGUR"]
+    _warn_prefixes = ["AUGUR"]
+    _separator = "_"
+
+    @classmethod
+    def get(cls, key: str, default = None, prefixes = _prefixes) -> Optional[str]:
+        # extract the suffix so we can try multiple prefixes
+        canonical_prefix = extract_prefix(key, prefixes, cls._separator)
+        suffix = key[len(canonical_prefix):] if canonical_prefix is not None else key
+        # check prefixes in order and use the first one that has a value
+        for p in prefixes:
+            check_key = f"{p}{cls._separator}{suffix}"
+            value = os.getenv(check_key, None)
+
+            if value is not None:
+                # emit a warning if configured
+                if p in cls._warn_prefixes:
+                    msg = (
+                        f"Environment variable '{check_key}' is deprecated. "
+                        f"Use '{key}' instead. This automatic recovery may become a failure in a future version "
+                    )
+                    logger.warning(msg)
+                    warnings.warn(msg, DeprecationWarning, stacklevel=2)
+                
+                return value
+
+        if not canonical_prefix:
+            return os.getenv(key, default)
+        
+        return default
+    
+    @classmethod
+    def get_bool(cls, key:str, default: bool, prefixes = _prefixes) -> bool:
+        """gets a value from the environment and cast it to a boolean
+        """
+        raw_val = cls.get(key, None, prefixes)
+        return raw_val.lower() in ('true', '1', 't', 'y', 'yes') if raw_val else default
+        
+    @classmethod
+    def set(cls, key: str, value: str, overwrite=True) -> None:
+        if os.getenv(key) is not None and not overwrite:
+            return
+        
+        os.environ[key] = value
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/collectoss/tasks/git/dependency_tasks/core.py b/collectoss/tasks/git/dependency_tasks/core.py
index a9e74b4e1..21f24246a 100644
--- a/collectoss/tasks/git/dependency_tasks/core.py
+++ b/collectoss/tasks/git/dependency_tasks/core.py
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
 import os
 from collectoss.application.db.models import *
 from collectoss.application.db.lib import bulk_insert_dicts, get_repo_by_repo_git, get_value, get_session
+from collectoss.application.environment import SystemEnv
 from collectoss.tasks.github.util.github_api_key_handler import GithubApiKeyHandler
 from collectoss.tasks.git.dependency_tasks.dependency_util import dependency_calculator as dep_calc
 from collectoss.tasks.util.worker_util import parse_json_from_subprocess_call
@@ -79,19 +80,11 @@ def generate_scorecard(logger, repo_git):
     command = '--repo=' + path
     
     #this is path where our scorecard project is located
-    path_to_scorecard = os.getenv('SCORECARD_DIR', os.environ['HOME'] + '/scorecard')
+    path_to_scorecard = SystemEnv.get('SCORECARD_DIR', (SystemEnv.get('HOME') or "~") + '/scorecard')
 
     #setting the environmental variable which is required by scorecard
-
-    with get_session() as session:
-        #key_handler = GithubRandomKeyAuth(logger)
-        key_handler = GithubApiKeyHandler(logger)       
-        os.environ['GITHUB_AUTH_TOKEN'] = key_handler.get_random_key()
-
-    # This seems outdated
-    #setting the environmental variable which is required by scorecard
-    #key_handler = GithubApiKeyHandler(session, session.logger)       
-    #os.environ['GITHUB_AUTH_TOKEN'] = key_handler.get_random_key()
+    key_handler = GithubApiKeyHandler(logger)       
+    SystemEnv.set('GITHUB_AUTH_TOKEN', key_handler.get_random_key())
     
     try: 
         required_output = parse_json_from_subprocess_call(logger,['./scorecard', command, '--format=json'],cwd=path_to_scorecard)
diff --git a/collectoss/tasks/git/scc_value_tasks/core.py b/collectoss/tasks/git/scc_value_tasks/core.py
index 7c9e0bafd..a526af990 100644
--- a/collectoss/tasks/git/scc_value_tasks/core.py
+++ b/collectoss/tasks/git/scc_value_tasks/core.py
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
 import os
 from collectoss.application.db.models import *
 from collectoss.application.db.lib import bulk_insert_dicts, get_repo_by_repo_git, get_value
+from collectoss.application.environment import SystemEnv
 from collectoss.tasks.util.worker_util import parse_json_from_subprocess_call
 from collectoss.tasks.git.util.facade_worker.facade_worker.utilitymethods import get_absolute_repo_path
 
@@ -20,7 +21,7 @@ def value_model(logger,repo_git):
     logger.info(f"Repo ID: {repo_id}, Path: {path}")
     logger.info('Running scc...')
 
-    path_to_scc = os.getenv('SCC_DIR', os.environ['HOME'] + '/scc')
+    path_to_scc = SystemEnv.get('SCC_DIR', (SystemEnv.get('HOME') or "~") + '/scc')
 
     required_output = parse_json_from_subprocess_call(logger,['./scc', '-f','json','--by-file', path], cwd=path_to_scc)
     
diff --git a/collectoss/tasks/git/util/facade_worker/facade_worker/config.py b/collectoss/tasks/git/util/facade_worker/facade_worker/config.py
index 7da6495bd..9db7d8866 100644
--- a/collectoss/tasks/git/util/facade_worker/facade_worker/config.py
+++ b/collectoss/tasks/git/util/facade_worker/facade_worker/config.py
@@ -40,11 +40,13 @@
 from collectoss.application.db.lib import execute_sql
 from logging import Logger
 
+from collectoss.application.environment import SystemEnv
+
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
 def get_database_args_from_env():
 
-    db_str = os.getenv("AUGUR_DB")
+    db_str = SystemEnv.get("AUGUR_DB")
     try:
         db_json_file_location = os.getcwd() + "/db.config.json"
     except FileNotFoundError:
diff --git a/collectoss/tasks/init/celery_app.py b/collectoss/tasks/init/celery_app.py
index e14230f99..a33e1e961 100644
--- a/collectoss/tasks/init/celery_app.py
+++ b/collectoss/tasks/init/celery_app.py
@@ -63,7 +63,7 @@
 
 tasks = start_tasks + github_tasks + gitlab_tasks + git_tasks + materialized_view_tasks + frontend_tasks
 
-if os.environ.get('AUGUR_DOCKER_DEPLOY') != "1":
+if SystemEnv.get('AUGUR_DOCKER_DEPLOY') != "1":
     tasks += data_analysis_tasks
 
 redis_db_number, redis_conn_string = get_redis_conn_values()
diff --git a/collectoss/tasks/start_tasks.py b/collectoss/tasks/start_tasks.py
index 644b6cbc4..38c721235 100644
--- a/collectoss/tasks/start_tasks.py
+++ b/collectoss/tasks/start_tasks.py
@@ -7,8 +7,9 @@
 import sqlalchemy as s
 
 
+from collectoss.application.environment import SystemEnv
 from collectoss.tasks.github import *
-if os.environ.get('AUGUR_DOCKER_DEPLOY') != "1":
+if SystemEnv.get('AUGUR_DOCKER_DEPLOY') != "1":
     from collectoss.tasks.data_analysis import *
 from collectoss.tasks.github.detect_move.tasks import detect_github_repo_move_core, detect_github_repo_move_secondary
 from collectoss.tasks.github.releases.tasks import collect_releases
@@ -32,7 +33,7 @@
 from collectoss.application.db.lib import execute_sql, get_session
 from collectoss.application.config import SystemConfig
 
-RUNNING_DOCKER = os.environ.get('AUGUR_DOCKER_DEPLOY') == "1"
+RUNNING_DOCKER = SystemEnv.get('AUGUR_DOCKER_DEPLOY') == "1"
 
 CELERY_GROUP_TYPE = type(group())
 CELERY_CHAIN_TYPE = type(chain())
diff --git a/keyman/Orchestrator.py b/keyman/Orchestrator.py
index 71cfae8bb..d93a1f064 100644
--- a/keyman/Orchestrator.py
+++ b/keyman/Orchestrator.py
@@ -4,15 +4,16 @@
 import time
 
 from keyman.KeyOrchestrationAPI import spec, WaitKeyTimeout, InvalidRequest
+from collectoss.application.environment import SystemEnv
 
-if os.environ.get("KEYMAN_DOCKER"):
+if SystemEnv.get("KEYMAN_DOCKER"):
     import sys
     import redis
     import logging
 
     sys.path.append("/collectoss")
 
-    conn = redis.Redis.from_url(os.environ.get("REDIS_CONN_STRING"))
+    conn = redis.Redis.from_url(SystemEnv.get("REDIS_CONN_STRING"))
 
     # Just log to stdout if we're running in docker
     logger = logging.Logger("KeyOrchestrator")
diff --git a/tests/test_application/test_config/test_environment.py b/tests/test_application/test_config/test_environment.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..6b62f2ec9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/test_application/test_config/test_environment.py
@@ -0,0 +1,80 @@
+from collectoss.application.environment import SystemEnv, extract_prefix
+import logging
+import os
+
+logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
+
+prefixes = ["COLLECTOSS", "OTHER"]
+
+def test_env_extract_prefix():
+    assert extract_prefix("OTHER_DB", prefixes) == "OTHER_"
+    assert extract_prefix("COLLECTOSS_DB", prefixes) == "COLLECTOSS_"
+
+def test_env_extract_prefix_default():
+    assert extract_prefix("SOME_DB", prefixes) is None
+    assert extract_prefix("THINGY_DB", prefixes) is None
+
+
+def test_env_extract_prefix_unprefixed():
+    assert extract_prefix("DB", prefixes) is None
+
+def test_fetching_env():
+    # plain
+    os.environ["COLLECTOSS_NAME"] = "A"
+    assert SystemEnv.get("COLLECTOSS_NAME") == "A"
+
+    # fallback handling
+    os.environ["OTHER_THING"] = "B"
+    assert SystemEnv.get("COLLECTOSS_THING", None, prefixes) == "B"
+
+    # cleanup
+    del os.environ["COLLECTOSS_NAME"]
+    del os.environ["OTHER_THING"]
+
+def test_fetching_env_backwards():
+    os.environ["COLLECTOSS_NAME"] = "A"
+    assert SystemEnv.get("OTHER_NAME", None, prefixes) == "A"
+
+    # cleanup
+    del os.environ["COLLECTOSS_NAME"]
+
+def test_fetching_env_no_value():
+    assert SystemEnv.get("COLLECTOSS_MISSING", None, prefixes) is None
+
+def test_fetching_env_default():
+    assert SystemEnv.get("COLLECTOSS_DEFAULT", "SOME", prefixes) == "SOME"
+
+def test_no_known_prefix():
+    # fallback handling
+    os.environ["THING"] = "C"
+    assert SystemEnv.get("THING", None, prefixes) == "C"
+
+
+def test_get_bool_trues():
+
+    cases = ["1", "true", "True", "TRUE", "y", "Y", "yes", "Yes"]
+
+    for case in cases:
+        os.environ["OTHER_BOOL"] = case
+        assert SystemEnv.get_bool("OTHER_BOOL", False, prefixes) == True
+        del os.environ["OTHER_BOOL"]
+
+def test_get_bool_falses():
+
+    cases = ["0", "false", "False", "FALSE", "n", "N", "no", "No"]
+
+    for case in cases:
+        os.environ["OTHER_BOOL"] = case
+        assert SystemEnv.get_bool("OTHER_BOOL", True, prefixes) == False
+        del os.environ["OTHER_BOOL"]
+
+def test_get_bool_default():
+
+    cases = ["?", "maybe", "Stuff", "333"]
+
+    for case in cases:
+        os.environ["OTHER_BOOL"] = case
+        assert SystemEnv.get_bool("OTHER_BOOL", False, prefixes) == False
+        del os.environ["OTHER_BOOL"]
+
+