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Is an EMS the Way to Go for Your Company?

Madeline SnowToxic Use Reduction Planner Continuing

Education Conference4/14/05

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The EMS FrameworkThe EMS Framework

Continual improvement

act

check

do

plan

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Compliance with relevant laws and regulations

Prevention of pollution

Continual improvement

ENV.POLICY

COMPLY

P PR OE LV LE UN TT I O N

IMPROVE

An EMS Has Three Key An EMS Has Three Key CommitmentsCommitments

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What is an EMS?What is an EMS?

An Environmental Management System (EMS) is a system of processes to support an organization in integrating environmental concerns into its daily practices

– Compliance

– Prevention of pollution

– Continual improvement

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An overall system of management

processes and tools to help an

organization address its environmental

issues and environmental goals

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A way to figure out:

•Who has what impact on the environment

•How to prevent/address that impact

•Stay out of trouble, save money, feel and look good over a long period of time

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What is an EMS?What is an EMS?

Defined, integrated, and systematic ways to:– Identify– Prioritize– Manage,– Mitigate– Document

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Say what you doSay what you do

Do what you sayDo what you say

Prove itProve it

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Lessons LearnedLessons Learned

– Much of what you need for an EMS may already be in place

– An EMS is more of a change management issue than a technical fix

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Keys to SuccessKeys to SuccessManagement support

Effective ‘champion’

Involved and engaged staff

KISS

Effective teams

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ResourcesResourceswww.turi.org/content/content/view/full/530

www.uml.edu/ems, www.uml.edu/epaems/ems

www.epa.gov/ems

www.mass.gov/dep/bspt/ems/emshome.htm

www.peercenter.net

EMS: An Implementation Guide for Small and Medium-Sized Organizations, NSF International, January 2001

www.epa.gov/owm/iso14001/ems2001final.pdf OR order through

http://yosemite.epa.gov/water/owrccatalog.nsf/HomePage?OpenForm&CartID=11716-125101 EPA #: 832B01001

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Environmental Aspects and Environmental Aspects and ImpactsImpacts

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• Fundamental purpose of your EMS is to control and reduce the environmental impacts of activities, products, and services within your fenceline.

• First, you need to know what the impacts are and how significant they are.

Environmental Aspects and Impacts

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• How does your facility interact with the environment?

- Environmental aspects and impacts as a tool to find out

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Environmental Aspect

• An element of an organization’s activities, products, or services that can interact with the environment.

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• Key: Identify the environmental aspects that your organization

- Can control, and

- Over which it can have an influence

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Environmental Impact

• Any change to the environment, whether adverse or beneficial, wholly or partially resulting from an organization’s activities, products or services.

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• Cause ----------------- Effect

• Aspect ---------------- Impact

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How?

• Identify main activities, products, and services within your ‘fenceline’

- Brainstorming, process flow diagrams

• List environmental aspects

- Are they under your control and influence?

- Identify the associated impacts

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Activity     

Aspect   

Impact