SPARK 2008

A NATIONAL LEVEL STUDENT

PAPER PRESENTATION COMPITATION

2007-2008

PAPER ON :- ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

SUBMITTED BY SMITA D. BHURE
8th Semester Civil Engineering 8th Semester Civil Engineering

PRITESH J.BANSOD
8th Semester Civil Engineering

HARSHRAJ S. JAGARLAWAR

GUIDED BY Prof. VALSSON VARGHESE Civil Engineering HEAD OF THE DEPT. Prof. D. P. SINGH
Civil Engineering

DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING

K.D.K. COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING NANDANVAN, NAGPUR-440009

INDEX
S.No.
1. 2. 3. 4.

CHAPTERS
INTRODUCTION BENEFITS COMPONENTS OF EMS TYPES OE EMS 4.1. ENVIRONMENTAL ECOSYSTEM 4.2. ENVIRONMENTAL AUDIT 4.3. ENVIRONMENTAL ECONOMICS

5.

CONCLUSION

1.

Introduction
An Environmental Management System (or EMS) is a system designed to manage the environmental performance of an organization. These systems are now being adopted by public and private sector organizations in Australia and overseas to help manage their environmental responsibilities. An EMS should form an integral part of an organizations overall management system and practices.

An environmental management system (EMS) is like a tool box equipped with a complete set of all the various types of tools and implements needed by organizations to build and maintain policies and procedures for effective, efficient management of environmental issues. Examples of the kinds of tools needed to construct and support an Environmental management system includes: Knowledge and awareness of environmental concerns, and plans for dealing with them. Trained, competent personnel at all levels in the organization with clear roles, responsibilities, and accountabilities for handling environmental matters.

Consistent operating, communication, reporting, and recording procedures for all activities that have a potential for affecting the environment. These procedures must be designed to eliminate or at least minimize impacts by the organization on the environment.

Frequent monitoring and recording of the performance of individuals, Departments and operations. Timely and appropriate response to environmental problems focusing on immediate corrective actions, and follow-up measures to prevent recurrence.

An EMS is a management structure in which organizations can assess their environmental impacts. It creates a system to assess, catalogue, and quantify facility environmental impacts, not simply activity by activity, but throughout an entire facility, firm, or other organization. The goal of EMS adoption is to help organizations ensure that their operations articulate and achieve specified environmental goals, normally including at least compliance with environmental laws, management of other major environmental risks and liabilities, and potentially positive environmental improvements as well. An EMS supplies the framework to do so by creating a systematic structure (as shown in Figure 1) to adopt a written environmental policy; to identify all environmental aspects and impacts of their operations; to set priorities, goals and targets for continuous improvement in their environmental performance; to assign clear responsibilities for implementation, training, monitoring, and corrective actions; and to evaluate and refine implementation over time so as to achieve continuous improvement both in implementation of environmental goals and targets and in the EMS itself.

2.

What is ISO 14001?

ISO 14001 is a voluntary international standard developed by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), based in Geneva, Switzerland. At its core, it sets the requirements for establishment of an environmental management system. The implementation of ISO 14001 is cyclical process requiring the development of a comprehensive environmental policy, a planning process to operationally the policy, its implementation and operation, checking and implementing corrective action if needed, and management review which feeds back to rewriting the environmental policy For cities, there are several benefits of acquiring ISO 14001 certification. It provides leverage In emphasizing and replicating better citywide environmental action. It enables and provides An integrated approach to sound environmental management. The ISO 14001 takes a comprehensive view of all of the processes of an organization - hence it is system dependent, and not person-dependent. Some of the procedures required to be put in place in order to obtain ISO 14001 certification include: identification of significant environmental aspects identification of legal and other requirements internal and external communication and awareness building information collation and analysis

For cities, there are several benefits of acquiring ISO 14001 certification. It provides leverage in emphasizing and replicating better citywide environmental action. It enables and provides an integrated approach to sound environmental management. The ISO 14001 takes a comprehensive view of all of the processes of an organization - hence it is system dependent, and not person-dependent.

Some of the procedures required to be put in place in order to obtain ISO 14001 certification include: i. ii. iii. iv. v. vi. vii. viii. ix. x. xi. identification of significant environmental aspects identification of legal and other requirements internal and external communication and awareness building information collation and analysis operational control emergency preparedness and response monitoring and measurement of resource consumption equipment calibration evaluating legal and regulatory compliance maintaining records EMS Audit

3. Benefits
There are a range of benefits associated with operating an effective Environmental Management Systems (EMS):

Financial

Cost savings through the reduction of waste and more efficient use of natural resources (electricity, water, gas and fuels.) Avoiding fines and penalties from not meeting environmental legislation by identifying environmental risks and addressing weaknesses. Reduction in insurance costs by demonstrating better risk management

Operational and Internal

Improved overall performance and efficiency. More efficient, less hazardous production processes Improved consistency by reducing waste and disruption of production. More clearly defined staff responsibilities Improved internal communications and morale, often leading to sound environmental solutions suggested by staff proves seriousness of the company

External

Better public perception of the organization, leading to improved sales Reduction of the impact (e.g. noises, smells, dust) of your activities on the local residents, leading to more community support

Benefits of third party verification

Ensures that the EMS is consistent according to set protocols. Provides credibility and integrity in reporting and publishing environmental information. Demonstrates commitment to environmental transparency and accountability.

4. Components of an EMS
To develop an EMS, an organization has to assess its environmental impacts, set targets to reduce these impacts, and plan how to achieve the targets.

The most important component of an EMS is organizational commitment. For an effective EMS to be developed and implemented, you need commitment from the very top of the organization, as well as all staff. Further examples of components that should be considered when developing an EMS are: Environmental Policy: this is a statement of what an organization intends to achieve from an EMS. It ensures all environmental activities are consistent with the organizations objectives. Environmental Impact Identification: identification and documentation of the actual and potential environmental impacts of an organizations operations need to be undertaken. This can be achieved through undertaking an environmental audit. Objectives and Targets: an environmental audit forms the basis of determining an organizations environmental objectives and targets. An organization can find benefits in adopting more stringent longer term objectives to encourage it to improve its performance. To continually improve, targets should be regularly reviewed. Consultation: staff and community consultation should be undertaken before, during and after establishment of an EMS. This is necessary to ensure that all staff are involved in, and committed to the EMS. It can also help to improve public perception of the company, one of the benefits of implementing an EMS. Operational and Emergency Procedures: all procedures should be reviewed to ensure they are compatible with the organizations environmental objectives and targets. Any changes should be included with the documentation. Environmental Management Plan: this details the methods and procedures which an organization will use to meet its objectives and targets. Documentation: all objectives, targets, policies, responsibilities and procedures should be documented along with information on environmental performance. Documentation is useful for verifying environmental performance to staff, regulators and the community.

Responsibilities and Reporting Structure: responsibilities need to be allocated to staff and management to ensure the EMS is implemented effectively. Training: staff should undergo environmental awareness training to familiarize them with their responsibilities for implementing the EMS and with the overall environmental policy and objectives of the organization. This provides staff with the necessary skill and motivation for the effective implementation of the EMS. Review Audits and Monitoring Compliance: review audits should be undertaken regularly to ensure the EMS is achieving its objectives and to refine operational procedures to meet this goal. In order to ensure regulatory and other requirements are being met, it is often necessary to undertake regular environmental monitoring. Continual Improvement: an important component is continual improvement. An EMS comes into its best use when used to review progress towards the targets and objectives set by a company to protect the environment. The procedures set in place to meet these objectives should be constantly examined to see if they can be improved or if more effective systems can be introduced.

5. Types of EMS

a) Environmental Ecosystem :The term ecosystem was coined in 1930 by Roy Clapham, to denote the physical and biological components of an environment considered in relation to each other as a unit. British ecologist Arthur Tansley later refined the term, describing it as the interactive system established between biosensors (a group of living creatures) and their biotope (the environment in which they live). Central to the ecosystem concept is the idea that living organisms are continually engaged in a set of relationships with every other element constituting the environment in which they exist. The human ecosystem concept is then grounded in the deconstruction of the human/nature dichotomy, and the emergent premise that all species are ecologically integrated with each other, as well as with the a biotic constituents of their biotope. Ecosystems can be bounded and discussed with tremendous variety of scope, and describe any situation where there is relationship between organisms and their environment. A system as small as a household or university, or as large as a nation state, may then be suitably discussed as a human ecosystem. While they may be bounded and individually discussed, (human) ecosystems do not exist independently, but interact in a complex web of human and ecological relationships connecting all (human) ecosystems to make up the biosphere. As virtually no surface of the earth today is free of human contact, all ecosystems can be more accurately considered as human ecosystems.

b) Environmental audit:Environmental audit as the term indicates is a process to examine the effects-goodor bad of he operations of an enterprise on the environment. The confederation of British industry has defined environmental auditing as he systematic examination of the interactions between any business operation and its surroundings. This includes all emissions to air, land and water : legal constraints; the effects on neighboring community, landscape and ecology; the publics perception of the operating company in the local area.

To put in simple words an environmental audit is an assessment of the mature and extent of harm (or risk of harm) to the environment used by an industrial process or activity, waste, substance or noise. Environmental auditing originated in the United States in the 1970s as a way of checking whether a company was complying with a multitude of new environmental laws and regulations. Objectives of environmental audit:A healthy environment is a necessary prerequisite for a healthy business. The auditing function which has established itself as one of the disciplines for promoting and protecting the stakeholders and ensuring than the affairs of the organization have been conducted in their best interest had faced a challenge to verify and attest whether the affairs of the organization were conducted in the best environment or not. The environmental audit is a response to such challenge. Environmental auditing aims at protecting the environment for future generations. Its objectives are: 1) To determine whether a company complies with all regulatory and environmental performance standards or other management requirements for their operations. 2) To ensure conformity with environmental assessment requirements, and test the accuracy of the assessment.

c) Environmental economics:Introduction Economics is a body of knowledge (a science) that has certain theories, values, methods, and assumptions. One goal of economists is to understand how to produce goods for society in the most efficient manner. This is achieved by having a better understanding of human activities in a market system. The assumption in environmental economics is that the environment provides resources (renewable and non-renewable), assimilates waste, and provides aesthetic pleasure to humans. These are economic functions because they have positive economic value and could be bought and sold in the market place. However, traditionally, their value was not recognized because there is no market for these services (to establish a price), which is why economists talk about market failure. Market failure is defined as the inability of markets to reflect the full social costs or benefits of a good, service, or state of the world. Therefore, when markets fail, the result will be inefficient or unfavorable allocation of resources. Since economic theory wants to achieve efficiency, environmental economics is used as a tool to find a balance in the worlds system of resource use. Another basic term in environmental economics is the idea of scarcity. Historically, goods and services provided by the environment were seen to be limitless, having no cost, thus not considered scarce. Scarcity is a misallocation of these services (which are not limitless) due to a pricing problem. If resources were properly priced to include all costs, then the resource could not be over-exploited because the actual cost would be too high. This is a powerful tool in environmental problemsproper pricing. Environmental economics is not the same as ecological economics. Ecological economics is a new model with the basic premise being that market-based activities are not sustainable, so a grand new theory is needed to describe the world and determine how to conduct activities in a sustainable manner. It uses an entirely different framework. This paper will discuss only environmental economics.

What is environmental valuation? In order to help correct economic decisions that often treat environmental functions as free, it is important to define and measure their value. Valuation measures human preferences for or against changes in the state of environments. It does not value the environment on its own. If there is no human attachment to it, then the service has no economic value. Although other types of value are often important, economic values are useful to consider when making economic choices choices that involve tradeoffs in allocating resources. Measures of economic value are based on what people want their preferences. Economists generally assume that individuals, not the government, are the best judges of what they want. Thus, the theory of economic valuation is based on individual preferences and choices. People express their preferences through the choices and tradeoffs that they make, given certain constraints, such as those on income or available time. In a market economy, dollars (or some other currency) are a universally accepted measure of economic value, because the number of dollars that a person is willing to pay for something tells how much of all other goods and services they are willing to give up to get that item. This is often referred to as willingness to pay. There are two types of values: use and non-use. Use value is defined as the value derived from the actual use of a good or service, such as hunting, fishing, birdwatching, or hiking. Use values may also include indirect uses, such as the value of a bug that a fish may eat, which then a fisherperson may catch. Though that bug is not directly used by the fisherperson, it has an indirect value because of its place in the food chain. A large part of environmental economics has been devoted to valuing use services. Non-use values, also referred to as passive use values, are values that are not associated with actual use, or even the option to use a good or service.

How is valuation used? Cost/Benefit Analysis

The main method used for valuation is cost-benefit analysis (CBA). This analysis is basically compiling the costs of a project as well as the benefits, then translating them into monetary terms and discounting them over time. (Discounting is the process of determining the present value of future benefits and costs.) Ideally, only projects with benefits greater than costs would be acceptable. Cost - benefit comparisons have some problems. First, environmental benefits often lack market value, yet their costs are known. Second, benefits are often collected over time, while costs are up front. This creates a dilemma, since the question to be answered is in present time. Third, it is often difficult to understand what is being measured or to determine values for what is being measured. And fourth, results are often controversial and in some cases, could be used against you. However, it is good to remember that you are empowered just by describing each benefit, even if you cant value it.

Conclusion
The increasing rate of adoption of ISO 14001 EMSs represents an important phenomenon in itself, both for businesses and for public utilities and other government facilities that are choosing to implement them. Among the many recent initiatives toward voluntary approaches to better environmental management, they represent in concept the most significant form to date of systematic commitment to continuous improvement in environmental performance by a significant and growing number of facilities and their parent organizations. In addition, this phenomenon represents an opportunity for fresh thought about environmental policy strategies, and about how the goals of those policies might be achieved more efficiently as well as more effectively and at less public cost for inspection, for enforcement, and for development of additional new regulations to address unsolved environmental problems. So far there are no clear guarantees that these favorable results will occur, much less that they will occur systematically across business sectors. Even if they do, there is no guarantee that they will occur without at least enforceable environmental standardsand perhaps the threat of the burden of permitting, inspection, and enforcement procedures as wellas a context and incentive for better self-initiated approaches. Nor is there yet clear evidence as to the stability of EMS goals and implementation over time, especially as personnel committed to them change and firms themselves undergo changes in leadership, priorities, financial and market pressures, and even corporate structure and ownership (and for publicly-owned facilities, changes in elected political leadership). These initial cases offer at least suggestive indications, however, that real benefits can result, both for facilities that adopt EMSs and for the public. We look forward to continuing this line of research, to reporting further as

the EMS design data and update protocols on economic and environmental performance are completed, and to discussion and comment from others in the meantime.