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Identifying Environmental

Aspects
EPA Regions 9 & 10
and
The Federal Network for Sustainability
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Objectives
After this discussion, you should be able to:
Define an environmental aspect
List the steps in preparing an aspects
register
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Overview
Definition
Examples
Building an Aspects Register
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Definition
An environmental aspect is the part of an
activity, product, or service that interacts
with the environment. An aspect can be
thought of as the actual or potential cause
of an environmental impact.
Aspects can be regulated or unregulated.

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Environmental Aspects
Vehicles emit exhaust
Water leaks from distribution system
Fueling spills occur
Containers not closed
Noise from aircraft engine run-up testing
Lights and computers left on at night
Copier paper bleached with chlorine
Bicycles dont emit exhaust

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More Examples
Activity, Product, or Service
Flying aircraft


Visitor services
Environmental Aspect
Jet fuel consumption
Jet fuel storage
Noise generation
Gasoline consumption
Electricity consumption
Solid waste generation
Water consumption
Waste water generation
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Examples
Activity, Product, or Service
Vehicle maintenance



Environmental Aspect
Hazardous waste generation
Gasoline consumption
Noise generation
Electricity consumption
Solid waste generation
Water consumption
Waste water generation
Release of volatiles
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Examples
Activity, Product, or Service
Souvenirs in gift shop




Cafeteria food service

Environmental Aspect
Packaging
Use of raw materials
Fuel consumption for transport
Solid waste generation
Food waste generation
Electricity consumption
Water consumption
Waste water generation
Use of ammonia in refrigeration
equipment

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Examples
Activity, Product, or Service
Office work



Environmental Aspect
Electricity consumption
Water consumption
Waste water generation
Use of ozone depleting
substances in air cooling
units
Solid waste generation
Heavy metals in computers
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Examples
Activity, Product, or Service
Cleaning offices




Playing field upkeep
(golf course, softball field,
parade ground)

Environmental Aspect
Hazardous material usage
Electricity consumption
Solid waste generation
Water consumption
Waste water generation
Water consumption
Waste water generation
Pesticide usage
Gasoline consumption
Grass clipping generation
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Aspects and the EMS
When first developing your EMS, do a
comprehensive aspects analysis.

ISO 14001 requires organizations to:
develop procedures to identify
environmental aspects
keep register of aspects up-to-date.
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Building an Aspects
Register
Review gap analysis
Assemble list of activities,
products, and services
Characterize activities, products, and
services
List aspects
Quantify aspects if possible
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Review Gap Analysis
Facility walk-through
MSDSs
Environmental management plans
Staff interviews
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List of Activities, Products,
and Services
Public Affairs office
Commercial activities studies
GPRA analysis
Air Force compliance site inventories
Real property list
NEPA reviews
Transportation studies
Match list with fenceline
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Characterize Activities,
Products, and Services
Process flow diagrams
Interviews with supervisors, managers
Hazardous material inventories
Hazardous waste records
Records from emergency planning, accident
reports, emergency incidents
Water and energy consumption records
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List Aspects
Determine number of distinct aspects
Dont forget about transportation and
construction
Sort and organize aspects, for example:
Releases to air
Water consumption, pollution
Land contamination
Use of raw materials, natural resources
Other local environmental, community issues
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Quantify Aspects
Use data from gap analysis or aspect
identification
Collect additional data if available
Use consistent units
Document sources of data
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Summary
Identification of environmental aspects is a
key part of an EMS
Aspects arise from activities, products, and
services
An EMS includes procedures for aspect
identification and update

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