aspect_impact.pptx

Aspect Impact evaluation

1. ISO 14001 Section 4.3.1 Environmental Aspects Julie Woosley, NC DPPEA Coordinator, EMS Development Course for Government Agencies Novozymes facility Franklinton, NC October 9, 2001

2. 4.3.1 Environmental Aspects “The organization shall establish and maintain (a) procedure(s) to identify the environmental aspects of its activities, products, or services that it can control and over which it can be expected to have an influence, in order to determine those which have or can have significant impacts on the environment. The organization shall ensure that the aspects related to these significant impacts are considered in settings its environmental objectives. The organization shall keep this information up-to-date.”

3. Core Elements of EMS Most other elements are directly associated with results from identifying and ranking aspects and their associated impacts: Objectives and Targets Management Program Training/Awareness Operational Control Emergency preparedness Monitoring and measuring Corrective and Preventative Action Auditing

4. Definition of Aspect / Impact Environmental aspect ( cause or input ) element of organizations activities, products, or services which can interact with the environment. Environmental impact ( effect or output ) any change to the environment whether adverse or beneficial, wholly or partially resulting from an organization’s activities, products, or services

5. Aspect and Impact Example Activity, Product, Service Aspect Impact Boiler Operations Air emissions Air pollution Fuel consumption Natural resource depletion Boiler blowdown Water pollution Water consumption Natural resource depletion

6. Step One Establish a team. Examples: representative of QA/QC, maintenance, utilities, production divisions, office, environmental, etc. Educate the team on purpose and implications of identifying aspects and impacts. Include general training on EMS’s and ISO 14001.

7. Purpose and Implications Determining the significant environmental aspects and associated impacts allows a facility to focus its time and resources on those issues with the greatest potential for environmental impact .

8. Purpose and Implications The evaluation of environmental aspects and their associated impacts should be primarily “fenceline” issues. 3.12 Definition of organization will establish “fenceline” or boundaries. Internal issues should not be a primary focus unless health and safety are included in management system.

9. Purpose and Implications The organization only has to identify those environmental aspects that it “can control and over which it can be expected to have influence”. Control includes fiscal control (financial ability that can affect aspect) and organizational control (decision making authority that can effect aspect) The facility should not spend resources assessing aspects it cannot do anything about.

10. Purpose and Implications The significant environmental aspects that are identified will determine how other elements of the standard are fulfilled: Operational procedures Education, competence and training of employees whose activities affect these aspects. Monitoring and measuring techniques.

11. Step Two Identify Aspects / Impacts Select an activity, a product or service. Identify as many environmental aspects as possible associated with the selected activity. Identify as many actual and potential, positive and negative, environmental impacts associated with each identified aspect.

12. Example Aspect / Impact Form

13. Identifying Aspects of Activities Activity Inputs: Raw material Electricity Water Outputs: Finished product Exhaust Waste products

14. Identifying Aspects and Impacts Aspects of activities that should be considered include: Emissions to air / releases to water Surface and groundwater Waste disposal / land contamination Raw material / natural resource use energy, water, chemicals, lumber, etc. Local environmental / community issues noise, odor, land use, appearance, etc.

15. Sources of information process flow diagram input/output (mass balance) regulatory reports utility bills QC information (defects, product changes) waste hauling records purchasing receipts records of external communication

16. Aspects and Impacts - Feedback What did your facility do? Are you finished identifying aspects/impacts? How many did you identify?

17. Step Three Identify significant aspects Develop a definition of significance and determine what factors will be considered in determining significance Should involve input from top management Establish a rating scheme for the factors of significance

18. Factors to Consider Environmental Concerns such as: The scale of the impact The severity of impact The probability of impact Duration of impact Business Concerns such as: Potential regulatory and legal exposure Difficulty and cost of changing the impact Effect of change on other activities and processes Concerns of interested parties Effect on the public image of the organization

19. Example Rating Scheme Significance Criteria Rating Scheme Legal Liabilities: Is the aspect regulated Low (1): Issue not regulated Medium (2): Violation or possible fine High (3): Criminal Action Public Concern: Has the Public ever expressed concern about the aspect Low (1): never Medium (2): sometimes High (3): Often Frequency: What is the overall frequency or probability of the aspects impact Low (1): less than once a year Medium (2): Between 1/mn and 1/yr High (3): Occurs monthly or more freq. Severity: What is the overall severity of the aspects impact Low (1): impact aesthetic, amenity Medium (2): impact water, air, soil quality High (3): detrimental to human, flora fauna

20. Example Significance Matrix Activity, Product, Service Aspect Impact Legal Liability Public Concern Frequency Severity OSR Significance (OSR>2.5) Dissolve Mineral Ore Water use Resource depletion 1 3 2 1 1.75 No Natural Gas Use Resource depletion 1 1 2 2 1.50 No Natural Gas Use Air pollution (Nox) 1 2 2 1 1.50 No Use of Strong Acids Spills to land or water 3 2 3 3 2.75 Yes

21. Dames and Moore Significance Determination Included Health and Safety in their EMS: EHS Why?: Leverage clear relationship b/w H&S and Env. impacts To prioritize H&S and improve performance Organizational convenience NOTE: Don’t recommend including H&S during implementation Organized in form of a consequence and frequency matrix

22. Ranking Environmental Aspects: Example Procedures and Lists City of Gastonia, NC City of Charleston, SC City of Scottsdale, AZ

23. Additional Resources ISO 14004 See DPPEA website http://www.p2pays.org/iso/index.htm Refer to Alcoa and Uniroyal Chemical Co. EMS Manuals on our website, others: http://www.p2pays.org/iso/tools/manuals.htm Coaches – ask if you would like help on aspect/impact identification and ranking Road maps

24. From the EMS Team Meeting to determining significance Effective Meeting/Group Project Management Handbook Remember to take notes at EMS Team meetings: how did you agree to determine aspects/impacts, ranking? Use discussion techniques listed to determine what factors you will use to rank aspects: brainstorming, multivoting, nominal group consensus, reaching consensus Write the procedures

25. Exercise: Determining Significance What factors do you think are important for determining significance? List at least 15 Vote on three each

26. Expectations of Participants: Your BACK PACK! B e enthusiastic A ttend all courses C omplete homework and bring to course K eep in touch with your coach P ersevere A sk for help Be C reative K eep developing your EMS between course meetings and after the course ends

27. EMS Team Members: Add some WATER to your backpacks! W illingness - to learn and participate A genda - so everyone is prepared T alking stick – so everyone knows the ground rules for meetings E nergy and E nthusiasm – no such thing as too much R ole understanding – for each participant, for both EMS meetings and for EMS design and implementation

28. Road Maps Don’t go hacking through the jungle, follow the Yellow Brick Road See Guides – Online Resources IEMS Implementation Guide for Small and Medium-Sized Businesses Environmental Aspects Identification – activities list (fishbone diagram) – Suzanne Sessoms, August 28 Gap analysis (initial environmental review) See GEMI handout – John Burke

29. Homework Assignment For next course meeting (Nov. 13): Complete identification of aspects and impacts Rank aspects and impacts Determine significant aspects and impacts

30. If you get stuck. . . . . . Ask for help! On-line Resources Your Coach – ask them to help you! DPPEA Staff DPPEA’s free EMS training DPPEA’s free, non-regulatory waste assessments