Transcript Document

Improving Operations,
Compliance, &
Environmental
Performance at Public
Works Facilities
APWA
4/11/08
1
2
Ever had challenges meeting
or maintaining compliance?
What made it a challenge?
3
What are your biggest
challenges?
Operational?
Compliance?
Supervisory?
Fiscal?
4
What’s changed over past
5, 10, 20 years?
What challenges lie in the
future?
5
Contributing Factors?
6
What could make it better?
How could Plan-Do-Check-Act help?
7
Household EMS Exercise
8
An EMS Has Three Key
Commitments

Compliance with relevant laws
and regulations

Prevention of pollution

Continual improvement
ENV.
POLICY
C
O
M
P
L
Y
P P
R O
E L
V L
E U
N T
T I
O
N
I
M
P
R
O
V
E
9
The P-D-C-A Framework
plan
act
Continual
improvement
do
check
10
What is an EMS?

An Environmental Management
System is a system of processes
to support an organization in
integrating environmental
concerns into its daily practices
11
A way to figure out:
•Who has what impact on the
environment
•How to prevent/address that impact
•Make it everyone’s responsibility
•Stay out of trouble, save money, feel
and look good over a long period of
time
12
Fancy term for good
management
13
Basic Steps
IDENTIFY how operations affect the environment
PRIORITIZE
MANAGE
MITIGATE
DOCUMENT
CHECK
LEARN
14
Say what you do
Do what you say
Prove it
15
Lessons Learned
 Much
of what is needed for an EMS may
already be in place
 An EMS is more of a change management issue
than a technical fix
16
Keys to Success
Management support
Effective ‘champion’
Involved and engaged staff
KISS
Effective teams
17
18
Plan-Do-Check-Act Tools





Process flow diagrams
Aspects and Impacts
Significance Ranking
Action Plans/Environmental Management
Programs
Operational Controls
19
Environmental Aspects &
Impacts:
Figuring out how our activities
affect the environment
How do you do it now?
20
What is an Environmental Aspect?

An Element of An
Organization’s
Activities, Products
or Services That
Can Interact with
the Environment




Examples
Air Emissions (CO &
NOx)
Energy Usage (Gas &
Diesel)
Used Oil Recycling
Solid Waste Generation
21
Key: Identify the
environmental aspects
that your organization
- Can control, and
- Over which it can have
an influence
22
Environmental Impact
Any Changes to the
environment, whether
adverse or beneficial,
wholly or partially
resulting from an
organization’s activities,
products or services




Examples
Degradation of Air
Quality
Reduction in Natural
Resources
Conservation of
Natural Resources
Reduction in Landfill
Space
23
Relationship
ASPECT
IMPACT
CAUSE



Air Emissions
(CO, NOx)
Energy Usage
(Gas and Diesel)
Used Oil Recycling
EFFECT




Solid Waste Generation

Degradation of
Air Quality
Reduction in
Natural Resources
Conservation of
Natural Resources
Reduction in
Landfill Space
24

We do or provide……..
 That
results in………
That
has an impact on…..
(Activity)
(Aspect)
(Impact)
25
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
26
Aspect/Impact Matrix
ACTIVITIES,
OPERATIONS,
SERVICES
PRODUCING
BROCHURES
ENVIRONMENTAL
ASPECTS
1. Purchasing recycled paper
2. Recycling paper
1. Recycling conserves
natural resources
2. Promotes demand for
recycling and contributes
to societal goals for
resource conservation
1. Water use
2. Water treatment
3. Water discharge to sewer
1. Drawing water impacts
rivers and aquifers
2. Overburden at POTW results
in untreated discharges
1. Storing supplies
2. Removing unneeded suppl.
3. Recycling
4. Possible spills
5. Disposal of packaging
1. Incompatible compounds
pose potential hazard
2. Health hazard
3. Landfill impacts
paper
water
Ink
ink preservers
cleaning solv.
POTENTIAL
ENVIRONMENTAL
IMPACTS
27
Activity
Aspect
Impact
28
NOW WHAT?
What do we work on first?
Determining SIGNIFICANCE helps you decide
How do you currently decide what’s
important?
29
Criteria for Significance
• Defined by the core team
• Unique to the organization
• Subjective, not an exact science
• Not based on a complex formula
30
A Simple Matrix Approach
You determine
these criteria
Everything regulated is significant
Aspects with a total 12 or higher are significant
ASPECT
Reg
Volume Toxic
Key: 5 = high
Health Nuisance Cost
3 = moderate
1 = low
0 = N/A
31
Common Issues:



If it’s “Significant” it must be managed!
Just because it’s not (per the scoring)
doesn’t mean it’s not important
“Significant” environmental aspects need
extra intervention and attention
32
Setting Goals

Objectives and Targets

Accomplish______ by__________ date.
33
How do we get there?

Action Plans and Environmental Management
Programs
34
What does it take to make it
part of the way we work?
Training
35
SOPs & Operational Controls
36
Communication
37
Communication
38
Communication
39
The EMS Framework
plan
act
Continual
improvement
do
check
40
41
Checking Back:
The Role of Audits in an EMS
•Compliance Audits: Determines whether operational
practices comply with applicable regulatory requirements.
•It is a systematic inspection of regulatory conditions,
techniques and practices, operations, records and assesses
violations for emissions, effluents, accidental releases,
or failed record keeping.
42
Role of Audits
EMS Audit: Determines whether the environmental
management system conforms with planned arrangements. (3
stages)
A Documentation Audit to assure the documented procedures
conform to a standard.
A Conformity Audit to verify that the actual management and
operational activities meet the goals of the management system.
Addresses Continuous Development of system procedures
to prevent reoccurrences of non-compliances
43
When?
Audit periodically during development –
like mid term exams.

Check what has worked and what could
work/improved.

44
BOTTOM LINE
Are we doing what
we said we would do?
Do we need to
modify things to
improve
implementation and
efficacy?
45
Build a SYSTEM to Survive
Build a SYSTEM to Manage
Better
Build a SYSTEM to Excel
46
Resources
www.peercenter.net
www.uml.edu/emsc
Madeline Snow, UML, 978-934-4875
www.epa.gov/ems
http://www.epa.gov/waterinfrastructure/pdfs/guidebook_si_energymanagement.pdf
EMS: An Implementation Guide for Small and Medium-Sized Organizations, NSF
International, January 2001
www.epa.gov/owm/iso14001/ems2001final.pdf
Ensuring a Sustainable Future: An Energy Management Guidebook for Wastewater
and Water Utilities, January 2008
http://www.epa.gov/waterinfrastructure/pdfs/guidebook_si_energymanagement.pdf
47