Environmental Management System Demonstration Project Final Report

By Diamond, Craig P.

Book Id: WPLBN0000072622
Format Type: PDF eBook
File Size: 0.3 MB
Reproduction Date: 2007

Title:	Environmental Management System Demonstration Project Final Report
Author:	Diamond, Craig P.
Volume:
Language:	English
Subject:	Ecology, Natural resource issues, Environemtal protection
Collections:	Environmental Awareness Library Collection
Historic Publication Date:
Publisher:	United States Environmental Protection Agency


Citation APA MLA Chicago Diamond, C. P. (n.d.). Environmental Management System Demonstration Project Final Report. Retrieved from http://gutenberg.cc/

Description
Excerpt: The ISO 14000 series of standards, in particular the ISO 14001 Standard for environmental management systems (EMS), has become one of the most widely discussed developments in environmental management in both the private and public sectors. The ISO 14001 Standard was officially approved in September 1996, and is expected to become as pervasive in the international marketplace as the ISO 9000 series of quality management standards. This expectation has driven many organizations to devote significant resources into preparing for ISO 14001. Despite this level of investment, there is still a great deal of uncertainty about the implementation of the ISO 14001 Standard. Although several organizations in Europe have completely implemented a formal EMS based on standards (e.g., BS 7750, EMAS, IS 310), relatively few organizations in the United States have done so. Therefore, in the U.S. there is a need for “real life” examples from organizations about the challenges and benefits of implementing an EMS and the incentives for doing so.

Table of Contents
CONTENTS I. Foreword . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Organization of the Report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Advice to Readers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Acknowledgments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 II. Executive Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Project Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Project Findings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Conclusions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 III. Introduction and Project Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Project Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Project Activities in Detail . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Profile of Participating Organizations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 IV. EMS Implementation Progress . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Background on EMS Assessments and Data Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Self-Assessment Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Findings from Independent Assessments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 V. Findings on Key EMS Implementation Issues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 Incentives for Implementing an EMS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 Benefits and Costs of Implementation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 Barriers and Keys to Successful Implementation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 Links with ISO 9000 and Health & Safety . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 Comparison of SMEs and Large Organizations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 Recommended Guidance and Implementation Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 Participant Feedback on ISO 14001 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 Participant Advice to Regulators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42 VI. Conclusions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 Major Lessons Learned . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 Remaining Questions and Areas for Future Study . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44 VII. Case Studies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46 3M Corporation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47 Allergan, Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51 Commodore Applied Technologies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54 Fluke Corporation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56 Globe Metallurgical Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .