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ARS Home Northeast Area Docs Safety, Health and Environmental Training







Environmental Management Systemheadline bar 1 - Environmental Management System
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                  4 - Page 4  HOME  Environmental Management System Executive Order 13148 dictates that federal agencies shift from reactive to proactive in anticipating and preventing adverse effects on the environment and human health.We must go beyond merely complying with regulations and evaluate all environmental impacts of our operations; integrate environmental accountability into daily decision making and long-term planning; implement formal Environmental Management Systems (EMS); establish compliance auditing programs; and take other measures to transform their existing environmental stewardship approaches to a more comprehensive and dynamic mission-driven model.EMS ChartAs the chart indicate, the EMS is an ongoing policy and will be reviewed every year.The EMS is flexible and so do not require organization to "retool" their existing activities. An EMS establishes a management framework by which an organization's impacts on the environment can by systematically identified and reduced. For example, many organizations have an active and effective pollution prevention policy. This can be incorporated into the overall EMS.The First Step:List all activities associated with our facility and research-related operations and then identifying the significant aspects of those activities that have an impact on the environment. Do they produce waste? Do they impact the land, water, and air? Are hazardous materials invovled? How much water and energy are used? Research ActivitiesFacility Operation ActivitiesConstruction and Demolition ActivitiesDetermine if there environmental aspects associated with each activitiesAspects and ImpactsA closer looks at Aspect & ImpactAspectsPurchasing Hazardous ChemicalsImpactsDepletion of natural resources in the following ways:Energy utilized in chemical manufacturing; andEnergy requirements for chemical storage (e.g., use of electricity for low-temperature refrigeration or ventilationGeneration of hazardous waste by the following activities:Duplicate purchasing of hazardous chemicals already on location inventory;Large-scale purchasing of unusable quantities of chemical; and,Chemical is not used, resulting in chemical entering hazardous waste stream due to expired use date.AspectsUse of Hazardous ChemicalsImpactsContamination of land, water, and airDepletion of natural resources in the following ways:Energy utilized in laboratory manipulations (e.g., use of electricity for electrophoresis, centrifugation, fumehood operation, etc.);Use of water, plastic ware, and paper; and,Increased chemical consumption due to use of macro chemical methodologies rather than employing use of newer microchemistry techniques.Generation of hazardous wastes and the cost for disposalChemical release or spills and the cost for HAZMAT or emergency spill response team clean-up and disposal.AspectsVehicle MaintenanceImpactsHazardous waste generationGasoline consumptionNoise generationElectricity consumptionSolid waste generationWater consumptionWaste water generationRelease of volatilesAspectsOffice WorkImpactsElectricity consumptionWater consumptionWaste water generationRelease of ozone depleting substances in air cooling unitsSolid waste generationDisposal of toxics from computer toner, etc.AspectsRenovation of Existing FacilitiesImpactsGeneration of hazardous waste (PCB containing materials, asbestos containing materials, mercury containing materials).Generation of solid wasteDepletion of natural resourcesAspectsConstruction of New FacilitiesImpactsDepletion of natural resources (construction materials, fossil fuels).Generation of solid wasteLand and waterway contamination (run-off from construction sites). [1]
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