Questions about the environmental management system ISO 14001

      1: What are ISO, ISO 14000 and ISO 14001?

ISO is an International Organization for Standardization in Geneva, Switzerland. ISO promotes the development and implementation of voluntary international standards for all specific products and environmental management problems. ISO 14000:2015 mentions a range of voluntary criteria in the field of environment developed by ISO. Environmental management system (EMS), and other criteria in the field of environmental audit, environmental performance assessment, environmental labeling, and life circle assessment. Recent EMS criteria and audit have been mended and launched in September 2015.

2. How were these standards developed?

All ISO standards were developed by a voluntary method based on the agreement. Each ISO member country develops its position on standards and these positions are then negotiated with other member states. Draft versions of the standards are sent for official written comments and each country officially votes on the draft at the appropriate stage of the process. In every country, various organizations can participate in the process including industry, the government (Federal and State), and other interested parties such including different non-government organizations such as EPA, and other countries which have contributed to the development of ISO 14001:2015 standard (evaluating its efficacy through a series of pilot projects).

3. What should the community do to achieve an EMS that meets ISO 14001 standard?

ISO 14001: 2015 standard requires a community and an organization to conduct a series of practices and procedures when cooperating. ISO 14001: 2015 is not a technical standard, so it does not replace any technical requirements expresses in the regulations. Also, there is no criteria in terms of efficiency in ISO 14001: 2015 standard. Main requirements of EMS according to ISO 14001: 2015 include:

A policy statement includes commitments to prevent pollution, continual improvement of EMS leading to improvements in environmental performance and compliance with all applicable legal and regulatory requirements.

• Identifying all aspects of community organization’s activities, products, and services which can have significant impacts on the environment including non -regulated activities.
• Establishing performance goals and objectives for the management system which backlinks with the three commitments established in the policy of the community or the organization (for example, pollution prevention, continuous disruption, and compliance). prime).
• Conducting EMS to achieve this objective. This includes a wide range of activities: pre-audit staff, setting up guidelines, implementing work, setting up real data, so objectives will be measured later on.
• Setting up a periodic program to check EMS’s activities.
• Testing and implementing corrective and preventive activities when there is a deviation as compared to EMS including a periodic assessment evaluating the compliance of the organization with applicable regulations.
• Performing periodic reviews on EMS by top management to ensure its continuous performance and make adjustments to it, as needed.

4. Is EMS relevant to the community?

Yes, because ISO 14001: 2015 is simply a system designed to assist the community and different kinds of organizations to conduct their environmental duty and reduce their impacts on the environment. Districts, towns, and cities often supervise a number of separate facilities and activities. EMS can be used as a framework to help these activities improve their effectiveness, and use more pollution prevention methods. In several counties, the use of this standard is not being established well at the moment, but some counties are starting using it.

5. What are the potential benefits of EMS based on ISO 14001?

• Improve performance and overall environmental compliance.
• Provide a framework for using pollution prevention practices to meet EMS goals.
• Increase efficiency and save potential costs when managing environmental obligations.
• More effective targeting of scarce environmental management resources.
• Improve public posture with external stakeholders.

6. Is it possible to integrate current environmental management activities into EMS according to ISO 14001?

Yes. The standard is flexible and does not require organizations to necessarily "retool" their existing operations. This International Standard establishes a management framework whereby an organization's impact on the environment can be systematically identified and reduced. For example, many organizations, including counties and cities, have active and effective pollution prevention activities underway. They can be included in the overall EMS according to ISO 14001: 2015.

7. Why is the US interested in promoting EMS according to ISO 14001?

Like several states, EPA believes that the environmental management system can serve as a valuable tool to help organizations to improve their environmental performances and compliance. However, this premise needs to be closely evaluated, working with many organizations, including those in the public sector. EMS may, in the future, be the basis for providing regulatory flexibility for organizations that successfully implement the public.