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City of Shelby Wastewater Treatment Division

Becomes State’s Second Public Agency to Implement a Certified

Environmental Management SystemCERTIFICATION # 2736

Presented By: Cynthia I. Walters

“ Quality Always’IT’S ABOUT THE PEOPLE

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rotect The Environment

nderstand Regulations

educe Pollution

nsure Knowledge

“Quality Always”ITS ABOUT THE PEOPLE.

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City of ShelbyUtilities Department

Environmental Policy  The City of Shelby Wastewater Treatment Division is committed to the collection, treatment, and disposal of wastewater and biosolids in a responsible and environmentally safe way. The Wastewater Treatment Division will:  Comply with all regulations, laws, and standards applicable to our processes and waste.

Commit to continual improvement of the environment by setting and reviewing objectives and targets.

Communicate this policy to the public.

Ensure that all Plant personnel are trained, understand and knowledgeable of their environmental responsibilities.

Protect the environment by the disposal of waste in a safe and healthy manner.

 Commit to corrective and preventive action. Identify, and correct any problems and prevent any reoccurrences. 

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Overview of City of Shelby Wastewater Treatment DivisionThe City of Shelby’s First Broad River Wastewater Treatment Plant is located at 1940 South Lafayette Street, Shelby,NC.

The 6.0 MGD Wastewater Treatment Facility is responsible for the treatment of domestic, and commercial wastewater to meet all state and federal regulations and limits into the surface waters of the First Broad River.

The City of Shelby’s compost facility, also located at the wastewater treatment site, is responsible for the management and disposal of its bios lids in an environmentally safe way.

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What is the definition of an Environmental Management System (EMS)?

Serves as a tool to improve environmental performance

Provides a systematic way of managing an organization’s environmental affairs Is the aspect of the organization’s overall management structure that addresses immediate and long-term impacts of its products, services and processes on the environment

Gives order and consistency for organizations to address environmental concerns through the allocation of resources, assignment of responsibility and ongoing evaluation of practices, procedures and processes

Focuses on continual improvement of the system

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An EMS is a continual cycle of planning, implementing, reviewing and improving the processes and actions that an organization undertakes to meet its business and environmental goals. Most EMSs are built on the "Plan, Do, Check, Act" model. This model leads to continual improvement based

What is an EMS?

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•Planning, including identifying environmental aspects and establishing goals [plan];

•Implementing, including training and operational controls [do];

•Checking, including monitoring and corrective action [check]; and

•Reviewing, including progress reviews and acting to make needed changes to the EMS [act].

“ Plan, Do, Check, Act “

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All Wastewater Treatment Plant staff participated with the development and implementation of the Environmental

Management System.

Environmental Management System Responsible Persons

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EMS DevelopmentEMS Coordinator developed the ISO 14001EMS Procedures.

The Plant Operations Superintendent, Supervisors and/or staff members wrote the operational controls, emergency preparedness and response program.

The Utilities staff have the responsibility to carry out their job assignments following approved procedures to facilitate effective environmental management.

For each level and function that has established environmental objectives and targets, the roles and responsibilities of the operator shall be defined and it shall be documented that the staff has received the appropriate training to accomplish the work assignment.

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The EMS Team was trained on the ISO 14001 Standard and awareness by the

EMS Coordinator

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EMS Team MeetingsThe EMS Team meet once

a month to review :

Progress on the EMS Improvement Plans.

New developments or modified activities

Ensure that staff members receive appropriate training.

Procedures are established and maintained.

Consider any changes to policy, objectives and other elements of the EMS.

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Training, Awareness and Competence Procedure EMS 4.4.2

Each EMS Steering Committee shall identify training needs.

The EMS Steering Committee is responsible for maintaining environmental training requirements

Environmental training needs will be evaluated annually by the department.

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Benefits of TrainingDocumented training of all Utilities Staff members on environmental awareness.

All visitors to the Utilities Department will receive nominal awareness training.

Contractors and persons performing

work at any utilities Department will

receive documented environmental training

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Corrective / Preventive Action Procedure EMS 4.5.2

This procedure is to define the steps to initiate, execute and document corrective or preventive actions taken in response to nonconformance, the potential for nonconformance or system weakness. This procedure applies to all departments where EMS requirements are in place and environmental nonconformities occur.The department head has the responsibility to review the request for adequacy and relevance to the EMS.  The EMS Coordinator has the responsibility and authority to initiate a request for corrective/preventive action, verify the corrective action for completeness, close and communicate the corrective/preventive action results with the affected department(s).

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City of Shelby WWTDEMS Corrective/Preventive Action Request

Action Requested Corrective Action Preventive Action EMS Corresponding Requirement: Type or print clearly. Complete one form for each request. Tracking Number (Assigned by EMS Mgr.) 

Section A. Identification of Associate and Program Unit - This section is to be completed by the requestor.

1. Associate Identification  (Name) (Title) (Telephone) (Date)2. Section/Department 3. Signature

 Section B. Description of Corrective/Preventive Action - This section is to be completed by the requestor and forwarded to his/her department head or supervisor. Be specific and describe the situation and proposed method of correction as clearly and accurately as possible in order that the situation can be properly assessed. Use additional paper if necessary.B(1). Description    B(2). Proposed Method of Correction    Section C. Department Review for EMS Relevance - This section is to be completed by the department head/supervisor of the associate submitting this form and forwarded to the EMS Manager for tracking number assignment and implementation.

1. Department Head/Supervisor Identification  (Name) (Title) (Telephone) (Date)2. Results of Review Accepted Rejected

3. If rejected, state reason. 

4. Signature of Department Head/Supervisor  

5. Date forwarded to EMS Manager for action (if accepted) 

Section D. Verification/Findings - This section to be completed by the EMS Manager.

1. Date Received 

2. Expected Completion Date 

3. Date Closed

4. Findings/Comments     5. Signature   

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EMS Records Procedure EMS 4.5.3

The purpose of this procedure is to define the steps that the Utilities department follows to ensure that environmental management system (EMS) records are properly identified, collected, indexed and filed to allow for ready access and retrieval.

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Internal Environmental Audit Procedure EMS 4.5.4

It is the responsibility of the EMS coordinator to ensure internal audits are scheduled and conducted at least annually and that audit results are promptly reported to the department head (and to upper management if major findings).

It is the responsibility of the EMS coordinator (or designee) to follow up on audit findings and to prepare audit reports of internal audits for Management Review.

It is the responsibility of the Utilities Department staff to cooperate fully during EMS audits, understanding they are the drivers for the continual improvement of the environmental management system.

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Management Review Procedure EMS 4.6

Executive management is responsible for calling management review meetings for the relevant departments to evaluate the working of the EMS

Management reviews will be conducted, initially on a quarterly basis for the relevant departments, and subsequently on a lesser frequency as necessary, but at least annually.

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Management ReviewThe agenda as a minimum will include:

A)    Review of department established objectives and targets;

B)     Review of C/PAR Tracking Log;

C)    Review of status of corrective and preventive actions resulting from past reviews;

D)    Review of audit findings, Nonconformance/Observation Reports with corrective actions and follow up activities;

E)     Review of reports of customer complaints;

F)     Review of relevant Interested Party issues or requests;

G)    Audit reports of EMS process conformance;

H)    Reports of regulatory compliance;

I) Evaluate the suitability and effectiveness of the EMS, identifying changes needed in the EMS, in light of EMS audit results, changing circumstances and the commitment to continual improvement.

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Time Consuming Steps of EMS Implementation

Policy development

Identification of aspects and their impact on the environment.

Standard Operating Procedures for the significant aspects.

Environmental objectives and targets.

Training on SOP’s for significant aspects.

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Benefits of an EMS

Improvements in overall environmental performance.

Increased efficiency when managing environmental obligations.

Better communication among staff of the Utilities Department.

Effective training.

Documentation of training.

Focuses on meeting environmental objectives.

It keeps environmental issues in the spotlight.

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