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Best Practice Series Volume 6 December 2005

T H E I N S T I T U T E O F E N V I R O N M E N TA L M A N A G E M E N T A N D A S S E S S M E N T

iema St. Nicholas House, 70 Newport, Lincoln LN1 3DP UKTel: 01522 540069 Fax: 01522 540090

Managing com

pliance with environm

ental law: a good practice guide

Volum

e 6

D

ecember 2005 IEM

A

Managing compliance with environmental law:a good practice guide

iema


December 2005

Published by:

INSTITUTE OF ENVIRONMENTALMANAGEMENT & ASSESSMENTiema

The Institute of Environmental Management and AssessmentSt Nicholas House70 NewportLincolnLN1 3DPwww.iema.net

EditorMartin Baxter – [email protected]

Design and ProductionDan Brady – Consilience MediaDavid Mallon – Consilience Media

ISBN 1473-849XPrinted on Lumi Silk

© World copyright by the Institute of Environmental Management and Assessment 2005.

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Foreword

Environmental laws and regulations provide a cornerstone for protecting the environment from harm; without them, it would be in a much poorer state. Environmental laws provide a brake on the indiscriminate release of noxious substances into the atmosphere and water courses, and help to prevent the destruction of the Earth’s natural systems and cycles, habitats and species. As our knowledge of the consequences of polluting releases has developed, so too have the laws and regulations that seek to control those actions that give rise to them. More and more laws to protect the environment are being passed by legislators, with ever stricter emission limits to achieve. The relatively recent introduction of market-based instruments, such as greenhouse gas emissions trading, has provided another dimension to the controls on pollution from organisations.

Organisations have a legal and moral duty to comply with environmental laws and regulations; regulatory compliance is society’s licence to operate. Given the complexity of legal requirements regarding environmental protection, however, this is a significant challenge for organisations. The first difficulty comes from finding out what laws and regulations actually apply; followed by the need to understand how they apply and what needs to be done to comply and ensure compliance on an ongoing basis. This takes time and resources, together with strong management, if it is to be done in an appropriate way.

Environmental management systems are a tool by which organisations can manage, amongst other things, their regulatory compliance and improve their regulatory performance. On the face of it, organisations with an EMS should have better regulatory performance compared to those without such strong systems. However, there has been much reported in the environmental press about the failure by some organisations to achieve regulatory compliance on an ongoing basis, even when their EMS is certified to ISO 14001 or registered to EMAS. Much criticism has been levied at the certifiers; UKAS, to its credit, has taken action to improve the way it accredits certification bodies and the IEMA will seek to evaluate how effective this has been in 2006. The REMAS LIFE funded project, a partnership between the Environment Agency, Scottish Environment Protection Agency, the Irish EPA, and the IEMA, is seeking to establish the value of an EMS to regulators and the results, due out in the first quarter of 2006, are eagerly awaited. Both of these initiatives should help to improve the effectiveness of EMS in managing regulatory compliance and performance.

While an EMS cannot guarantee legal compliance (can anything?), if it is effective it should act as a tool so that organisations know their compliance status and corrective and preventative action can be quickly implemented. Regulators, certifiers or members of the public should not be able to find areas of legal non-

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Foreword (cont)

compliance that the organisation itself isn’t aware of and isn’t rectifying. This Guide is part of the IEMA’s contribution to assisting organisations in complying with environmental regulations. It sets out what the regulators expect from organisations using an EMS, and provides help and assistance in managing for legal compliance. For those who choose to have their EMS certified to ISO 14001 or registered to EMAS, additional guidance is provided on what certifiers and verifiers expect.

The IEMA’s 2005 Environmental Practitioners Survey showed that 35.6 per cent of the Institute’s membership thought that Environmental Law/Legislation was the area where they would most benefit from continuing professional development. We hope that you find the Guide useful and timely.

Martin BaxterTechnical DirectorIEMA

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Acknowledgements

I am grateful to the following people and organisations for their contributions to the production of this Guide.

The sections on environmental regulation have had significant input from: Duncan Giddens, Martyn Cheesbrough, Chris Howes and Sandy Rowden from the Environment Agency; and Nick Bedding and Derek McGregor from the Scottish Environment Protection Agency.

The sections on guidance for organisations have been drafted by Martin Houldin, Director - Environment Health and Safety Services and Sarah Pratt, Senior Consultant - Environment Health and Safety Services, both from Entec UK; Simon Morgan, Regulatory Liaison Manager for United Kingdom Nirex Limited; and Juliet Long, Radioactive Substances Regulation Policy Advisor, at the Environment Agency.

The section on certification and verification has had important contributions from: Tim Inman (ABCB), Malcolm Howard (BSI), Catherine Gold (NQA) and Alan Gower (BM Trada) all representing the Association of British Certification Bodies (ABCB); Anne Marie Warris and Sandy Sutherland from LRQA, both representing the IIOC(UK); and Andrew Marlow from UKAS.

Editorial comments and input have been received from: Emma Owen from Rolls Royce PLC; Jackie Harvey Watts from BSi on secondment to the REMAS project; Chris Sheldon from Green Inck; and John Brady from Consilience Media.

The IEMA is particularly grateful for the support and contributions from the Environment Agency; the Scottish Environment Protection Agency, Entec UK and the REMAS Project.

Martin BaxterTechnical DirectorIEMA

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Apart from the purpose of private study, research or review under the Copyright, Design and Patents Act 1988, no part of this journal may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form by any means without the prior permission of the copyright owners.

Whilst every effort has been made to ensure that this publication is factually correct at the time of going to press, the data, discussion and conclusions are not intended for use without substantiat-ing investigations by the users. Readers are referred to the list of references and useful websites at the back of the journal. No responsibility for loss suffered by any person acting or refraining from acting, as a result of the material contained in this publication, will be accepted by the Institute of Environmental Management and Assessment or by any associated organisations.

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Contents

1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13

2 EnvironmentallawandregulationintheUK . . . . . . . .15

2.1 Types of legislation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15 - International treaties and agreements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15 - European and national legislation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15

2.2 Identifying applicable legislation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16

2.3 The purpose of environmental regulation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19 - Duties and powers of the regulators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20

2.4 The principal environmental regulators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .21

2.5 The regulatory approach . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .25 - Regulatory definitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .25 - Regulatory rules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .26 - Compliance assessment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .28 - Monitoring . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .30 - Enforcement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .32

2.6 Principles of modern regulation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 - The EA approach to compliance assessment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 - The EA OPRA Scheme . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 - CAPs, MAC and CCS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

- The SEPA OPRA Scheme . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 - Local Authority Air Pollution Control (LAAPC) – risk-based regulation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

� Environmentalmanagementsystemsandlegal compliance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

3.1 What is an EMS?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 - Certification and accreditation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42 - Types of EMS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

3.2 The value of an EMS to regulators. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44 - Regulators’ support for EMS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44 - Regulators’ concerns and expectations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

3.3 Key deliverables for an effective EMS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

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� Guidancefororganisations –establishinggoodpractice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55

4.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55

4.2 The case for better compliance management. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56 - Why is there a need to demonstrate compliance? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56 - Why is there sometimes a lack of focus on compliance? . . . . . . . . . . 56 - What are the consequences of a lack of compliance assurance? . . . . . 57 - Why might an organisation wish to improve its compliance performance?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58 - How do organisations check compliance?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59

4.3 Establishing good compliance practice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59 -A:Understandyourorganisationandgatherinformation . . . . . . . 59 - A(i): know your activities, products and services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59 - A(ii): gather information on environmental legislation . . . . . . . . 62 -B:Identifylegislationofspecificrelevancetoyour organisation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62 - B(i): is the legislation applicable to your organisation? . . . . . . . . 62 - B(ii): for an organisation’s activities, products and services . . . . . 64 - B(iii): identify changes in directives, legislation and regulations . 65 - B(iv): documentation of legislative requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . 66 -C:Evaluatecurrentcomplianceandimplementappropriate controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69

- C(i): evaluate current compliance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69 - C(ii): determine appropriate controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70

� Guidancefororganisations –ongoingcomplianceandassurance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73

5.1 Systems and procedures for ensuring ongoing compliance and improvement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73 - Roles and responsibilities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73 - Competency . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77 - Training and awareness. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78 - Reviewing the status of compliance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80 - Responding to changes and problems in legal compliance . . . . . . . . 80 - Communications within an organisation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81 - Communications with regulators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86

Contents

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5.2 Internal compliance assurance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88- Three steps to greater confidence about compliance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88- Step 1: Checking the organisation’s legal duties and obligations . . . . . 89- Step 2: Identifying compliance tasks and their frequency . . . . . . . . . . 89- Step 2a: Calculating and prioritising resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90- Step 2b: Optimising compliance tasks within the resources available . 92- Step 3: Ensuring that compliance tasks are delegated and supervised effectively . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94- Step 3a: Monitoring, auditing and reporting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95

5.3 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97

� Complianceassessment –certificationandverification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99

6.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99 - Relationship of assessment to legal compliance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99 - Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101 - Role of assessors and inspectors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102 - Competence requirements of assessors and inspectors . . . . . . . . . . 102 - Relationship between ISO 14001, EMAS and legal requirements . 103 - Structure of ISO 14001:2004 assessment and EMAS verification . .104 - Application . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .105 - Accreditation criteria . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .110

6.2 Legal compliance assessment practice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110

- Does the organisation have a reliable procedure for identifying its obligations and maintaining awareness? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111 - Does the organisation hold (or is obtaining) the necessary permits and authorisations? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112 - Are objectives and targets established and are operational controls and monitoring in place? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112 - Does the EMS actually work?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113 - A worked example . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113 - Comprehensive evaluation of legal compliance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115 - Drawing conclusions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116 - EMAS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117

6.3 Non-conformities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117

Contents

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6.4 Assessment reporting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119 - When to communicate and to whom? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119 - What is to be reported? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121 - Consistency between verbal and written reports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121 - Recommendations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121 - Review and approval . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122

6.5 Assessment limitations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122

Appendices

A United Kingdom Accreditation Service . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125B Assessment reporting - regulatory compliance example . . . . . . . . . 133C References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135D Websites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139

Tables

2.1 Sources of information on environmental legal requirements. . . . . 172.2 NetRegs management guidelines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 2.3 NetRegs sector guidelines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192.4 Principal environmental regulators in UK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 2.5 Other environmental regulators. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 222.6 Typical activities used by regulators to assess compliance . . . . . . . . 293.1 The level of assurance provided by EMS standards and schemes . . 464.1 Effects of enforcement action . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 584.2 Environmental impact categories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 604.3 Examples of environmental aspects and impacts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 614.4 Permit conditions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 654.5 Control measures. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 715.1 Example description of general responsibilities within an EMS . . . 755.2 Example of competency levels for waste management . . . . . . . . . . 775.3 Example of competency framework . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 785.4 Example of a legislation review summary sheet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83 5.5 Summary of legislation implementation status. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 865.6 Example of due-process prescribed for different types of environmental documentation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 875.7 Resource prioritisation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 935.8 Excerpts from an example scheme of delegation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94

Contents

11

Boxes

2.1 Regulatory tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202.2 Duty of Care . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 262.3 How is compliance demonstrated?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 282.4 MCERTS and OMA. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 312.5 Penalties for a successful prosecution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 332.6 Modern approach to regulation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 342.7 Accounting for EMSs in regulation through the OPRA scheme . . 363.1 Regulators’ expectations of accredited certification. . . . . . . . . . . . . 473.2 Key deliverable 1: policy commitment to legal compliance . . . . . . 493.3 Key deliverable 2: identification of legal requirements . . . . . . . . . . 493.4 Key deliverable 3: evaluation of compliance with legal requirements. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 503.5 Key deliverable 4: staff awareness, competencies and training . . . . 513.6 Key deliverable 5: operational controls and emergency preparedness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 523.7 Key deliverable 6: monitoring, audit and management review . . . . 534.1 Examples of legislative thresholds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 634.2 Example layout of a legal register . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 684.3 Identification of legal requirements – Do’s and Don’ts . . . . . . . . . 725.1 Example of notification of a forthcoming change in relevant legislation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 816.1 A work example. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114

Figures

2.1 Risk-based approach to compliance assessment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 342.2 Compliance classification scheme categories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 373.1 Key elements of an EMS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 413.2 EMS model for ISO 14001:2004 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 433.3 Regulatory value of an EMS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 454.1 Enforcement response hierarchy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57 4.2 Process and activity flows in an organisation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 605.1 Models of responsibility. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 746.1 ISO 14001:2004 assessment process . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1076.2 The EMAS process . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1096.3 Assessment practice and legal compliance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118

Contents

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Section 1

Introduction

An organisation may choose to implement an environmental management system (EMS) for a variety of reasons; for example to:

• manage legal compliance;• demonstrate environmental commitment and achieve environmental

improvements;• satisfy customer expectations;• reduce risks with regard to the environment; and• improve commercial performance and enhance reputation.

From the regulators’ point of view the first of these reasons is the most important and a well implemented EMS can be appreciably useful to an organisation in managing compliance. However, the same system can also offer benefits to the regulator in terms of assessing and evaluating compliance.

Regulators expect organisations to take responsibility for the environmental impacts of their activities, products and services. They consider management and maintenance of legal compliance to be a fundamental deliverable for an EMS. Compliance with legal requirements regarding environmental protection should result in appropriate environmental control measures and better environmental performance.

Regulators recognise that the task of managing legal compliance is not easy. There are an ever-increasing number of environmental legal requirements placed on organisations, which are often complex both individually and collectively. In the regulators’ view, consistent and continuing management of environmental impacts requires a structured approach, such as that provided by an EMS.

A number of academic studies have indicated that an EMS does not in itself guarantee legal compliance and good environmental performance. The regulatory approach to any organisation will always be informed by the observed standards of environmental protection and management, including the results of environmental and compliance monitoring, permit breaches, incidents and complaints from the public.

This Guide seeks to address these issues. It is divided into five main sections. Section 2 describes the approach to environmental regulation in the UK and sets out the regulators’ expectations of an organisation’s use of an EMS to manage

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and maintain compliance with legal requirements regarding environmental protection.

Section 3 describes environmental management systems and their value to regulators, whilst Section 4 discusses best practice in managing an organisation’s performance with respect to legal compliance. The underlying theme is the introduction of compliance thinking into all aspects of business management.

Section 5 gives guidance to organisations on compliance and assurance matters whilst Section 6 explains the certification/verification process in general, and more specifically, the approach of certifiers and verifiers to assessing an organisation’s policy commitment to comply with applicable legal requirements. This section and Appendix A also outline the role of UKAS as the UK’s national accreditation body in assessing the capability and competence of the certification/verification bodies to undertake this function.

The overall aim of this Guide is to provide organisations with a comprehensive account of compliance with environmental law, within the context of environmental management systems. In doing so we hope that members of the IEMA and others who receive this Guide will be better placed to discharge their legal obligations and improve the environmental performance of their organisations.

Introduction

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Environmental law and regulation in the UK

This section describes the different types of environmental legislation and provides guidance on how to identify legislation applicable to your organisation.

2.1Typesoflegislation

Internationaltreatiesandagreements

International treaties may or may not be binding legal requirements on signatories – usually national governments. Where the UK is a signatory to a treaty, there may be an international dimension to European and national legislation. This may not be apparent at organisation, operator and site level although one would expect organisations operating across national boundaries to be aware of international obligations. Examples of international treaties are:

• the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the subsequent Kyoto Protocol (UNFCC, 2004);

• the Rio Convention on Biological Diversity (UN, 1992); and• the United Nations Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air

Pollution (UN, 1979) and the subsequent Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution on Further Reduction of Sulphur Emissions (UN, 1994).

A list of all global environmental agreements published by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is available at www.unep.org/DPDL/Law/Law_instruments/law_instruments_global.asp

Europeanandnationallegislation

Most UK environmental legislation now originates at the European level, where the main legal instruments are EU directives and regulations. European legislation is transposed into national legislation by each member state. For example, the Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control (IPPC) Directive (EC, 1996) is implemented in the UK by the Pollution Prevention and Control (PPC) Act (UK Parliament, 1999a) and supporting statutory instruments. European regulations, on the other hand, usually apply directly to member states; for

Section 2

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example: the Eco-Management and Audit Scheme (EMAS) Regulation (EC, 1993), the Transfrontier Shipment of Waste Regulations (EC, 1994) and the Eco-Label Regulation (EC, 2000), and do not necessarily need to be transposed through specific national legislation.

In the UK, legislation comprises Acts (primary enabling legislation) and statutory instruments (secondary legislation), the latter often being referred to as ‘regulations’. Acts provide the policy principles and broad requirements, while statutory instruments (SIs) are specific and detailed. Acts normally remain static, unless there are changes to policy. SIs may be updated periodically when there are changes at the detailed operating level. Thus a series of SIs (denoted by an SI number and date, eg SI 2709: 2000) may be applicable over time.

SIs relating to UK initiatives or to transposed EC directives may be different in any of the four UK territories: England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland (NI). The need for separate regulations is determined by the devolution settlements to Wales, Scotland and NI. This is important to note when operating sites in more than one UK jurisdiction.

Regulations are often supplemented by statutory guidance; for example covering Best Available Techniques (BAT) for local authority air pollution control.

Where legal interpretation of regulations has been necessary, usually in court cases, there will be case law that is relevant in similar circumstances. Occasionally, issues may be referred to higher courts outside the UK for interpretation; for example to the European Court of Justice regarding the definition of waste.

2.2Identifyingapplicablelegislation

The first step in managing compliance with environmental legal requirements is to know which requirements are applicable to an organisation’s activities, products and services. Various sources of information are used by organisations to identify and assess environmental legal requirements. These include the sources set out in Table 2.1.

The three environmental regulators in the UK – the Environment Agency for England and Wales (EA), the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) and the Environment and Heritage Service Northern Ireland (EHS NI) – have developed a web-based tool called NetRegs. It is designed to help organisations navigate through the maze of environmental legislation. Although NetRegs is aimed at small and medium sized business enterprises, the tool is

EnvironmentallawandregulationintheUK

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Table 2.1 Sources of information on environmental legal requirements

Government departments• Defra, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs• Department of Trade and Industry • National Assembly for Wales• Scottish Executive • Northern Ireland AssemblyNational regulators • Environment Agency• Scottish Environment Protection Agency • Environment and Heritage Service Northern Ireland • English Nature• Scottish Natural Heritage• Countryside Council for WalesLocal authorities (various departments) professional and trade bodies • IEMA - Institute of Environmental Management and Assessment• CIWEM - The Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Management • CIWM - Chartered Institution of Wastes Management • NSCA National Society for Clean Air and Environmental Protection• Trade bodies and corporate information (eg bulletins, intranets)• Environmental and legal consultantsEnvironmental management and law publications• ‘the environmentalist’ magazine• ENDS - Environmental Data Services• Environmental Compliance Manual (see IEMA website)• NSCA Pollution Handbook• A Practical Approach to Environmental Law, Stookes (2005)• Commercial subscription services• Law bulletinsWebsites• NetRegs - UK Environmental Regulations on the Internet• Europa - The European Union On-Line• Business Links• HMSO - UK Legislation• HMSO - Northern Ireland Legislation• HMSO - Scotland Legislation• HMSO - Wales Legislation• Envirowise


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helpful for all types of organisation. NetRegs categorises legal requirements into the following two broad areas:

• management guidelines on legal requirements that are generally applicable; and

• sector guidelines on legal requirements for specific business and industry sectors.

The main categories of guidance are summarised in Tables 2.2 and 2.3. The list is regularly updated on the NetRegs website – see www.netregs.gov.uk

Table 2.2 NetRegs management guidelines

1. Animal by-products regulation 2. Clean air 3. Climate Change Levy (CCL) and EU Emissions Trading Schemes (EU ETS) 4. Control of Major Accident Hazards (COMAH) Regulations 5. Duty of Care for waste 6. Energy efficiency 7. Energy efficiency in products 8. Environmental management systems 9. Groundwater 10. Hazardous / special waste 11. Integrated Pollution Control (IPC) and Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control (IPPC) 12. Local Air Pollution Control (LAPC) and Local Air Pollution Prevention and Control (LAPPC) 13. List of processes subject to Integrated Pollution Control (IPC) and Local Air Pollution Control (LAPC) 14. List of activities subject to Pollution Prevention and Control (PPC) including Local Air Pollution Prevention and Control (LAPPC)

15. Land contamination 16. Landfill 17. Life cycle assessment and integrated product policy 18. Oil storage 19. Ozone-depleting substances (ODS) 20. Packaging 21. Packaging (Essential Requirements) Regulations 22. Pesticides and biocidal products23. Pollution of surface waters and groundwater 24. Radioactive substances and wastes 25. Solvent Emissions Directive 26. Statutory nuisance 27. Trade effluent 28. Transfrontier shipment of waste 29. Waste carriers, brokers and dealers 30. Waste Incineration Directive regime31. Waste management licensing 32. Waste minimisation 33. Water abstraction and use 34. Water efficiency

Source: www.netregs.gov.uk


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Table 2.3 NetRegs sector guidelines

1. Agriculture, animal boarding and pest control2. Chemicals manufacture 3. Construction 4. Electrical equipment and machinery manufacture5. Electronics6. Fabricated metal products7. Fishing and aquaculture 8. Food and drink manufacture 9. Forestry 10. Hotels and restaurants11. Hunting, shooting and game breeding12. Leather

13. Machinery manufacture 14. Metals production and processing 15. Mining and quarrying 16. Non metallic mineral products manufacture 17. Office businesses18. Printing, publishing and reproduction of recorded media19. Pulp and paper manufacture 20. Recycling 21. Rubber and plastic products 22. Sewage, waste and cleansing23. Textiles and clothing 24. Transport by land 25. Wood products

2.�Thepurposeofenvironmentalregulation

The environmental regulation of businesses and other organisations is intended to protect human health and the environment from harm within the context of sustainable development.

Traditionally, environmental regulation has covered the environmental media (air, water and land), together with wildlife protection and conservation. It has focused on the control of polluting emissions and on maintaining and improving water quality and waste management. From the early 1990s, a more integrated approach has been taken across all media with Integrated Pollution Control (IPC) in England, Wales and Scotland and, more recently, the Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control (IPPC) European Directive (EC, 1996).

In the future, primary environmental legislation is likely to be developed in the following key areas:

• management of the environmental impacts of products and associated activities and services (such as manufacturing and transport) by adopting a lifecycle approach;


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• efficient use of resources as part of the drive towards sustainable consumption and production;

• maintenance and enhancement of biodiversity; and• corporate and social responsibility.

Dutiesandpowersoftheregulators

Legislation provides environmental regulators with specific duties and powers. Duties are the things that regulators must do and therefore tend to be prescriptive; for example, the duty to determine and issue environmental permits.

Powers are usually discretionary in the way they are applied; for example, powers to enter premises or to take appropriate enforcement action. Once a power has been used, say to enter premises, there may be duties that are applicable such as to prohibit activities that are causing harm to the environment.

Regulators have a number of tools at their disposal to implement duties and powers ranging from the provision of advice and guidance through to formal enforcement and prosecution – see box 2.1.

Box 2.1 Regulatory tools

Least prescriptive

Education and advice (provision of information)Voluntary codes of best practiceVoluntary agreementsNegotiated agreementsEconomic instruments (taxes, trading schemes)Statutory codes of practice (eg agricultural)Statutory guidanceDirect regulationsExemptions (to permits)Permits (licences, consents, authorisations, registrations etc)Permit variation, suspension, revocationNotices (works, improvement, prohibition)Formal cautionsCivil or criminal prosecution

Most prescriptive


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2.�Theprincipalenvironmentalregulators

There are differences in environmental legislation in the UK across England and Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland. This is reflected in the existence and responsibilities of the national environmental enforcement bodies, as set out in Tables 2.4 and 2.5.

Table 2.4 Principal environmental regulators in the UK

Environment Agency

Conservation (habitats and wildlife protection and enhancement)

Emergency planning eg control of major accident and hazard (COMAH) sites with the Health and Safety Executive (HSE)

Fisheries (resource management and licensing)

Flood Defence (flood mitigation and warning)

Information Law (public registers and access to environmental information)

Industrial pollution and air quality (eg Integrated Pollution Control (IPC) and Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control (IPPC))

Land quality (eg management of contaminated land at ‘special sites’)

Radioactive substances (licensing of nuclear and non-nuclear sites)

Waste management (licensing of management, treatment and disposal activities)

Water quality (environmental monitoring and consents to discharge to watercourses)

Water resources (abstraction licensing and demand management)

Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA)

Responsibilities are similar to the Environment Agency’s, with the following differences:

All PPC requirements are regulated (there are no local authority powers under PPC in Scotland)

Flood defence is limited to issuing flood warnings

No fisheries involvement

Water resources (abstraction licensing) responsibilities were acquired in 2005 under the Water Framework Directive


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Environment and Heritage Service in Northern Ireland (EHS NI)

Natural heritage – protection of wildlife species, habitats and rural landscapes

Environmental protection – water quality, air quality and noise, waste management, industrial pollution and drinking water for public and private supplies

Built heritage – identify, record and protect historic monuments and buildings

Local authorities

Land use planning

Local air quality strategies (to reflect the national air quality strategy)

Local Authority Air Pollution Control (LAAPC) including PPC Part B installations in England and Wales

Clean Air Act 1993

Noise and statutory nuisance (eg dust and odour)

Environmental health

Contaminated land

Tree preservation orders

Table 2.5 Other environmental regulators

Regulator Responsibilities/legislation

British Waterways Maintenance of inland waterway network

Cadw – Cadw is a Welsh word which means ‘to keep’

Protection and conservation of the built environment in Wales

Countryside Agency Statutory body dealing with economic, environmental, community and recreation aspects of the countryside in England

Countryside Council for Wales

The natural landscape and wildlife conservation authority for Wales and its inshore waters

Table 2.4 (cont) Principal environmental regulators in the UK


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Defra – Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs

Principal government department for policy on the environment. For regulatory responsibilities see Defra website

Department of Trade and Industry (DTI)

Regulation of offshore oil and gas installations in the UK, through the Offshore Oil and Gas Directorate

Drinking Water Quality Regulator

Monitors the progress of Scottish Water in improving the quality of Scotland’s drinking water

Drinking Water Inspectorate Regulates public water supplies in England and Wales. Responsible for assessing the quality of drinking water, taking enforcement action if standards are not being met, and appropriate action when water is unfit for human consumption

English Heritage Protection and conservation of the built environment in England, including listed buildings and scheduled ancient monuments

English Nature Conservation of wildlife and geology in England, including Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs). EN has enforcement powers to prevent damage to habitats

Health and Safety Executive Joint competent authority (with EA, SEPA and EHS NI) for Control of Major Accident Hazards Regulations 1999 (COMAH) sites.Health and safety in nuclear installations and mines, factories, farms, hospitals and schools, offshore gas and oil installations, the safety of the gas grid and the movement of dangerous goods and substances, railway safety, and other aspects of the protection both of workers and the public. Local authorities are responsible to HSE for enforcement in offices, shops and other parts of the services sector

Table 2.5 (cont) Other environmental regulators


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Internal Drainage Boards Manage land drainage in areas of special drainage need. Each board operates within a defined area in which they are empowered under the Land Drainage Act 1991. Further information is available from the Association of Drainage Authorities website

Marine Consents and Environment Unit

Administers marine works consents in tidal waters and at sea: marine developments, offshore energy, coast defences, dredging and waste disposal. Administers certain applications on behalf of the Welsh Assembly Government which is the licensing authority in Welsh waters

Pesticides Safety Directorate Ensures that pesticides in the UK are safe for users, consumers and the environment

Scottish Executive and local authorities

Flood defence in Scotland

Scottish Natural Heritage Conservation and enhancement of habitats, species and landscapes in Scotland, including ‘protected’ areas (NNRs, SSSIs, SPAs, NSAs, National Parks)

Scottish Water Water abstraction and supply in Scotland

Water companies (England and Wales)

Water companies have a number of duties relating to water supplies (to collect, store and transfer water to cope with normal fluctuations in rainfall) and sewerage but they also hold powers to control and police discharges of trade effluent to foul drains under the Water Industry Act

Welsh Assembly (environment)

The Environment Planning and Countryside Committee brings together the Welsh Assembly Government’s responsibility for sustainable development; planning; environmental policy, countryside issues; National Parks Authorities; agricultural and rural affairs

Table 2.5 (cont) Other environmental regulators


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2.�Theregulatoryapproach

The approach that regulators adopt for their regulatory activities, including compliance assessment and enforcement, generally follows the model:

• apply a set of rules;• monitor and assess compliance with the rules; and• enforce compliance with the rules.

Regulatorydefinitions

The terms below are defined to ensure a clear understanding of their use in this Guide and, in particular, in the following sub-sections covering regulatory rules, compliance assessment and enforcement.

Audit (regulatory): in-depth evaluation of an operator’s ability to comply with all, or parts of, the permit or directly applied legislation. For example, an audit might include specific reviews of the effectiveness of an operator’s procedures and management system.

Compliance: compliance is defined by the European Union network, ‘Implementation and Enforcement of Environmental Law’ (IMPEL) as: “full implementation of environmental requirements. Compliance occurs when requirements are met and desired changes are achieved.” IMPEL (1992)

Compliance assessment (regulatory): the overall approach taken to check compliance with all the conditions of a permit or other regulatory instrument.

Compliance monitoring: compliance monitoring is defined by IMPEL as: “collecting and analysing information on compliance status”. Compliance monitoring may be carried out either by an operator (who is subject to legislation) or a regulator (who enforces legislation).

Operator: regulations and permits are normally applicable to sites (eg Waste Management Licence), installations (eg Pollution Prevention and Control permit) or processes (eg Integrated Pollution Control authorisation). The organisation, which may be a single person, that operates the site, installation or process and who is responsible for compliance with legal requirements is referred to as the ‘operator’.

Operator self-monitoring: operator self-monitoring is defined by IMPEL as “monitoring undertaken by the operator in accordance with a requirement of a


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permit or relevant legislation”. It may include monitoring of emissions and of impacts on receiving environments.

Sampling (check monitoring): taking measurements of inputs, emissions or the receiving environment.

Site inspection: attendance at a site to check compliance with all or some of the permit conditions, or directly applied legislation (other than by check monitoring) using, for example, visual assessment.

Regulatoryrules

Directly applied regulations: regulators enforce specific rules within legislation that are directly applied to operators. Examples are the Waste Duty of Care (see Box 2.2) and the Oil Storage Regulations (UK Parliament, 2001).

Box 2.2 Duty of Care

The ‘duty of care’ applies to all ‘controlled waste’ – this means that waste materials produced as part of an organisation or within the workplace are regulated by law and are subject to the ‘duty of care’. All organisations have a duty to ensure that any waste produced is handled safely and in accordance with the law. The ‘duty of care’ applies to anyone who produces, imports, carries, keeps, treats or disposes of controlled waste or acts as a waste broker in this respect.

Further information on ‘duty of care’ may be found in NetRegs Management Guidelines – go to www.netregs.gov.uk

Environmental permits: regulators implement environmental legislation by issuing environmental permits1 that contain conditions that the permit holder must fulfil to operate activities prescribed by legislation.

These are normally applied to operations at specific sites or installations, and typically regulate polluting emissions to air (eg local authority air pollution control), water (eg consents to discharge and abstraction licences) and land (eg waste management licences). Pollution Prevention and Control (PPC) permits are used to regulate all media on an integrated basis.

1 In this Guide the term ‘permit’ is used to refer to all licences, permits, authorisations, consents and any other conditioned permissions.


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It is the responsibility of an organisation or operator to apply for a permit having recognised that one is required under legislation. The regulator receives an application and determines whether a permit is issued and what permit conditions are applicable.

Regulators issue guidance on the requirements for permits and on how to apply for them. This may include technical guidance, such as PPC guidance on Best Available Techniques (BAT); for example on environmental assessment, energy efficiency and sector specific BAT requirements. For more information on guidance issued by regulators, visit the relevant websites for the environmental regulators and LAAPC (Defra) listed in Appendix D.

Permit conditions typically set out requirements in the following areas:

• emission limit values: numerical limits for emissions and ambient pollutant loads, sometimes expressed as a range of acceptable environmental loading;

• technical standards: for example, the operation and maintenance of abatement equipment to specified limits;

• management standards: for example, managing and training staff, operational procedures and communication arrangements;

• preventative measures: for example, to prevent or reduce accidents and incidents which might cause pollution or other environmental harm;

• notifications (of non-compliances) and reporting requirements: for example, self-monitoring data and information, and records to document legal compliance checks, maintenance checks and completed improvements; and

• improvement measures and programmes: typically brought in when it is considered that a further period of time and/or further resources are required to meet permit conditions.

Other rules: regulators may enforce other requirements. An example is the EU Greenhouse Gas Emissions Trading Scheme. Emissions-trading gives companies the flexibility to meet emissions targets according to their own strategy. By allowing participants to trade in allowances, overall emissions reductions are achieved in the most cost-effective way possible. The scheme covers emissions of greenhouse gases from a number of industries which are specified in the EU Emissions Trading Directive (EC, 2003), initially covering emissions of carbon dioxide. The EU scheme commenced on 1 January 2005; for further information about the scheme, the EC Monitoring and Reporting Guidelines and the National Allocation Plan (NAP) contact the EA helpdesk at: [email protected]


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Complianceassessment

The purpose of compliance assessment is to:

• check compliance of regulated organisations with relevant environmental legal requirements, including with directly applied regulations, conditions in permits or any other legal obligations that are applicable; and

• monitor the impact of regulated organisations on the environment to determine whether further inspection or enforcement action (including granting, issuing, modification or revocation of any permit) is required to secure compliance with environmental legal requirements.

Box 2.3 considers how compliance can be demonstrated and Table 2.6 lists some typical activities used by regulators to assess compliance.

Box 2.3 How is compliance demonstrated?

It is the responsibility of operators to manage their activities to achieve legal compliance, and it is the job of the regulator to check whether an operator is complying with legal requirements and decide whether further action is required.

An operator is assessed as compliant if there is no evidence of failure to meet permit (or other) conditions. Regulators expect operators to carry out periodic evaluations to test whether they are in compliance. Evaluations should be risk based, according to the hazards posed by operational activities. A systematic approach to compliance management (such as that provided by an EMS) should provide evidence of how environmental legal requirements are assessed and met, and identify any legal non-compliances.

Regulators scrutinise evidence provided by operators in order to help determine whether permit conditions or other requirements are being met. The frequency of regulatory assessments will be informed by such evidence and observed standards of performance.

There may be circumstances where an operator is not fully compliant with one or more conditions in a permit, or other legal requirements. The operator should (a) immediately notify the regulator of the non-compliance(s) and (b) agree with the regulator the actions needed to return to compliance and mitigate any harm to the environment.


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Table 2.6 Typical activities used by regulators to assess compliance

Compliance assessment activity

Description

Sampling and check monitoring

Taking measurements of inputs, emissions or the receiving environment

Review of reports and data Scrutiny of reports and data submitted by the permit holder, such as emissions and environmental monitoring data, notifications of non-compliances and technical reports

Procedure review An operator may be required to submit procedures for agreement prior to implementation – regulators will check whether such procedures are in place and comprehensive

Site inspection Attendance at a site to check compliance with all or some of the permit conditions, or directly applied legislation

Audit In-depth evaluation of an operator’s ability to comply with all, or parts of, the permit, or directly applied legislation; for example, an audit might include specific reviews of the effectiveness of an operator’s procedures and management system

Compliance is assessed using one or more of the following types of

assessment:

• Continuous assessment: this occurs when in-situ monitoring apparatus records data continuously either in real time for alarm purposes or in archive mode for subsequent examination. In this case, equipment is installed to monitor important aqueous discharges and stack emissions, typically at complex sites. However, not all aspects of a site’s activities can be monitored in this way and therefore continuous assessment, where it is carried out, tends to be selective.

• Retrospective assessment: periodic and annual assessments (see overpage) rely on a retrospective assessment of compliance in which evidence is sought by the regulator to confirm that the operator has been in compliance. EMS evaluations and records can provide such evidence.


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• Periodic assessment: this is the most common form of regulatory assessment. When used as part of a risk-based approach, this type makes optimum use of staff resources. There are three subsets to it:

a) Site-based assessment: regulatory officers visit a premises and carry out either a comprehensive assessment (eg legal compliance audit), or a targeted inspection (eg check monitoring) based on pre-determined criteria for evaluation.

b) Report-basedassessment: regulatory officers receive and examine data returns, analytical results and programme reports back in their offices, between site visits.

c) Incident-based assessment: regulatory officers respond to incidents notified to them by the operator or indirectly as a complaint by a member of the public. The response can include attendance at the scene of the incident.

• Annual assessment: regulators compile annual data and information for input into annual reports and plans. These contain summary data and it is necessary to assess compliance retrospectively in order to reach fair conclusions.

Monitoring

There are primarily two types of monitoring carried out or required by regulators; these are:

• monitoring of compliance with environmental legal requirements, for example permit conditions; and

• monitoring of environmental quality, for example meeting environmental quality standards.

Monitoring can be carried out in a number of ways (ie continuously, periodically or remotely) and by operators (self-monitoring) or regulators. The exact mix of monitoring will depend on regulatory requirements and resources, operator competence, third-party involvement and available techniques and technology. It is vital that organisations deliver monitoring results that are valid, reliable, accurate and appropriate. This requires the proper use of suitable methods, standards, services and equipment, trained and qualified personnel, effective planning, quality assurance and quality control.


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With this in mind the Environment Agency has established a Monitoring Certification Scheme (MCERTS) to improve and ensure the quality of monitoring data. SEPA in Scotland is currently pursuing MCERTS status for staff involved in manual stack emissions monitoring. EHS in Northern Ireland encourages operators to use MCERTS-approved continuous emission monitors and have manual spot monitoring work carried out by MCERTS accredited personnel.

Details of MCERTS and the Environment Agency’s Operator Monitoring Assessment (OMA) schemes are set out in Box 2.4.

Box 2.4 MCERTS and OMA

MCERTS is operated by SIRA Certification Service (SCS) and the UK Accreditation Service (UKAS) on behalf of the Environment Agency. The scheme is based on the following standards:

ISO 17025 for monitoring and equipment testing; EN 45004 for inspection; EN 45011 for product certification; and EN 45013 for personnel competency.

MCERTS covers:continuous emissions monitoring systems (CEMs);manual stack emissions monitoring;continuous ambient air quality monitoring systems (CAMS);portable emissions monitoring equipment;continuous water monitoring equipment;self monitoring of effluent flow; andchemical testing of soil.

MCERTS assures users of certified instruments and services that they:meet performance standards set out in current international standards and the growing requirements of EC directives; andcomply with relevant national regulations and requirements; eg the Environment Agency’s Operator Monitoring Assessment requirements.

MCERTS also:enables instrument manufacturers and service providers to assure customers that certified instruments and services are suitable; and

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•

•

•


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provides independent inspections of installations to Environment Agency requirements.

Environment Agency’s Operator Monitoring Assessment (OMA) Scheme

The Environment Agency has introduced this scheme to strengthen its auditing of operators’ self-monitoring arrangements. OMA is currently applied to the monitoring of emissions to air from industrial processes. It is proposed to extend OMA to other media and regulatory regimes. The Environment Agency uses the OMA scheme to:

assess operators’ self-monitoring (including monitoring undertaken on behalf of operators by contractors) using a consistent and transparent approach; contribute to the Agency’s sampling and check monitoring programme; andprovide a driver for necessary improvements.

Source: EA, 2005a

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Enforcement

Enforcement action is taken by regulators to ensure that organisations comply with legal requirements of environmental permits and directly applied laws by using: warning letters, enforcement notices, formal cautions and prosecution (Box 2.5).

Enforcement action is also taken to mitigate the polluting effects of incidents and to prevent further incidents and pollution which may cause serious environmental damage or harm to human health. These include:

• prohibition notices to stop or prevent illegal and polluting activities;• works (anti pollution) notices to enforce actions needed to mitigate or

prevent serious environmental damage or harm to human health; and• suspension or revocation of a permission.

Enforcement action will be proportionate to the potential or actual damage to the environment, the level of non-compliance and offences committed.

The principles by which the main UK regulators take enforcement action

Box 2.4 (cont) MCERTS and OMA


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are informed by the Cabinet Office Enforcement Concordat. Specific regulators’ policies are:

• the Environment Agency’s enforcement and prosecution policy (EA, 1998);

• SEPA’s policy statement on enforcement (SEPA, 2002). It should be noted that in Scotland, cases are referred to the Procurator Fiscal for consideration; and

• EHS NI’s enforcement and prosecution policy (EHS NI, 2005).

Box 2.5 Penalties for a successful prosecution

• Magistrate’s Court: maximum fine £20,000 and a three month prison sentence• Crown Court: unlimited fine and a two year prison sentence.

2.�Principlesofmodernregulation

The Better Regulation Task Force (BRTF, 2005) is an independent body that advises Government on actions to ensure that regulation and its enforcement accord with the five Principles of Good Regulation. The principles applied to environmental regulation are:

• proportionate (or risk-based): regulators allocate resources according to the risks involved and the scale of outcomes which can be achieved;

• targeted (or outcome-focused): regulators use environmental outcomes to plan and assess performance;

• consistent: regulators apply the same approach within and between sectors, and over time;

• transparent: regulators have rules and processes which are clear and available to organisations and local communities; and

• accountable; regulators explain their decisions and performance.

Regulators have or are developing risk-based approaches that use a range of different regulatory tools (eg permitting, trading schemes, voluntary agreements, education and advice, and environmental taxes). The Environment Agency and SEPA respectively have set out their approaches to modernising regulation in ‘Delivering for the Environment, a 21st Century approach to regulation’ (EA, 2005a) and ‘Vision for Regulation: Protecting and Improving the Environment Through Regulation’ (SEPA, 2003) – see Box 2.6.


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Box 2.6 Modern approach to regulation

Operators take responsibility for their environmental performance, dem-onstrating to regulators that they can effectively manage environmental impacts, use resources efficiently and operate in a socially responsible manner.

Regulators assess the performance of regulated organisations and apply in-centives and sanctions proportionate to the risk posed to the environment and observed standards of performance.

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TheEAapproachtocomplianceassessment

The Environment Agency’s modern approach is based on the principle that effort and resources are targeted on risk and environmental outcomes. The aim is to:

• encourage and reward better environmental performance and outcomes;• make best use of compliance assessment tools;• simplify regulation for organisations and regulatory staff; and• target effort at activities that pose the greatest risks to the environment.

This approach has four inter-linked elements, which give an overall integrated approach, as set out in Figure 2.1.

Figure 2.1 Risk-based approach to compliance assessment


OPRA identifies operator and environmental risk for each permit. The score determines the subsistence charge paid by the operator and the level of resources for CAPs.

Compliance Assessment Plans (CAPS) identify the compliance assessment tasks and the level of resources that will be assigned to these tasks.

Compliance Classification Scheme (CCS) enables consistent scoring of permit breaches. The scores contribute to the overall EP OPRA score.

Provides guidance on how to undertake compliance assessment.

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TheEAOPRAScheme

Operator Performance and Risk Assessment (OPRA) has evolved from schemes developed separately for Integrated Pollution Control (OPRA for IPC) and Waste Management Licensing (OPRA for Waste). The scheme assesses both the environmental hazards of an operation and the operator’s performance using information from operators, checked by the Environment Agency. OPRA assessments generate a risk profile, based on the following five attributes:

• complexity: the complexity of the activities and processes operated and regulated;

• emissions: permitted to all environmental media – air, water and land;

• location: proximity to and sensitivity of environmental receptors;

• operator performance: the extent and effectiveness of the operator’s environmental management system – covering compliance history, operation and maintenance, competence and training, emergency planning, performance evaluation and external reporting; and

• compliance rating: compliance with permit conditions, driven by the number and significance of permit breaches, classified using the Common Compliance Scheme (CCS).

Each attribute is scored to produce a ‘band’ value (A to E) where ‘A’ equates to low risk and good performance and ‘E’ high risk and poor performance. The scores for each attribute are added to generate the overall OPRA risk profile (A to E). Information from OPRA assessments are used in two ways:

• in planning compliance assessments; and

• in determining application and annual subsistence charges – using the principle that lower risk requires less Agency regulatory effort and hence lower fees are charged to the operator.

Guidance on the principles and use of OPRA is provided on the Environment Agency’s website at www.environment-agency.gov.uk/epopra and the connection between OPRA and environmental management systems is shown in Box 2.7.


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Box 2.7 Accounting for EMSs in regulation through the OPRA scheme

The amount of credit given by the Environment Agency reflects the reduced effort in determining permit applications due to information generated by the EMS, and the potential for reduced compliance assessment effort. Credits given to operators who have, or will have, an EMS range from:

a minimum credit for an ‘in house’ system; toa higher credit for ISO 14001:2004 certified by an IAF accredited certifi-cation body; and up toa maximum credit for an EMAS registered system.

It is intended in the future to extend credit under OPRA to take account of EMSs based on BS 8555 that are inspected under the IEMA Acorn Scheme and industry Codes of Practice agreed with or recognised by the Environment Agency. This will be done following a reassessment of the Operator Performance (management systems) attribute following the outcome of the REMAS project.

REMAS is a three-year European project to provide evidence that links environmental management systems and environmental performance. For more information visit the REMAS website – see Appendix C

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CAPs,MACandCCS

Compliance assessment plans (CAPs) are work planning tools which enable compliance assessment effort to be prioritised based on risk, environmental outcomes and local needs. CAPs enable targeting of compliance assessment effort and resources, based on:

• OPRA risk profiles;• priority outcomes (environmental and regulatory) for industry sectors; and• local issues and objectives.

The methodology for assessing compliance (MAC) refers to a consistent methodology for assessing compliance with permits using an OPRA profile and associated directly-applied legislation. The methodology will be implemented initially for PPC and Waste Management Licensing, alongside CAPs.


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The compliance classification scheme (CCS) classifies and records instances of non-compliance with permit or licence conditions by operators into five categories as set out in Figure 2.2. The scheme provides a consistent basis for implementing the Environment Agency’s enforcement and prosecution policy. It also provides a consistent link to the compliance rating attribute in the OPRA scheme.

For further information on these tools, see the compliance section of the Environment Agency’s website.

Figure 2.2 Compliance classification scheme categories


Category 1A non-compliance which has a potentially major environmental effect

Category 2A non-compliance which has a potentially significant environmental effect

Category 3A non-compliance which has a potentially minor environmental effect

Category 4A non-compliance which has no potential environmental effect

ATLNumerical limit has been exceeded, but it is still within the uncertainty level of measurement technique. Referred to as ‘approach to limit’ (ATL)

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TheSEPAOPRAScheme

SEPA OPRA is similar to the Environment Agency’s Scheme. The two components of SEPA’s scheme are, Pollution Hazard Appraisal (PHA) and Operator Performance Assessment (OPA), broadly equivalent to the suite of ‘hazard’ attributes and the operator performance attributes in the Environment Agency Scheme.

SEPA uses OPRA to allocate its inspection resources based on a combination of the inherent risk of the site and the operator’s performance in managing these risks. Inspection frequencies are reduced for operators with favourable OPRA ratings. SEPA does not use OPRA for other purposes such as the preparation of permits.

With respect to OPRA and EMS, SEPA is awaiting the outcome of the REMAS project (REMAS, 2005) before determining if credit should be given under OPRA for operators with a recognised EMS. SEPA believes that EMSs, particularly those that are certified or verified, can play an important role in generating systematic improvements in the environmental performance of organisations. However, a direct link between the possession of an EMS and improved legal compliance has yet to be demonstrated. Notwithstanding this, SEPA believes that an operator with an EMS is likely to receive improved scores under the OPA attribute for criteria such as management and training. There is therefore a degree of credit built into the existing system.

SEPA’s OPRA methodology is detailed in its ‘Environmental Risk Assessment Manual’ which can be viewed on the SEPA website – see Appendix D.

LocalAuthorityAirPollutionControl(LAAPC)–risk-basedregulation

A risk assessment method is used by local authorities in England and Wales to determine the relative level of risk associated with processes regulated under the Local Air Pollution Control Regime (Defra, 2005). The method assigns a level of proposed ‘regulatory effort’ to individual processes (high, medium or low) according to their relative risks. The method relates to effort expended in regulating processes once they have been authorised – ie what is covered by the subsistence element of the Local Authority Air Pollution Control (LAAPC) fees and charges.

Risk assessment using this method is based on both the nature of the process and the way in which it is managed; it is divided into two parts:


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• Environmental Impact Appraisal (EIA) which concerns the potential environmental impacts of a process according to type, level of upgrading to meet regulatory requirements and location; and

• Operator Performance Appraisal (OPA) which relates to how well the operator manages the potential environmental impacts of the process.

Further details can be found in the air quality section of the Defra website at: www.defra.gov.uk/environment/airquality/lapc/risk/index.htm


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Environmental management systems and legal compliance

�.1WhatisanEMS?

An environmental management system (EMS) is “that part of an organisation’s management system used to develop and implement its environmental policy and manage its environmental aspects” (ISO 14001: 2004a). Figure 3.1 shows a schematic of the key elements of an EMS. The EMS process can be expressed in terms of environmental management techniques set out below. Legal compliance is addressed at the stages indicated in brackets.

Figure 3.1 Key elements of an EMS

Section 3

Environmental impact assessment

(identify legal requirements)

Activities, products and services

Risk assessment (assess legal compliance) Environmental impacts

Control measures to mitigate environmental impacts(achieve legal compliance)

Systems and procedures - to operate and maintain control measures(manage legal compliance)

EMS Organisation

of

of

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Certificationandaccreditation

Certification is the process by which an organisation’s system (eg its EMS) is assessed for its conformity to the requirement of a standard (eg ISO 14001:2004). Certification Bodies (CBs) may be accredited to perform such assessments where they meet the criteria in ISO/IEC Guide 66 (ISO, 2003).

Accreditation bodies check on a regular basis via surveillance at the CB’s offices, witnessed assessments at their client’s sites and other activities that certification bodies are capable of providing accredited certification. Similar processes are operated to accredit environmental verifiers to carry out verification under EMAS, including the validation of EMAS environmental statements, and IEMA Acorn inspection bodies.

In the UK, the United Kingdom Accreditation Service (UKAS) performs the accreditation function for ISO 14001:2004 certification bodies, EMAS verifiers and IEMA Acorn inspection bodies, through a Memorandum of Understanding with the DTI. Accreditation criteria and guidance is developed at an international level by organisations such as the International Accreditation Forum (IAF) and accreditation bodies are required to conform to ISO/ IEC 17011 (ISO, 2004b). Certification assessments are carried out according to international standards and guidelines, such as ISO/IEC Guide 66 and EA 7/02 (IAF, 2003). A later section of this Guide explains in detail the role and mechanics of certification; additional information on accreditation is contained in Appendix A.

TypesofEMS

The main types of EMS in use in the UK are described below:

In-house EMS: many companies choose to design and implement an EMS to their own specification. Regulators encourage the uptake of EMSs which help to manage risks and establish environmental control measures. An in-house EMS may be as effective as any other, but the main drawback for regulators is that it is more difficult to assess the effectiveness of such an EMS in the absence of a standard approach, including assessment criteria.

Assessments of the value of an EMS start with the degree of conformance to a recognised standard such as BS 8555 or ISO 14001:2004, or a scheme such as EMAS. Judgements on each individual case may then be based on the degree of conformance and whether this delivers regulatory requirements including legal compliance. Independent (third-party) checks can be made via accredited certification, inspection and verification assessments.

Environmentalmanagementsystemsandlegalcompliance

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ISO 14001: 2004: ISO 14001:2004 is an international standard, entitled: ‘Environmental Management Systems: Requirements with Guidance for Use’ (ISO, 2004a). The standard specifies the different elements of an EMS and how they relate to one another based on a methodology known as plan-do-check-act (see Figure 3.2). The overall aim of the standard is to support environmental protection and prevention of pollution in balance with socio-economic needs. In common with all management systems, the standard provides a means for continual improvement of performance.

Conformity against the requirements of ISO 14001:2004 can be demonstrated through self-declaration, accredited certification or by other independent means.

Figure 3.2 EMS model for ISO 14001:2004

BS 8555: 2003: BS 8555 is a British Standard, entitled: ‘Environmental Management Systems – Guide to the Phased Implementation of an Environmental Management System including the Use of Environmental Performance Evaluation’ (BSI, 2003). The standard:

• provides guidance to organisations on environmental management and the use of environmental performance indicators;

Environmental policy

Planning

Implementation and operation

Checking and corrective action

Management review

Continual improvement

Environmental policy

Planning

Implementation and operation

Checking and corrective action

Management review

Continual improvement


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• describes a six-phase, incremental approach to implementing an EMS using environmental performance evaluation;

• is suitable for any organisation, particularly small and medium-sized enterprises, to implement an EMS – for example to ISO 14001 standard;

• may be used to demonstrate improved environmental performance to customers and stakeholders; and

• allows organisations to proceed at their own pace up to ‘full’ implementation of an EMS, which may then be certified to ISO 14001 or registered under EMAS.

The IEMA has developed a scheme for accredited inspection of conformance to any chosen phase of BS 8555, known as the IEMA Acorn Scheme (IEMA, 2005) – the Environment Agency is considering how it can be recognised under its OPRA scheme.

Eco-Management and Audit Scheme (EMAS): The Eco-Management and Audit Scheme (EC, 1993) is a registration scheme, not simply a standard. It is a voluntary initiative designed to improve organisations’ environmental performance. It was initially established by European Regulation 1836/93, although this was replaced by Council Regulation 761/01. This amendment incorporated ISO 14001:1996 (ISO, 1996) into the EMAS Regulation as the specification for an EMS (Annex 1A of the regulation). At the time of writing, Annex 1A is being amended to include the requirements of ISO 14001:2004. Further information about EMAS, including guidance and how to register, may be found at www.emas.org.uk

�.2ThevalueofanEMStoregulators

Regulators’supportforEMS

Businesses must take responsibility for the environmental impacts of their activities. Continual management of environmental impacts requires a structured approach and environmental management systems (EMSs) provide a way for businesses to do this.

Legal compliance and good environmental performance are fundamental requirements of an EMS. A robust EMS should lead to improved environmental performance, including better and more consistent legal compliance.

Regulators are supportive of accredited certification to ISO 14001:2004 as the basis for a systematic approach to managing environmental legal compliance.


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Regulators support EMAS (which incorporates conformance to ISO 14001) as a way for organisations to demonstrate their green credentials beyond ISO 14001:2004 accredited certification. A company registered to EMAS must comply with legislation, and assurance must be sought from the environmental regulator. EMAS also places additional emphases on environmental performance and public environmental reporting.

The regulatory approach at any site will always be informed by the observed standards of environmental protection and management, including permit breaches, incidents and complaints from the public.

When regulators carry out assessments of compliance, information from an EMS may be used to demonstrate (ie give assurance) that an organisation is or has been in compliance. EMS records provide an objective means for the regulator to make such appraisals and may provide evidence for an audit trail. This is illustrated in Figure 3.3.

Figure 3.3 Regulatory value of an EMS

Regulator Operator

Evaluation and records

Compliance assessment Compliance management

Evidence of compliance (or non-compliance)

EMS (management and assurance of compliance)

An operator’s EMS is an important element to examine during a regulator’s inspection, as valid as other areas of assessment such as abatement equipment and storage areas. The EMS may add value to on-site regulatory assessments; for example by providing:

• evidence of compliance since the last visit;• a focus for the subsequent tour of the premises; and• a starting point for an OPRA appraisal.


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Table 3.1 shows the relative levels of assurance provided by the different EMS standards and schemes.

Table 3.1 The level of assurance provided by EMS standards and schemes

Level of assurance

Type of EMSIn-house ISO

14001

(not

certified)

BS 8555

(not

inspected)

Accredited

certified

ISO 14001

Acorn

Accredited

Inspection

EMAS

1 Standard/

scheme

applied

X ` ` ` ` `

2 Conformance

to standard

or scheme

certified/

inspected by

accredited

body

X X X ` ` `

3 Performance

verified by

accredited

verifier or

inspection

body

X X X X `optional

`

Regulators’concernsandexpectations

There is a wide variation in standards of EMS implementation and certification. In particular, there is often a lack of focus on maintaining and ensuring legal compliance and improving environmental performance. Regulators still have a number of unanswered questions in relation to EMSs; for example:

• What are the benefits to implementing organisations and to regulators of establishing an EMS to standards such as BS 8555, ISO 14001 and EMAS?

• Does an organisation with an EMS have better legal compliance and improved environmental performance than one without? Several academic


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studies suggest that sites with an EMS do not necessarily deliver better compliance with permit conditions, have fewer incidents or deliver better environmental performance than those that do not have them (Dahlström et al, 2003).

• Does accredited certification add regulatory value? The standards of environmental performance provided at a site with an EMS will be determined in part by the certification body.

Regulators are concerned at the lack of consistency in approach between certification bodies and that during assessments not enough attention is paid to compliance with legislation. This is despite the existence of international standards and guidance for accreditation – as set out in this Guide. The certification and accreditation ‘community’ (certification/inspection bodies, trade associations and UKAS) should address this concern. In addition to consistency of approach, regulators have a number of other expectations as shown in Box 3.1.

Box 3.1 Regulators’ expectations of accredited certification

Assurance that legal compliance is being effectively managed: regulators expect:

certification assessments to provide assurance that organisations are conforming to the standard’s key requirements concerning legal compliance (ISO 14001:2004, clauses 4.3.2, Legal and Other Requirements and 4.5.2, Evaluation of Compliance);

a greater emphasis on identifying and correcting legal non-compliances, as well as detecting and correcting non-conformances with the standard;

better communication and information exchange, particularly with regard to the identification and notification (to regulators) of non-compliances found or reported during a certification assessment;

greater transparency in the circumstances and process for suspension or withdrawal of certification, including dealing with complaints from third parties; and

that organisations that have regular legal non-compliances (due to management failures) would not retain their ISO 14001 certificates, or EMAS registrations.

Competencies and training of certification assessors: regulators expect:assessors and assessment teams to be selected according to relevant environmental and legal competencies and experience related to the organisation being assessed; and

all UKAS accredited certification bodies to have access to and use the same criteria for selecting assessors. It should be stressed that accredited certification bodies are required to use auditors who meet the requirements of ISO 19011 (ISO, 2002).

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•

•

•

•

•

•


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�.�KeydeliverablesforaneffectiveEMS

Regulators need to be convinced that an operator’s EMS is an effective tool for managing legal compliance. Effectiveness is judged by:

• Risk assessments: is the EMS well designed and fit for purpose?

• Performance: does the EMS result in fewer permit breaches and improved compliance with legal requirements?

To address their concerns, regulators have identified key deliverables for an effective EMS in relation to legal compliance. These are:

• policy commitment to legal compliance and improving environmental performance;

• identification of legal and other environmental requirements mapped against operational activities, services and products;

• periodic evaluation of legal compliance to identify and remedy non-compliances through appropriate corrective and preventive actions;

• staff awareness, competencies and training required for managing legal compliance;

• operational controls and emergency preparedness to meet legal requirements;

• monitoring, audits and management review to check and make appropriate changes to controls, systems and procedures; and

• delivery of improvements where these have been identified or required by the regulator – note that this deliverable is incorporated in the above six points.

Boxes 3.2 to 3.7 set out criteria for each key deliverable applicable to any EMS; cross-references are provided to the relevant sections or clauses of ISO 14001:2004, BS 8555 and EMAS. The regulators believe that an EMS that delivers in these areas will be effective in managing compliance with environmental legal requirements.


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Box 3.2 Key deliverable 1: policy commitment to legal compliance

Applicable standards and schemes:

ISO 14001: 2004: Clause 4.2 Environmental policy

BS8555: 2003: Phase 1 Commitment and establishing the baseline, Phase 3 Developing objectives, targets and programmes (stages 1, 2, 3, 4, 7)

EMAS Regulation: Annex 1(A) EMS Requirements (as for ISO 14001); Annex 1(B)1 Legal compliance, Annex 3 Environmental Statement

There is a policy commitment from top management to identify and comply with all relevant legal requirements regarding environmental protection. The policy is implemented via organisational structures and responsibilities to ensure that:

all relevant environmental legal requirements are met;there are adequate resources to ensure compliance; andprogress is monitored.

A company board member or director has ultimate responsibility for environmental policy and performance including compliance with environmental legal requirements. The policy provides information on environmental legal requirements and how they will be met.

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•

•

•••

Box 3.3 Key deliverable 2: identification of legal requirements


ISO 14001: 2004: Clause 4.3.2 Legal and other requirements

BS8555: 2003: Phase 2 Identifying and ensuring compliance with legal and other requirements

EMAS Regulation: Article 3, Clause 2 (a); Annex 1 (A) EMS Requirements (as for ISO 14001); Annex 1 (B) Issues to be addressed by organisations (legal compliance)

The organisation maintains a register of environmental legal requirements.

This sets out:

the sources of legal requirements – EU, national and other;names of requirements – full title and usual abbreviation;effecting instruments – direct regulation, permit and other;effective dates from which requirements apply;activities, products and services to which the requirements apply;

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•

•

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Box 3.3 (cont) Key deliverable 2: identification of legal requirements

Box 3.4 Key deliverable 3: evaluation of compliance with legal requirements

responsible department and/or post and name of current post-holder; andinformation sources and types required to evaluate compliance status.

The register is periodically checked and updated with changes to legislation and changes to activities, services and products.

All relevant staff have access to and are familiar with legal and other environmental requirements relating to their role within the organisation.

Management regularly reviews applicable legal requirements and the environmental legal register is updated accordingly.

••


ISO 14001: 2004: Clause 4.5.2 Evaluation of compliance

BS8555: 2003: Phase 2 Identifying and ensuring compliance with legal and other requirements (all stages)

EMAS: Article 6, Clauses 1, 4, 5, 6 Compliance with, and breaches of, environ-mental legal requirements; Annex 1 (A) EMS Requirements (as for ISO 14001)

There is a procedure for periodically evaluating compliance with relevant environmental legislation and regulations. This should include, or reference, monitoring and audits carried out under key deliverable 6 (see Box 3.9 below)

There is robust evidence that the organisation checks the level of compliance with relevant legal and other requirements, including all specific permit, licence, authorisation and consent conditions at a frequency related to the risk and potential consequence of non-compliance but at least annually

Any breaches of permit, licence, authorisation or consent conditions are reported to the regulator in accordance with specified requirements

Responsibilities and processes have been defined for dealing with non-compliances, including:

a) handling, investigating and reporting incidents of actual or potential non-compliance (near misses) with operating procedures or emission limits;

b) handling, investigating, communicating and reporting environmental complaints;

c) taking suitable action to mitigate any environmental impacts; and

d) initiating, completing and following-up corrective and preventive action

The organisation communicates openly with regulators about incidents of actual or potential non-compliance, complaints and the actions it has taken in response, and about proposed changes to its operations.

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•

•

•

•

•

•

•


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Box 3.5 Key deliverable 4: staff awareness, competencies and training


ISO 14001: 2004: Clause 4.4.2 Competence, training and awareness

BS8555: 2003: Phase 4 Implementation and operation of the environmental management system (Stages 1, 2, 3)

EMAS: Annex 1 (A) EMS Requirements (as for ISO 14001)

The organisation ensures that all staff and contractors are aware of the impacts of their activities on the environment and the importance of following procedures relating to compliance with environmental legal requirements.

All relevant management and operational staff, including contractors and those responsible for purchasing equipment and materials, receive adequate training in their responsibilities, understanding and awareness with regard to:

a) environmental permits and other applicable environmental legal requirements;

b) operational control procedures;

c) all potential environmental effects from operation under normal, abnormal, start-up and shut down circumstances;

d) identifying and reporting deviations from permit requirements and other applicable environmental legal requirements; and

e) actions to prevent accidental emissions and actions to be taken when accidental emissions occur.

There is robust evidence of implementation of training and regular review of requirements.

The organisation defines and documents the competencies (skills, experience and qualifications) necessary for key posts and:

a) maintains records of training needs and training received;

b) ensures that competencies and training needs are regularly assessed and reviewed to ensure that duties are carried out effectively and in legal compliance;

c) applies relevant industry standards or codes of practice for training (eg WAMITAB) and assesses the degree of staff conformance; and

d) applies requirements (a) to (c) to contractors and other people working for and on behalf of the organisation, and to those purchasing equipment and materials.

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•

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Box 3.6 Key deliverable 5: operational controls and emergency preparedness


ISO 14001: 2004: Clause 4.4.6 Operational control, 4.4.7 Emergency prepared-ness and response

BS 8555: 2003: Phase 4 Implementation and operation of the environmental management system (Stages 5, 6)

EMAS: Annex 1 (A) EMS Requirements (as for ISO 14001)

Operational controls and emergency preparedness and response procedures exist to support compliance with legal and other requirements including legal compli-ance limits, monitoring and reporting protocols. The controls and procedures cover:

a) normal and abnormal operations (eg shut-down, start-up, different shift operations, and hand-over) and reasonably foreseeable incidents;

b) operation of computer controls, maintenance, change and related testing;

c) plant, product and process design, including material selection; and

d) drainage and utilities, storage facilities and capacities, and material identification and labelling as shown on site plans.

Operational control procedures are communicated and where appropriate train-ing is provided to suppliers and contractors. These are reflected in tender and contract documents for supply of goods and services.

A preventative maintenance programme exists for all plant and equipment whose failure could lead to adverse impacts on the environment, which:

a) identifies equipment critical to environmental performance based on an assessment of risk to the environment;

b) prioritises items of plant for which preventative maintenance is needed;

c) ensures regular inspection of major non-productive items such as tanks, pipe-work, retaining walls, bunds, ducts and filters; and

d) reviews maintenance performance based upon records of equipment history.

An accident and emergency management plan exists which:

a) assesses the potential for reasonably foreseeable accidents, emergencies and other failures (eg fire) which might lead to adverse environmental impacts;

b) identifies the likelihood and environmental consequences of such occurrences, including as a result of actions taken;

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•


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Box 3.6 (cont) Key deliverable 5: operational controls and emergency preparedness

Box 3.7 Key deliverable 6: monitoring, audit and management review

c) ensures that operational controls include preventative and mitigation measures, including provision and use of relevant equipment;

d) identifies actions to prevent accidents and minimise impacts on the environment (eg lead covers or booms to prevent chemicals entering surface water drains);

e) informs relevant staff and third parties of actions taken (eg the local fire brigade); and

f) reviews (emergency) procedures, particularly following an incident.

The organisation regularly tests the accident and emergency management plan and makes procedural changes, where necessary.

•


ISO 14001: 2004: Clause 4.5.1, Monitoring and measurement, Clause 4.5.3, Nonconformity, corrective action and preventive action, Clause 4.6, Management review

BS 8555: 2003: Phase 5 Checking, audit and review (Stages 1, 2, 3, 4, 5)

EMAS: Article 3, Clause 2 (b); Annex 1 (A) EMS Requirements (as for ISO 14001); Annex II Requirements concerning internal environmental auditing, Annex 5, Ac-creditation, supervision and function of environmental verifiers, Annex 7

The organisation uses appropriate methods and techniques to:

a) monitor and measure compliance with regulatory conditions, limitations and improvements;

b) comply with regulations and recognised industry and technical standards;

c) ensure operations are carried out in accordance with control procedures, and emission limits; and

d) assess the potential for uncontrolled releases of materials, products and wastes (eg during tanker loading and off-loading).

Monitoring and measuring equipment (including data and results) is fit for purpose, correctly calibrated and maintained in good working order. There are records to demonstrate that this is the case.

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Box 3.7 (cont) Key deliverable 6: monitoring, audit and management review

The organisation reports regulatory parameters to regulators in accordance with specified requirements including format and detail, and retains records.

Audits are carried out to ensure that legal compliance has been evaluated and that environmental improvements are delivering better performance; the results must be reported to top management. The audits check that there is:

a) effective evaluation and management of compliance with all environmental legal requirements, including specific requirements or detailed conditions set out in any permit, licence, authorisation or consent; and

b) effective operational control of significant impacts and that objectives and targets for improved performance have been met.

Senior management reviews the environmental performance of the organisation and takes action to ensure its legal and policy commitments are met in the light of:

a) legal and regulatory requirements, including enforcement, works and improvement notices, warnings (formal and informal);

b) discussions and reports from regulators regarding compliance and good practice;

c) policy commitments regarding performance against objectives and targets;

d) results of evaluations of compliance with all applicable legal requirements;

e) results from audits, eg adequacy and timeliness of corrective and preventive actions;

f) concerns amongst relevant interested parties; and

g) any necessary actions or changes that have been identified, implemented or planned for implementation.

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Guidance for organisations – establishing good practice

�.1Introduction

This section describes best practice in managing an organisation’s performance with respect to legal compliance. The underlying theme is the introduction of compliance thinking into all aspects of management including planning, operations management, performance monitoring and reporting and assurance processes.

An Environmental Management System (EMS) framework such as that provided by ISO 14001:2004 can be used as a tool in helping to achieve this. However, the management of legal compliance should be seen as part of a process of achieving performance improvement rather than the implementation of what are sometimes seen as discrete system elements. This process needs to cover:

• the identification and analysis of legal and regulatory requirements (both current and forthcoming);

• the periodic evaluation of performance against those requirements;

• the implementation and operation of responsibilities, procedures and improvement programmes for ensuring that improvements are planned and achieved; and

• the maintenance of control.

Furthermore, legal performance must often go beyond the statistical criteria (limits) set by regulators. A compliance orientated organisation must also address other requirements, such as any risk that can just as significantly influence compliance.

There are three parts to this section; these are: the case for better compliance management; identifying environmental legal and regulatory requirements and evaluating compliance; and systems and procedures for ensuring ongoing compliance and improvement. Section five deals with extending internal compliance assurance.

Section 4

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�.2Thecaseforbettercompliancemanagement

This section aims to help organisations determine how they can pursue best practice in compliance management. The application of best practice is not, however, a one-size-fits-all approach. It is essential that the business case is fully understood and that compliance management is tailored to each organisation, albeit that the principles underlying best practice should always be the same.

Whyisthereaneedtodemonstratecompliance?

Reputable organisations in the UK and internationally should be in a position to demonstrate full compliance with all aspects of environmental legislation – this encompasses all legal requirements, some of which may be found in non-environmental statutes such as product and health and safety legislation. Stakeholders such as the public and an organisation’s shareholders, customers and workforce need to be confident that the organisation operates within the law and is not harming the environment. There is little sympathy for organisations whose non-compliances are brought to light; magistrates and courts are coming under increasing criticism for not imposing sufficiently stringent penalties.

Whyistheresometimesalackoffocusoncompliance?

For many organisations, achieving and demonstrating legal compliance is a difficult, time-consuming and continuous exercise that needs to be managed within the resources available. The sheer volume of environmental legislation that must be complied with can be daunting – Acts of Parliament; numerous ever-changing regulations; individual permits, consents and licences; and even certain items of European legislation that have direct effect. Moreover, within many of these pieces of legislation there are likely to be several separate compliance requirements for an individual organisation. Each of these requirements needs to be identified, screened for relevance, understood and acted upon before an organisation can satisfy itself that it has attempted to comply.

Unsurprisingly, many organisations do not achieve this level of compliance management, and this may be due to:

• insufficient resources allocated within the organisation to compliance management;

• failure to identify or understand legal requirements;• over-reliance on conformance with a management system that is not closely

integrated with legal compliance; and• low priority given within the organisation to compliance management.

Guidancefororganisations–establishinggoodpractice

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Whataretheconsequencesofalackofcomplianceassurance?

In simple terms, a lack of compliance assurance means that an organisation may not know whether it is breaking the law. Most breaches of health, safety and environmental legislation are criminal offences, but regulators are committed to a proportionate enforcement response. In their published enforcement policies (EA, 1998), (SEPA, 2002) and (EHS NI, 2005), the UK environmental regulators take into account factors such as the severity and foreseeability of the offence; the offender’s past record, attitude and co-operation with the investigation; and whether enforcement action is likely to act as a deterrent to others.

The regulator’s response can vary (see Figure 4.1) from taking no action in cases where there might have been an acceptable reason for the non-compliance, through informal and formal warnings, up to statutory enforcement action and prosecution with the associated negative publicity that this brings.

Figure 4.1 Enforcement response hierarchy

Regulators have complained that the levels of fines imposed by the courts are often insignificant in comparison to the offending organisation’s annual turnover or profit. But the biggest worry for an organisation is usually the indirect effect of enforcement action, and sensitivities to this vary according to circumstances

Prosecution

Regulator’s press release

Suspension / revocation of permit

Enforcement / improvement / prohibition

notices

Additional inspections

Formal written warning

Informal site warning

Variation to permit conditions

No action


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(see Table 4.1). For example, a company with a large stockpile of unsold finished goods could be less concerned about a prohibition or suspension notice than another company struggling to fulfil orders. Similarly, a back-street supply chain intermediate with little public visibility may not place the same degree of emphasis on protecting its reputation as would a high-profile multinational with brands on supermarket shelves.

Table 4.1 Effects of enforcement action

Commercial Loss of business

Industrial relations Workforce concerns

Reputational Customer perception, other stakeholders, corporate reporting

Environmental Workforce concerns, site contamination, pollution incidents

Operational Loss of production, accidents and injuries, business continuity, additional management time

Individual liability Corporate manslaughter and dismissal

Financial Fines and insurance premiums

Whymightanorganisationwishtoimproveitscomplianceperformance?

There are several motivating forces behind an organisation’s desire to comply with environmental legislation. There is altruism and the concept of social responsibility where an organisation might believe compliance is the morally correct stance. There may be a desire to appear as an exemplar or role model and this may have the associated commercial benefits of attracting like-minded customers, or forcing competitors to respond.

There are more neutral motivators such as the ‘herd instinct’ to comply because everyone else appears to be doing so, or just wanting to be reassured that the company is not going to get into trouble. However, there are also more negatively inspired motivations such as the desire to comply solely as a result of pressure from customers, employees or shareholders, or the fear of individual responsibility and criminal liability.


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Howdoorganisationscheckcompliance?

In assessing compliance levels, organisations may decide to rely solely upon regulatory inspection reports, complaints and occasionally commendations from members of the public or non-governmental organisations (NGOs) or unsolicited advice from employees. This has the advantage that compliance efforts are minimised and focused on areas of current concern. However, any view obtained through this passive approach may be completely unrepresentative of the organisation’s true level of compliance.

Therefore, it is in an organisation’s interests to implement more active approaches to checking, such as internal and external evaluation and auditing. Auditing has the limitation that it may pick up problems only after they have occurred. As a result, organisations may decide to take further steps and develop management systems that integrate the achievement of compliance into the work programme; that is, plan to comply from the beginning rather than just checking afterwards.

�.�Establishinggoodcompliancepractice

There are three steps to establishing good compliance practice. They are:

Step A Understand your organisation and gather informationStep B Identify legislation of specific relevance to your organisationStep C Evaluate current compliance and implement appropriate controls

A:Understandyourorganisationandgatherinformation

A(i): know your activities, products and services

The starting point for the identification of legal and regulatory requirements relevant to an organisation is an understanding in detail of its operations including all activities, products and services.

The organisation can then focus on identifying environmental legislation or regulations that affect their operations. To ensure that all operations are covered, consider the organisation in terms of process or activity flows and associated inputs and outputs - see Figure 4.2. For each input or output consider broad categories of environmental impact as a starting point – see Table 4.2.


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Figure 4.2 Process and activity flows in an organisation

Table 4.2 Environmental impact categories

Environmental impact category

Include consideration of ….

Emissions to air Emissions of smoke, dust, grit, gaseous air pollutants from industrial activities (eg carbon dioxide, nitrous oxides and sulphur oxides), radiation sources and releases of odours from industrial processes

Releases to water Releases to surface water, sewers and groundwater; storage of hazardous substances, eg oil and pesticides; and marine pollution

Wastes Avoidance, recycling, reuse, transportation and disposal of solid and other wastes; packaging and hazardous and non-hazardous wastes

Land Use and contamination of land (historic, current and future)

Use of natural resources and raw materials

Including water and energy use, and use of hazardous materials

Wastes &

by-products

Product &

packaging

Transportation

of product

Raw materials

Energy

Water

Emissions to air Noise Waste heat

Process Wasted water Run-off

Process 1


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Environmental impact category

Include consideration of ….

Nuisance issues Noise from industrial and construction sites, entertainment noise, vehicle, rail and aircraft noise; nuisance arising from vibration, odour, dust and visual appearance

Travel and transport For goods, services and employees; pollution of air from road vehicles; aircraft emissions

Biodiversity Impacts on- and off-site, consider protected habitats and species of flora and fauna; sites with recognised designation, eg AONB, SSSI, SAC; local or regional biodiversity action plans

Heritage Possible impacts if in listed building or within a conservation area; possible impacts on ancient monuments and archaeological areas

The systematic identification of environmental aspects of activities, products and services of the organisation, as required by ISO14001, BS 8555 and EMAS, is the first step to be taken when developing an EMS. All these standards require that all the organisation’s activities, products and services are identified, to help the organisation understand the environmental impacts (or changes to the environment) arising from each of these aspects. Examples of aspects and impacts are shown in Table 4.3.

Table 4.3 Examples of environmental aspects and impacts

Feature Environmental aspects Environmental impacts

Definition Environmental aspect is defined in ISO14001 as an “element of an organisation’s activities, products or services that can interact with the environment” eg electricity consumption for lighting, equipment and plant.The activity the organisation carries out which causes an environmental impact.

Environmental impacts are defined in ISO14001 as “any change to the environment, whether adverse or beneficial, wholly or partly resulting from an organisation’s environmental aspects”.

The impact on the environment that is caused by the activities of the organisation.


Table 4.2 (cont) Environmental impact categories

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Feature Environmental aspects Environmental impacts

Example 1 Electricity consumption for lighting, equipment and plant

Depletion of a non-renewable natural resource (eg coal, oil or gas con-sumed in a power plant)Release of atmospheric emissions (CO2, SOx, NOx) due to combustion of coal, oil and gas at a power plant which contributes to global warming, acid rain and poorer air quality.

•

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Example 2 Disposal of hazardous wastes to landfill

Use of landfill space and landfill impacts such as leachate and methane generationPotential impact – incorrect disposal through lack of control of contractors

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A:Understandyourorganisationandgatherinformation

A(ii): gather information on environmental legislation

When all of the activities of the organisation are clearly understood and have been documented it is then possible to consider the legislative requirements associated with each environmental aspect. There are a number of useful sources of environmental regulatory information – see Table 2.1 – and an increasing number of support organisations who provide environmental management advice and guidance; three examples are: Business Links, Business in the Environment and Envirowise. These can be particularly useful to small and medium-sized organisations. All of these sources will provide information on regulations and their broad applicability. Additional guidance is often provided by support organisations to help understand how any regulation applies to an individual organisation. However, it is an organisation’s responsibility to understand the specific implications of each piece of legislation; ignorance is no defence in a court of law.

B:Identifylegislationofspecificrelevancetoyourorganisation

B(i): is the legislation applicable to your organisation?

An organisation must systematically identify the legal requirements associated with its activities, products and services. Following the development of a list (or


Table 4.3 (cont) Examples of environmental aspects and impacts

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‘register’) of aspects and impacts the organisation should seek to identify which of these is governed by legislative or other requirements.

Some regulations have broad thresholds which govern whether or not organisations are covered by the legislation. Summary guidance is usually given which describes how an organisation can determine if it falls within the criteria. Frequently, it is the organisation’s responsibility to demonstrate that it falls outside the criteria. The organisation should record its findings and review them when any changes are made that may alter its position. Examples of legislation with thresholds are shown in Box 4.1.

Box 4.1 Examples of legislative thresholds

Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging Waste) Regulations 1997 (as amended 2003)

If you manufacture, convert, pack/fill, sell or import more than 50 tonnes of packaging or packaging material per year, and have a turnover of more than £2m per year, you must register with your environmental regulator or a registered compliance scheme and must achieve targets for recycling or recovering waste.

Control of Major Accident Hazards Regulations 1999

If your organisation handles, produces, uses, stores or introduces, on any site, any of the dangerous substances listed in the regulations in quantities equal to or exceeding the threshold quantity specified, then you will need to comply with this legislation.

As a guide, dangerous substances include but are not limited to those that are considered toxic, oxidising, explosive or flammable. You will need to carefully check the regulations to identify specific dangerous substances and for details of the relevant thresholds.

Operators of sites with the greatest hazards (top tier sites) will be subject to stricter controls than those with less hazard (lower tier sites). The threshold quantities vary depending on the particular dangerous substance, and you will need to check the regulations to establish which category your site is in.

Control of Pollution (Oil Storage) (England) Regulations 2001

In England, these regulations apply if you store oil externally in containers with a capacity of more than 200 litres. The Regulations cover oil of any kind, including petrol, mineral oil, heating oil, lubricating oil, vegetable oil, heavy oils such as bitumen, and oils used as solvents, such as paraffin or kerosene.


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B(ii): for an organisation’s activities, products and services

Having identified the broad applicability of the legislation to the organisation, each piece of environmental legislation should be reviewed to identify the specific elements that are relevant. This information should then be interpreted and disseminated to those with specific responsibilities within the organisation. This stage is important because it identifies:

• the key issues to be addressed; • those who are responsible for carrying out actions; and • the appropriateness of any operating controls in place and whether they

meet legal requirements.

Some legislation specifies that a permit is required to authorise the discharge of substances to air, water and land – examples include the Water Industry Act and Pollution Prevention and Control. The permit will specify: the details of the type of emissions that are permitted; the quantity which is permitted to be discharged; and the rate and times at which discharges are permitted. Examples of permit conditions are shown in Table 4.4. The permit may impose conditions which need to be met on the site in relation to operational criteria; planned preventive maintenance, and monitoring and reporting. Each of these specific requirements should be interpreted accurately and their relevance documented and communicated to those in positions of responsibility.

In some cases, the legal requirement will specify ‘duties’ to be undertaken, which must be interpreted and implemented by the organisation. An example is the group of responsibilities in the Duty of Care Regulations (UK parliament, 1991). In order to ensure that the relevance of this legislation is clear, an organisation needs to be specific in its interpretation both at a corporate and at a site level. The specific relevance of this legislation would include consideration of:

• the types of waste this relates to;• the sites where these types of waste are produced;• the manner in which types of waste are stored;• the volume and frequency of waste disposal;• the kind of licences required;• who is responsible for verifying the licences; and• how waste transfer notes are kept, by whom, and for how long.


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Specific information at this level of detail should be provided to transpose high level legal requirements into practical, relevant, site specific information for those in positions of responsibility – for example see Table 4.4.

Table 4.4 Permit conditions

Act or enabling legislation

Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control (IPPC)

Regulation Pollution Prevention and Control ( England and Wales) Regulations 2000 (SI No.1973)

Example Permit conditions

Emissions to Air shall only arise from the following sources:

Emissions point reference

Source Location of emission point

A1 Main boiler 1 Grid ref A

A2 Auxillary boiler Grid ref B

The limits for emissions for the parameters and emission points below shall not be exceeded. Operator shall carry out monitoring of the following parameters.

Parameter Emission point

A1 A2

Oxides of Nitrogen (as NO2) mg/Nm3 Gas firing

60 200

Oxides of Nitrogen (as NO2) mg/Nm3 Distillate of oil firing

125 350

Carbon monoxide mg/m3

100 150


B(iii): identify changes in directives, legislation and regulations

It is important for any organisation to be aware of future changes to legislative requirements in order to predict the potential impact on the organisation, and to implement plans to comply with new requirements efficiently and pro-actively. The changes may be embodied in new legal instruments or in alterations to existing legislation, regulations and guidance.


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Significant amounts of management time and cost can be saved by being aware of future legislative requirements and being able to prepare managers and staff for forthcoming changes in working practices or operational criteria.

An indication of forthcoming legislative requirements can be found within each of the key sources identified in Table 2.1. When researching future legislation it is important to consider the following:

• Does your organisation fall within the scope of a European directive or regulation, or national legislation or regulations or associated guidance?

• What are the key areas of your business that will be affected?• Who are the key individuals within the business who will be responsible for

implementing changes?• What cost implications are associated with the new requirements?• What are the associated threats and opportunities for the business? • When are the proposed changes likely to come into force?• Are there any planned future changes to the organisation, its activities,

products and services that are affected by the new requirements?


B(iv): documentation of legislative requirements

Clear, accurate documentation in an easily accessible, readable format is essential to ensure the engagement of staff in legislative compliance. When documenting specific legislative requirements it is important to:

• be specific about the parts of the organisation that the requirement relates to – for example, identify installations, processes and departments;

• be specific about how legal requirements relate to each operational unit;

• define who is responsible for ensuring legal compliance for each requirement;

• define clearly any operational controls in place – for example, procedures and physical control measures;

• define clearly the operational limits for processes (where relevant) – for example, pH levels of discharges should be maintained between 5 and 9 at all times;


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• define what information, at what frequency, will be required to evaluate and ensure ongoing legal compliance; and

• keep legal jargon to a minimum.

Distilling legislation down to its specific requirements and providing practical guidance at an operational level are key components of an EMS. Identifying operational limits or performance criteria within which plant or equipment should be operated, or within which plans or programmes should be developed will provide clear, pragmatic direction for managers and their staff.

Once the specific relevance of each piece of legislation is understood, these should be communicated effectively to those with key roles and responsibilities. It is good practice to document the legislative requirements and to emphasise the key relevance of each requirement within a legislation register.

Whilst there is no specific requirement within ISO 14001:2004 for such a register, the standard specifies that the organisation shall: “establish and maintain a procedure to identify and have access to legal and other requirements to which the organisation subscribes related to its environmental aspects”.

Phase 2, Stage 1 of the guidance on identifying relevant legal requirements in BS 8555, states that the achievement criteria of the phase which must be completed before moving onto the successive phases includes “robust evidence that relevant legislation has been identified”.

EMAS goes slightly further than either of the above standards by specifying that the organisation must demonstrate that they have:

• identified and know the implications to the organisation of all relevant environmental legislation;

• provided for legal compliance with environmental legislation; and

• established procedures that enable the organisation to meet these requirements on an ongoing basis.

An example page from a legal register is shown in Box 4.2.


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Box 4.2 Example layout of a legal register

Activity: oil storageActivity No: 00

Regulation(s)Control of Pollution (Oil Storage) (England) Regulations 2001 SI 2954

RegulatorEnvironment Agency

Description of RegulationsThe regulations aim to reduce the number of incidents of oil, (‘oil’ means any kind of oil and includes petrol), leaking from tanks with no secondary containment from industrial, commercial and institutional (residential and non-residential) oil storage premises in England.

The Oil Storage Regulations impose standards for secondary containment for premises storing more than 200 litres of oil. New oil stores must comply with the regulations; existing oil stores in significant risk locations (within 10m of a watercourse or 50m of a well) had to comply by 1 September 2003. All other facilities are to comply by 1 September 2005. The regulations apply to external above ground oil stores greater than 200 litres (these regulations do not apply to waste oil, which is regulated under the Waste Management Licensing Regulations 1994).

Relevance to Company XCompany X must ensure that measures are taken to prevent leakage of oil from oil storage tanks, and to provide secondary containment for all oil stored on its sites.Oil containers must be situated within a secondary containment system which satisfies the following requirements:

it must have a capacity of not less than 110% of the container’s storage capacity or, if there is more than one container within the system, of not less than 110% of the largest container’s storage capacity or 25% of their aggregate storage capacity, whichever is the greater;

it must be positioned, or other steps must be taken, so as to minimise any risk of damage by impact so far as is reasonably practicable;

its base and walls must be impermeable to water and oil;

its base and walls must not be penetrated by any valve, pipe or other opening which is used for draining the system; and

if any fill pipe, or draw-off pipe, penetrates its base or any of its walls, the junction of the pipe with the base or walls must be adequately sealed to prevent oil escaping from the system.

any valve, filter, sight gauge, vent pipe or other equipment ancillary to the container (other than a fill pipe or draw-off pipe or, if the oil has a flashpoint of less than 32°C, a pump) must be situated within the secondary containment system.

Where a fill pipe is not within the secondary containment system, a drip tray must be used to catch any oil spilled when the container is being filled with oil.

•

•

•

•

•

•

•


cont over page

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Responsible Person(s) Facilities ManagerContractor Y Facilities Manager

••

Reference to other parts of EMS (eg environmental aspects, objectives and targets)EMS Aspects 8,10,12EMS Procedure O2: Oil Storage Planned Preventive Maintenance ProcedureEMS Procedure WI 3: Oil Delivery Work InstructionEMS Procedure O7: Emergency Spill Response

Reference to relevant licence, permit, notification or authorisationNot Applicable

Further information (eg codes of practice)www.environment-agency.gov.uk : Control of Pollution (Oil Storage) (England) Regulations 2001

PPG02 Above ground oil storage tanks - Guidelines to assist those responsible for above ground oil storage tanks at sites other than oil refineries and distribution depots. (Revised 11/ 01)

PPG26 Storage and Handling of Drums & Intermediate Bulk Containers – these notes are intended to assist all who deal with the storage and handling of drums and Intermediate Bulk Containers (IBCs)

PPG27 Installation, Decommissioning and Removal of Underground Storage Tanks

•

•

•

•

C:Evaluatecurrentcomplianceandimplementappropriatecontrols

C(i): evaluate current compliance

To establish actual performing against legislative requirements it is important that the organisation is aware at all times of its compliance status. This means that an organisation should implement systems that not only maintain compliance but also highlight when compliance has been breached, activating appropriate response measures to address the issue and resolve it.

Frequently, the scope of the internal audit process within an EMS is not adequate to demonstrate that compliance is being evaluated periodically. Where authorisation or permit limits are imposed these should be investigated to identify if improvements are required, or if there is a risk of breaching their conditions. By undertaking a thorough, legislatively-focused compliance review,


Box 4.2 (cont) Example layout of a legal register

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it may become apparent that certain sites or processes do not have appropriate licences, permits or authorisations – this then needs to be addressed with the appropriate regulator.

There may be legislative requirements which are not controlled by permit conditions (eg waste management and the duty of care requirements) and these will need to be checked periodically. Is it known if transfer notes are held for each waste stream on site? Who holds them and where? Is it known if waste carrier licences and waste management licences are held on site for each waste stream? Is it known if the waste disposal point is appropriate to take the particular waste in question?

An organisation needs to demonstrate that it has reviewed its compliance status in a systematic manner and continues to review it on a regular basis.

The process of compliance evaluation should be combined with the assessment of significant environmental aspects at the planning stage of EMS development. Compliance status against legal requirements and the risk of release of substances to the environment which could result in a breach should be included within the assessment of significance. Anything less would seriously compromise the effectiveness of subsequent significance-rating calculations and ultimately the focus of the entire EMS.

By identifying those areas with the greatest risk of release or breach of legislation, the identification and assessment of significance will serve to prioritise the activities, products and services carrying the greatest risk; therefore, these are the areas which need to be managed formally through the implementation of suitable control measures.

C:Evaluatecurrentcomplianceandimplementappropriatecontrols

C(ii): determine appropriate controls

For the activities, products and services identified as requiring control, the organisation needs to define clearly, appropriate measures to ensure compliance is maintained. Examples of control measures are shown in Table 4.5.


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Table 4.5 Control measures

Control measures Comment

Objectives, targets and management programme

Forward plan to secure improved performance where poor compliance has been identified. The objectives, targets and management programme should identify key actions with specified timescales and identified responsibilities.

Policies Identify the need to strengthen or develop corporate policies in relation to compliance and performance issues.

Operational procedures Identify key procedures that will be required to specify clearly the necessary operating techniques, processes and criteria. Operating procedures should identify key roles and responsibilities for maintaining and implementing procedures.

Work instructions In some cases detailed work instructions with step-by-step instructions may be required.

Physical controls Practical measures may be required to meet legislative requirements, such as new oil storage tanks and bunds. Capital expenditure needs should be identified and incorporated within budgets and business plans.

Communication and training needs

Effective communication and training requires changes to procedures and work instructions at all levels within the organisation.

Evaluation, audit and review

Establishment of evaluation, audit and review programme to provide assurance that control measures are being implemented, effective and remain relevant.

The regulators expect to see organisations delivering consistent and continuing compliance with regulation. This requires a structured approach and EMSs provide a way for organisations to do this.

The Environment Agency considers legal compliance and good environmental performance to be fundamental and formally recognises EMSs in its risk-based approach to regulation via the OPRA Scheme. Box 4.3 identifies some do’s and don’ts in this regard.


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Box 4.3 Identification of legal requirements – Do’s and Don’ts

Do Don’t

Systematically define all activities, products and services (aspects) of the organisation

Assume that legislation does not apply – investigate and demonstrate

Review each environmental aspect against legal requirements

Assume that individuals within your organisation understand how environmental legislation applies to their role

Check in detail the thresholds for compliance with legal requirements against your activities, products and services

Assume that as you have never had any breaches in legislation, that you are not currently in breach or will not breach legislation in future

Document relevant legislative requirements, and their relevance, and identify how they are to be managed and controlled

Provide ambiguous information, which is unclear

Allocate clear roles and responsibilities for compliance with specific pieces of legislation

Forget to consider planned changes

Communicate how legal or other requirements are relevant to your specific site at all relevant levels

Forget to consider normal, abnormal (planned but irregular) and emergency conditions

Include operational criteria within operating procedures and work instructions

Assume that the regulator will tell you about all legislation and regulations

Provide training where relevant

Update legislative requirements and the legal register on a regular basis (every six monthly at least)


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Section 5

Guidance for organisations – ongoing compliance and

assurance

�.1Systemsandproceduresforensuringongoingcomplianceandimprovement

With regard to ensuring ongoing compliance and improvement, some good practice points are as follows:

• make sure that the responsibilities for delivering compliance are clearly understood and assigned;

• make sure that individuals have adequate resources, not only to comply with legislation but also to conduct regular reviews and evaluations of the state of compliance;

• establish a competency framework to identify whether individuals have the relevant skills and qualities necessary to enable them to fulfil their responsibilities;

• use the competency framework to understand and prioritise training needs;

• regularly highlight compliance issues with staff at all levels, eg using presentations, posters and toolbox talks;

• review compliance on a regular basis; and• communicate with regulators at the planning and implementation stage.

Management of legal compliance needs to be incorporated into normal business activities. This means that particular responsibilities need to be clearly defined for the identification of relevant issues and delivery of compliance. This will help to ensure that adequate resources are available to support these activities.

Rolesandresponsibilities

Senior management is responsible for ensuring that suitable arrangements for compliance exist within an organisation. How this is achieved varies according to the size and nature of the organisation, and senior management should think carefully about which particular form of arrangements they require. The

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responsibilities may be split, with each senior manager seeking to establish local arrangements independent of other managers (Figure 5.1 - Model A). Alternatively, one senior manager may be given the responsibility to co-ordinate and manage compliance across the organisation (Figure 5.1 – Model B).

Figure 5.1 Models of responsibility

Multi-national organisations face a range of different obligations at each operational site. They may benefit from a local focus to the management arrangements (Model A). In general however, such systems tend to be inefficient. They result in much duplication of effort within the management system with several individuals involved in the act of identifying forthcoming obligations and developing solutions for compliance.

In comparison, Model B establishes local responsibilities in each area, but with each individual reporting back to one single senior manager. This model offers greater opportunities for delivering effective and efficient management arrangements across the organisation and sharing best practice. In particular this avoids the potential conflicts that exist with Model A between the delivery of compliance assurance and the delivery of any operational goals.

Both models include the appointment of an individual within each area, named the ‘environment manager’, with specific responsibility for ensuring that arrangements for environmental compliance are appropriate at the local level. Whether this is an integrated ‘safety, health and environment’ (SHE) role or a stand-alone role is irrelevant at this stage. What is important is ensuring that an

Board

Senior manager 1

Senior manager 2

Senior manager 3

Environment manager 1



Model A Model B

Board




Senior manager 1

Senior manager 2

Senior manager 3

Guidancefororganisations–ongoingcomplianceandassurance

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individual has the resources and competence to provide local advice and support on compliance issues. It is the role of this individual to interface with operational managers and staff, to support their delivery of compliance and provide assurance that arrangements are adequate for this purpose. This is clearly different to the role of local operational managers who have direct responsibility for ensuring that their activities comply with relevant legislation.

This is one of the most significant interfaces within any EMS and one where many systems will often fall down because the particular roles and responsibilities across this interface are not sufficiently clear and the interface itself is not managed. Failure to understand this will result in lack of ownership of relevant issues at the ‘coalface’, with resultant non-compliances arising from a lack of respect for and understanding of the requirements themselves.

This risk can be minimised in a number of ways. Ensure that the specific roles and responsibilities for compliance are described clearly within the management arrangements, and communicated to relevant positions within the organisational structure. For example, a simple table of roles and responsibilities may be provided – an example of which is shown in Table 5.1.

Table 5.1 Example description of general responsibilities within an EMS

Position General responsibilities

Senior manager Provision of adequate resources to support environmental compliance

•

Environment manager Identification of relevant environmental legislation and other obligationsPeriodic reviews of complianceProduction of annual management reviewAnnual report on environmental performance

•

•••

Plant manager Identification and management of local environmental aspects in accordance with the EMS requirements.Compliance with relevant conditions of authorisation, permit etc

•

•

To ensure that all relevant obligations are covered it is worth linking each obligation with the relevant responsible individual. For example, a plant manager may be required to take weekly samples of sludge, whilst a site manager may be required to report discharges to a regulator on a monthly basis.

This record of obligations can take the form of a legal obligations’ register. This might simply be a checklist of specific conditions or limits relevant to


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a particular plant, detailing the particular staff responsible for ensuring local compliance, and the arrangements agreed between local management and the relevant environment manager. Such a register is also useful in demonstrating the adequacy of arrangements to external parties, eg the relevant regulator or third-party auditor.

The organisation should consider whether sufficient resources are available to deliver the responsibilities outlined. In particular, consideration should be given to the contingency or back-up arrangements in the event of any individuals not being available. Often within small organisations, the bulk of the environmental management activities are carried out by one individual. Whilst this may be sufficient to deliver routine matters of environmental management, such a reliance on any one individual for the delivery of legal compliance does present a risk to the business. Even in larger organisations, failure to ensure that adequate resources exist to support compliance can lead to ‘hero’ management systems – entirely reliant on the activities of one or just a few individuals and liable to grind to a halt in their absence.

To avoid this, particular roles and responsibilities must be specified in job descriptions, and sufficient resources given to them in order to deliver these responsibilities. They should also be reviewed regularly as part of general performance management. Whilst individuals might be keen to take on additional roles within a new system, failure to ensure that adequate time is given to allow such roles to be undertaken can put compliance at risk, undermine the effectiveness of the overall system itself and result in additional regulatory action.

Clear commitment from senior management, demonstrated in the form of instructions to line management to either recruit additional staff or free-up resources, is vital. Clearly, by adopting an integrated approach to management activities, the particular resource demands of the EMS component can be minimised. For example, an existing health and safety officer may be able to integrate additional considerations of environmental issues into their current role relatively easily. Care should, however, be taken to ensure that required levels of competency are not assumed in such situations – see Table 5.2.

An organisation should also think about the adequacy of resources when considering any specific initiatives or programmes of work to address the requirements of new legislation. For example, whilst routine activities might include regular inspections of local plant and review of environmental aspects, additional effort might be required to look specifically at the implications of new legislation in a particular area, and to develop an appropriate strategy for


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implementation. This might include the development and delivery of training in addition to any changes to local procedures or instructions. Such activities will require additional time and effort and may detract from other responsibilities. Similarly they may well impact on other activities, for example requiring plant operations to be suspended whilst engineering improvements are carried out in the area.

Competency

Many environmental permits and authorisations include the requirement for the activities to be undertaken by suitably competent staff. The relevant levels of competency for key positions and the demonstration that such levels are met should be a clear deliverable of an EMS.

Again it is useful to consider the competency framework of the organisation as an adjunct to the mapped-out roles and responsibilities. The competency requirements of each role should be considered on the basis of the responsibilities assigned, as well as the particular requirements of legislation.

In some cases, understanding what level of competency is required is straightforward as it is already described within a permit or authorisation. For example, individuals can have an appropriate WAMITAB Certificate of Technical Competence (WAMITAB, 2005) in order to be deemed competent to undertake waste management operations, or alternatively have MCERTS certification (EA, 2005b) to undertake stack-emission monitoring.

This information can be used to establish criteria that recognise the different abilities and competencies of individuals in terms of the tasks and responsibilities for compliance. For example, three different levels of competency criteria might be described in the area of ‘waste management’ – see Table 5.2.

Table 5.2 Example of competency levels for waste management

Competency: Waste Management

Aim: To describe the competency requirements of individuals responsible for waste management within the organisation

1 Able to follow local instructions for disposal of general office wastes without supervision during normal working hours

2 Able to differentiate between controlled and hazardous wastes, and to follow local instructions for disposal of wastes without supervision

3 WAMITAB Certificate of Technical Competence for the control and disposal of hazardous wastes


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The competency criteria can then be used to assess and demonstrate that the individuals within the organisation are able to fulfil their responsibilities. As an illustration, a matrix of relative competency levels in different skill areas can be established for each role – see Table 5.3 where ‘3’ indicates a high level of competence.

Table 5.3 Example of competency framework

Compe-tencyRole

Internal

Environ-mental manage-ment

Environ-mental protection advice

Accident and incident examina-tion

Auditing and assessing in the workplace

Com-munication manage-ment

Directing and planning work

Waste manage-ment

Senior manager

2 2 3 3 2 3 1

Environ-ment manager

3 3 3 3 2 3 2

Environ-ment officer

2 3 2 2 1 1 2

Plant manager

2 1 2 2 2 3 2

Waste manager

2 2 2 2 2 3 3

Such a matrix should be used as a ‘living document’ to inform subsequent training and development of individuals or to plan the resource implications of any changes in legislation or responses to compliance shortfalls.

Trainingandawareness

The competency criteria, together with the defined roles and responsibilities for the EMS, can also be used to help identify relevant training needs within an organisation. In particular and for obvious reasons, efforts to improve competency should focus on meeting the external requirements that may have been specified as necessary for compliance.

Most individuals within organisations do not need to have high levels of environmental competence and most training needs can be met internally at relatively low cost; they do not all need to be able to quote chapter and verse from primary legislation.


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The organisation should use a wide range of mechanisms for training staff; targeting different staff with appropriate levels of training rather than simply seeking to make ‘one size fit all’. Whilst it is useful to give staff an overview of the previously identified obligations, particularly those relevant to their local area activities, the focus of such training should be to ensure that local arrangements and instructions are understood. This can be achieved through a combination of induction training and local toolbox talks, eg to describe the importance of ensuring that discharges remain well within certain limits and the way in which local arrangements are intended to achieve this.

To maintain good levels of awareness, all staff should undergo refresher training at regular intervals, eg every three years. This does not have to involve significant time out of the office; more often, such courses can be provided as computer-based training packages available across an organisation’s network – allowing individuals to complete these at a time convenient to themselves.

Toolbox talks can be used more flexibly, in particular to highlight any forthcoming changes to local obligations and arrangements. These are particularly effective where there are defined local responsibilities, eg a waste or energy champion, and these individuals are involved directly in the preparation and delivery of such presentations.

Often these ‘champions’ are fundamental in ensuring the success of local ownership of environmental management arrangements. They provide key support to local facility management of the various significant environmental aspects, and provide focal points for communication on upcoming changes to relevant legislation from the local environment manager.

Involving local inspectors or regulators in local training or awareness sessions can provide a great opportunity for emphasising the importance of legal compliance, as well as strengthening the relationship between an organisation and regulator. They also provide a direct route for feedback from the ‘shop floor’ to the regulator on the practicalities or otherwise of relevant obligations.

Organisations also benefit from providing a regular forum for discussing compliance issues – for example, having a routine agenda item on compliance at regular management meetings, and considering different topics at each meeting. Specific presentations could be given, say on the requirements of particular legal obligations such as the Oil Storage Regulations. This could describe the situations in which the regulations apply, the specific requirements of the regulations, timescales for implementation and any additional general pollution prevention guidance.


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Where several individuals share compliance responsibilities, again regular get-togethers should be encouraged to share experiences of related issues. They provide a forum for considering the potential impact of forthcoming legislation, rather than having to establish any separate programmes of review or inspection across the organisation.

Reviewingthestatusofcompliance

Organisations should establish arrangements for regularly reviewing the status of compliance with relevant legal obligations. This includes the review of new legislation, as described above, but should also consider existing legislation. This periodic review should consider a variety of indicators of compliance for each relevant item of legislation. Such indicators might include some or all of the following:

• comparison of discharges against consent limits;• audit findings - internal or external;• regulator findings;• environmental incidents or complaints;• progress against the environmental management programme;• results of the environmental monitoring programme;• risk assessments; and• reviews of changes in legislation.

Again, a record of the reviews should be kept demonstrating that consideration has been given to all relevant legal obligations as well as recording the outcomes.

Respondingtochangesandproblemsinlegalcompliance

An organisation should be ready to adapt its EMS to address new legislative requirements or to improve its delivery of compliance with existing obligations. Having identified a change in legislation or a problem in compliance, various elements of the EMS should be reviewed to ensure that they remain valid. Amongst these are reviews of:

• significant environmental aspects, eg to reflect enhanced protection given to a particular environmental receptor;

• financial, operational and other business changes, eg investment in the provision of additional engineering controls;

• environmental objectives, targets and related management programmes;


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• environmental roles and responsibilities;• programmed audits and inspections; and• existing communications mechanisms, eg to incorporate new reporting

requirements.

Box 5.1: Example of notification of a forthcoming change in relevant legislation

Email to relevant environment managers across a multi-site organisation:

Dear allPlease be aware that Defra has published a draft Environmental Information Regulation for consultation. Details are available at: http://site_intranet/location. Main elements of the new draft regulations include:

Time limit 20 day normal deadline for responses supplying information

20 day limit to inform the applicant that refusal is being considered

Refusals

to be provided in writing where request was made in writing, or such a response requested – including reasons for refusal and information on reconsideration and appeals procedures available

Transfer of requests

to inform the applicant as promptly as possible

when consulting with second authority, not to disclose identity of applicant unless consent has been given

Public interest test

to be applied in each case of potential refusal – aligns with Freedom of Information Act

Separating out exempt information

where possible any exempt information should be separated out and the remaining environmental information provided.

The documents are available for consultation until 20 October 2004 – however I would appreciate your thoughts and comments on this by the end of September in order that we might consider any implications for us.

Communicationswithinanorganisation

Any changes in legislation or problems identified in the status of compliance should be communicated to the relevant individuals at the earliest opportunity.


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On a routine basis this can be done by ensuring that environmental compliance is considered at regular management meetings to allow planning for and monitoring of any action that may be required. The records of reviews of changes in legislation as well as periodic reviews of compliance are useful supporting documentation.

An example of the way in which a forthcoming change is broadcast is provided in Box 5.1. This notifies relevant individuals of the change and provides a brief summary together with the timescales and the feedback required.

A record of the various notifications and progress of the review can also be compiled. An example of this is provided in Table 5.4. Such a summary is not only useful in providing a record of the changes that have been considered, but also acts as a succinct report to senior management. This demonstrates that the organisation is maintaining an awareness of changes in relevant legislation as well as highlighting the likely costs and implications of relevant changes, and seeks to ensure that adequate resources are available to support any necessary activities.

Likewise, a chart indicating the current implementation status is also useful where specific changes need to be made. An example template is shown in Table 5.5.

Where efforts to address new regulations involve the need for specific assessments or the development of formal applications for permits, consents or authorisations, careful thought should be given to both the internal and external due-process for the production and approval of any documentation.

Setting out a clear due-process is useful; it allows project managers to understand what particular approvals are required, and gives confidence to the regulator that documentation is likely to be received in an appropriate state, having previously had input from competent individuals. Likewise this process is important within an organisation as a means of ensuring that all business risks are identified and suitably managed.

The level of review and approval of environmental documentation is likely to depend not only on the risk to the environment posed by any proposed new activity, but also on the level of stakeholder (including regulatory) interest. Both considerations should be built into the development of any due process. Specific levels of review and approval may be prescribed for the different types of environmental documentation that may exist – see Table 5.6.


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Table 5.4 Example of a legislation review summary sheetT

itle

C

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ns fo

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e O

rgan

isat

ion

Act

ion

take

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tim

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ost

Con

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on E

C

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danc

e fo

r th

e Re

cove

ry

& D

ispos

al of

H

azar

dous

&

Non

-H

azar

dous

W

aste

This

guid

ance

has

bee

n pr

oduc

ed fo

r use

by

oper

ator

s w

hen

prep

arin

g th

eir P

PC a

pplic

atio

ns a

nd is

one

of a

ser

ies

of S

ec-

tor G

uide

s co

verin

g all

of t

he in

dust

rial (

and

agric

ultu

ral)

sect

ors,

w

hich

fall

unde

r IPP

C.

In o

rder

to d

emon

stra

te th

at th

e Be

st A

vaila

ble

Tech

niqu

es (B

AT)

are

bein

g pr

opos

ed to

sat

isfy

the

Regu

latio

ns it

is n

eces

sary

, in

prin

ciple

, for

the

oper

ator

to a

sses

s a

wid

e ra

nge

of o

ptio

ns a

nd to

ba

lance

cos

ts a

nd b

enefi

ts o

f eac

h to

con

clude

whi

ch a

re B

AT.

The

guid

ance

aim

s to

:

Prov

ide

deta

ils a

nd s

umm

arie

s of

the

Best

Ava

ilabl

e Te

chni

ques

(B

AT) f

or p

ollu

tion

cont

rol i

n th

e w

aste

trea

tmen

t and

sto

rage

se

ctor

. The

se a

re e

xpre

ssed

, whe

re p

ossib

le, a

s cle

ar in

dica

tive

stan

dard

s th

at n

eed

to b

e ad

dres

sed

by a

pplic

ants

.

Prov

ide

a cle

ar s

truct

ure

and

met

hodo

logy

whi

ch w

ill he

lp o

pera

-to

rs to

mak

e a

satis

fact

ory

Perm

it ap

plica

tion.

Incr

ease

tran

spar

ency

and

con

siste

ncy

in th

e pe

rmitt

ing

proc

ess

by p

rovi

ding

a s

truct

ure

in w

hich

ope

rato

rs’ r

espo

nses

to s

pecifi

c iss

ues

- and

dep

artu

res

from

indi

cativ

e st

anda

rds

- can

be

clear

ly

seen

.

• • • • •

At p

rese

nt th

e co

mpa

ny h

as o

ne

PPC

inst

allat

ion

(non

-ferr

ous

met

als

proc

essin

g at

site

X

)

Furth

er P

PC

perm

its m

ay b

e re

quire

d fo

r fut

ure

oper

atio

ns a

t oth

er

sites

The

desc

riptio

n of

BA

T pr

ovid

es u

sefu

l ‘b

est p

ract

ice’

info

rmat

ion

that

sh

ould

info

rm a

ll w

aste

-man

agem

ent

prac

tices

acr

oss

the

orga

nisa

tion

irres

pect

ive

of th

e ap

plica

bilit

y of

PPC

A co

py o

f the

co

nsul

tatio

n ha

s be

en

dist

ribut

ed

to a

ll En

viro

nmen

t M

anag

ers

and

com

men

ts a

re

await

ed

Too

early

cont

ove

r pag

e


��

Tit

le

Com

men

tary

Impl

icat

ions

fo

r th

e O

rgan

isat

ion

Act

ion

take

nEs

tim

.C

ost

Con

sulta

tion

on W

aste

M

anag

emen

t Li

cens

ing

(WM

L),

Pollu

tion

Prev

entio

n an

d C

ontro

l (P

PC),

Inte

grat

ed

Pollu

tion

Con

trol

(IPC

) and

R

adio

activ

e Su

bsta

nces

Re

gulat

ion

(RSR

) C

harg

ing

Sche

mes

.

Prop

osals

to in

crea

se W

ML,

IPC

and

RSR

cha

rges

by

2.5%

in

2004

/05

and

PPC

cha

rges

by

3.5%

.

This

incr

ease

is in

tend

ed to

cov

er c

ost p

ress

ures

aris

ing

from

pric

e in

flatio

n, h

ighe

r em

ploy

men

t cos

ts le

ss e

fficie

ncy

savi

ngs

and,

at l

east

pa

rtiall

y, de

ficits

aris

ing

on th

e ch

argi

ng s

chem

es.

Incr

ease

in c

osts

of

regu

latio

nC

ircul

ated

to

Envi

ronm

ent

Man

ager

s an

d to

resp

onsib

le

indi

vidu

als

with

in F

inan

ce

Div

ision

Neg

ligib

le

Table 5.4 (cont) Example of a legislation review summary sheet

cont

on

next

pag

e


��

Tit

le

Com

men

tary

Impl

icat

ions

fo

r th

e O

rgan

isat

ion

Act

ion

take

nEs

tim

.C

ost

Prop

osed

C

ontro

l of

Pollu

tion

(Oil

Stor

age)

(S

cotla

nd)

Regu

latio

ns

2003

This

Con

sulta

tion

Pape

r set

s ou

t the

Sco

ttish

Exe

cutiv

e’s

prop

osals

fo

r Reg

ulat

ions

and

gui

danc

e on

the

stor

age

of o

ils a

nd w

aste

oils

bo

th o

utsid

e an

d w

ithin

bui

ldin

gs. T

he in

tent

ion

is th

at re

gulat

ions

w

ill co

dify

exi

stin

g go

od p

ract

ice in

ord

er to

pre

vent

pol

lutio

n of

th

e w

ater

env

ironm

ent f

rom

any

inad

equa

te o

il st

orag

e fa

ciliti

es

and

equi

pmen

t.

In s

umm

ary,

the

regu

latio

ns:

appl

y to

all

oil s

tora

ge c

onta

iner

s w

ith a

sto

rage

cap

acity

of m

ore

than

200

litre

s an

d w

hich

are

situ

ated

abo

ve g

roun

d (w

heth

er

who

lly o

r par

tly) w

heth

er in

side

or o

utsid

e an

y pr

emise

s. T

hese

in

clude

fixe

d ta

nks,

inte

rmed

iate

bulk

cont

ainer

s, d

rum

s (o

il dr

ums

or s

imila

r con

tain

ers

used

for s

torin

g oi

l) or

mob

ile b

owse

rs; a

nd,

appl

y to

any

kin

d of

oil

inclu

ding

pet

rol,

dies

el a

nd w

aste

oil.

The

regu

latio

ns w

ill co

me

into

forc

e in

thre

e st

ages

:

new

tank

s w

ill ha

ve to

com

ply

with

in 6

mon

ths

of th

e Re

gulat

ions

ha

ving

bee

n lai

d in

Par

liam

ent –

in 2

003/

04;

exist

ing

tank

s at

sig

nific

ant r

isk (i

e fa

ciliti

es th

at a

re lo

cate

d w

ithin

10

met

res

of a

ny in

land

or c

oast

al w

ater

s w

ater

cour

se o

r 50

met

res

of a

bor

ehol

e or

wel

l - th

ough

SEP

A ha

s fle

xibi

lity

to is

sue

a no

tice

whe

re th

ere

are

circu

mst

ance

s w

hich

it c

onsid

ers

pose

a s

igni

fican

t ris

k) w

ill ha

ve to

com

ply

with

in tw

o ye

ars

– in

200

5/06

; and

rem

ainin

g ex

istin

g ta

nks

will

have

to c

ompl

y w

ithin

four

yea

rs –

in

2007

/08.

• • • • • •

The

regu

latio

ns

will

appl

y to

ac

tiviti

es a

t Sco

ttish

sit

es. E

ach

site

need

s to

ens

ure

that

all

rele

vant

st

orag

e lo

catio

ns

are

revi

ewed

in

orde

r to

ensu

re

that

app

ropr

iate

arra

ngem

ents

are

in

plac

e.

The

requ

irem

ents

ha

ve a

lso b

een

addr

esse

d w

ithin

the

rece

ntly

issu

ed

CO

SHH

an

d D

SEAR

st

anda

rd fo

r th

e co

ntro

l of

the

use

and

stor

age

of d

ange

rous

su

bsta

nces

.

Resp

onse

fro

m S

cotti

sh

sites

has

not

in

dica

ted

any

fore

seea

ble

issue

in

com

plyi

ng w

ith

the

legi

slatio

n.

Neg

ligib

le

Table 5.4 (cont) Example of a legislation review summary sheet


��

Table 5.5 Summary of legislation implementation status

Title Management System

Site 1 Site 2 Site 3

Control of Pollution (Oil Storage) (England & Wales) Regulations

Amendment to relevant Operational Control Standard

To review storage locations and implement requirements

To review storage locations and implement requirements.review undertaken.engineering works to be complete by 01/12/03

Not Relevant

Pollution Prevention and Control Regulations - Non-Ferrous Metals processing

Amendment to relevant operational control standard - to include reference to BAT

Permit required by 1/09/03

Application for Permit in preparation

No implementation undertaken to-date Implementation underway Implementation complete and confirmed by independent audit / inspection Not relevant

Communicationswithregulators

In developing an appropriate implementation strategy to address any new legal obligations it is sensible to seek early advice and guidance from the relevant regulator. The regulator should be able to clarify the particular scope and application of the legislation, as well as their expectations in terms of the explicit deliverables or changes that should be brought about through implementation. At the same time, early discussion and consultation is useful in giving confidence to the regulator about the commitment and competence within an organisation in paying attention to upcoming responsibilities.

Managing communications with regulators is important to ensure that all relevant observations, suggestions and requirements are captured and understood. Whilst any regulator will want to discuss issues with a range of

• • o

o

•o


��

Table 5.6 Example of due-process prescribed for different types of environmental documentation.

Type Fundamental Definition

Interpretation Due-Process

1 Submission made under Euratom Treaty

To include Article 37 submissions

Head of site following review by corporate assurance division

An application for, or modification to, a ‘major’ regulatory authorisation or permit

To include applications for RSA authorisation, PPC permit

Statutory Environmental Impact Assessments

To include those required by the Nuclear Reactors (Environmental Impact Assessment for Decommissioning) Regulations, as required by Schedule 1 & 2 developments (Town & Country Planning Act), and Strategic Environmental Assessments

2 An application for a ‘minor’ regulatory consent

To include CoPA, WRA consents or other permits issued under Waste Management Regulations

Head of site, following review by site environment manager

Voluntary Environmental Impact Assessments

To include those required by the Nuclear Reactors (Environmental Impact Assessment for Decommissioning) Regulations, as required by Schedule 1 & 2 developments (Town & Country Planning Act), and Strategic Environmental Assessments

Site EMS documentation

To include environmental management review, site wide environmental aspects register, site legal obligations register, environmental performance reviews

3 Modification of a ‘minor’ regulatory consent

To include CoPA, WRA consents or other permits issued under Waste Management Regulations

Site environment manager

Local EMS documentation

To include facility or project-specific Environmental Aspects and Legal Obligations Registers

4 ‘Unspecified’ documentation

Local instructions / documentation to comply with relevant legislation

Environment officer


��


plant staff and project managers, a mechanism should exist for ensuring that a record of such discussions takes place, drawing out any key points and allowing this information to be shared across an organisation.

Such records may simply take the form of notes following a regulatory visit, or alternatively more formal minutes from a ‘wash-up’ meeting that might follow an inspection. What is important is that any particular concerns or requirements of the regulator are clearly identified.

Where specific actions are needed to address these, then an appropriate action plan should be drawn up by the relevant plant or project manager together with the environment manager. Actions on this plan should in turn form part of the overarching environmental management programme.

General observations or comments should also be captured in order that they might be addressed as part of the management review of an EMS to inform and guide any subsequent developments of the system. By including such observations clearly within the legal register and disseminating such information across to other plants or projects where they might be relevant, others can learn from the process and repeat mistakes and concerns be avoided.

�.2Internalcomplianceassurance

With regard to internal compliance assurance, some good practice points are as follows:

• undertake a detailed check of legal duties and obligations;• identify what specific compliance tasks need to be carried out and at what

frequency;• determine what resources and competencies are required and optimise these;

and• monitor, audit and report on compliance activities.

Threestepstogreaterconfidenceaboutcompliance

Organisations may want to reassure themselves that the compliance levels they have managed to establish are in fact ongoing. Internal compliance assurance is a series of further actions by which an organisation is able to demonstrate to itself and its stakeholders (including its regulators) that it is in compliance with its obligations under environmental legislation. It comprises a process of:

��

Step 1 checking the organisation’s legal duties and obligations;

Step 2 ensuring the identification of compliance tasks and their frequency, including:

a) calculating and prioritising the resources needed; and b) optimising compliance tasks within the resources available;

Step 3 ensuring that compliance tasks are delegated and supervised effectively, and monitoring, auditing and reporting.

Step1:Checkingtheorganisation’slegaldutiesandobligations

When devising the assurance elements of an internal compliance system, it is important to ensure that its scope is sufficiently broad to cover all the aspects of environmental legislation that could affect the organisation. Not only is it necessary to identify each component of relevant legislation, but it is important to understand the scope of the requirements they may contain, whether it is a European regulation having direct effect, an Act of the UK Parliament or devolved administration, a subordinate order or set of regulations, or a permit or licence issued by the relevant authority.

It is worth noting that not all environmental legal requirements are contained in overtly ‘environmental’ legislation. Business, product and process legislation may also contain performance requirements that are expressed in a wide range of terms, including environmental considerations as part of their scope.

The identification process will already have been undertaken once, in order to set up the compliance management system. However, during the assurance process, it is necessary to question the original scoping exercises in detail and take nothing at face value. Such a reassessment of the basic data must be undertaken by suitably experienced and competent personnel, who were not involved in the original setting up of the compliance management system. In this way, a compliance assurance checklist can be developed that will undoubtedly make assurance exercises more efficient, but reassessment will be required on a regular basis.

Step2:Identifyingcompliancetasksandtheirfrequency

Once it has been established exactly which parts of the legal framework have direct effect on the organisation, the next stage is to ensure that the original


�0

determination was sufficiently detailed in its delineation of actions necessary to demonstrate compliance to the regulator.

Are the compliance tasks identified to sufficient depth? Legal obligations are varied and often complex and different approaches will be needed for different duties. For instance, in many cases such as a minor maintenance task on part of the plant that is not critical for safety or environmental performance, a regulator may be satisfied with a written record that the task has been performed. However, for compliance tasks where environmental risk factors are particularly important, a greater depth of evidence may be needed to show that:

• initial staff training has been carried out;• active monitoring by management has been carried out to check that the

correct procedures are being followed;• written reviews of the effectiveness of the training and supervision processes

have been carried out, with evidence of the implementation of improvements; and

• the issues have been considered at a sufficiently senior management level.

Essentially, where non-compliance could result in prosecution, it is sensible to gather compliance evidence routinely that will stand up to scrutiny in court. The aim should be to underpin each item on the organisation’s legal duty checklist with a supporting schedule of discrete tasks that, together, fulfil the duty. Examples of such compliance tasks might include the provision of a risk assessment document, the physical installation and commissioning of pollution abatement equipment, or the preparation of a procedure for maintaining an accurate, auditable record of emissions data.

Are the compliance tasks of sufficient frequency? Internal compliance assurance should also ensure that identified tasks have been allocated the correct frequency. Some tasks need to be completed once only, such as an initial noise survey giving a satisfactory result for an existing installation. More commonly, compliance tasks might be required regularly, perhaps monthly, quarterly or annually for the reporting of monitoring results, while others are required on an ad hoc basis, such as a risk assessment for the use of a new substance. In each case, the frequency of the task needs to be considered when making decisions about resources and delegating responsibilities.

Step2a:Calculatingandprioritisingresources

Preliminary calculations and prioritisation of resources for compliance work will undoubtedly have been carried out prior to any further auditing or assurance


�1

exercise. However, there are always changes within a business that can easily go unnoticed following such initial calculations. As a result, internal compliance assurance can identify the new situations and provide further refinements on the initial work.

When the tasks are identified, the time needed to perform each task can be estimated; these are then added together to provide an overall calculation of the total resource needed to achieve full compliance. However, this ‘bottom-up’ approach is likely to arrive at a cumulative staff resource in excess of that available to the organisation for these types of tasks, and so a risk-based approach to compliance management is needed.

A risk-based approach to compliance management: the number of individual legal duties and responsibilities on an organisation to protect the environment can be very large. Managers with responsibility for compliance are faced with the task of deciding how to allocate time and resources to achieve the best outcome for the organisation. Not all compliance tasks are equally important and there is not time to audit everything; so, it will normally prove worthwhile carrying out a risk assessment of the potential impacts of non-compliance against the following factors:

• Level of inspection: it makes sense to devote more effort into complying with the aspects of regulation that are seen as important by regulators and those which are checked or inspected regularly.

• Commercial consequences: an important consideration is the degree to which a publicised non-compliance could result in the termination of contracts or the loss of business with safety- and environmentally-conscious customers.

• Reputation: could the non-compliance result in wider damage to the organisation’s reputation? If so, how much marketing and stakeholder liaison effort would be needed to restore the situation?

• Operations: the potential non-compliance could result in enforcement action that would close production for a period. What contingency plans would be needed, and which parts of the plant are particularly vulnerable to non-compliance and enforcement action?

• Safety and environment: is the non-compliance likely to result in an injury, or damage to the environment? If so, would the consequences be significant in terms of compensation, mitigation and remediation requirements?


�2

• Finances: if the non-compliance could result in a financial penalty (including potential legal costs), what size would it be? In addition, would there be any indirect financial consequences such as increased insurance premiums?

• Industrial relations: certain non-compliances such as the failure to provide risk assessments or safe systems of work are likely to cause concern to trades union or staff safety representatives.

A qualitative assessment of each potential non-compliance should be made against the factors described above and then compared with the current level of compliance. This will give an indication of where resources should be targeted and also from where the resources may be able to be reallocated. For example, if substantial effort is being spent achieving high levels of compliance against areas where the risks associated with non-compliance are low, then scope may exist to reprioritise to a higher risk area.

A good approach is to combine the ‘bottom-up’ resource calculations with a ‘top-down’ task prioritisation exercise, in which the compliance tasks are ranked in order of their risk-compliance assessment, with the highest-risk/lowest-compliance tasks first through medium risks to the lowest-risk/highest-compliance tasks at the end of the list.

Step2b:Optimisingcompliancetaskswithintheresourcesavailable

At some point in the prioritised list of compliance tasks, it may be that the cumulative resource requirement will exceed the resources available, and a line needs to be drawn at that point in the list. Internal compliance assurance exercises or audits can and should revisit the rationale behind such decisions where they have been made.

Such a ‘resource cut-off point’ is illustrated in Table 5.7 where two low-risk tasks to comply with aspects of the DSEAR regulations (HSE, 2002) cannot be resourced as the cumulative resources availability limit in this notional example (0·1 Full Time Equivalent) has been exceeded by the resourcing of higher-risk tasks.


��

Table 5.7 Resource prioritisation

Compliance task

Non-compliance assessment of risk

Current compliance level

Task resource requirement

Cumulative resource requirement

Maintenance of the PPC permit condition document

High Low 0·034 FTE 0·034 FTE

Maintenance of the PPC installation list

Medium Low 0·018 FTE 0·052 FTE

Maintenance of the PPC operational change document

Medium Low 0·01 FTE 0·062 FTE

Maintenance of the DSEAR1 risk assessment document

Medium Medium 0·036 FTE 0·098 FTE

Maintenance of the DSEAR new work activities list

Low Low 0·01 FTE 0·108 FTE

Maintenance of the record of DSEAR implementation

Low Low 0·01 FTE 0·118 FTE

Compliance tasks falling below the line will therefore not be resourced unless decisions are taken to:

• increase the resources available for compliance tasks within the organisation;

• contract out certain compliance tasks; or• aim to complete the compliance tasks above the line with a smaller

resource.

1 HSE, 2002


��

An optimisation exercise seeking to combine these three principles of targeted additional resourcing, outsourcing where appropriate and efficiency savings will provide the management information necessary to make informed decisions on ‘where to draw the line’ on compliance. Internal compliance assurance should recheck the decision criteria on a regular basis.

Step�:Ensuringthatcompliancetasksaredelegatedandsupervisedeffectively

Delegation and management involvement: the corporate body of the organisation retains legal responsibility for compliance, but the individual compliance tasks must be delegated to members of staff or to contractors. It is therefore essential to have clear lines of responsibility for the tasks themselves and supervision and auditing – see Table 5.8. The involvement of senior management in achieving effective overall compliance assurance is important to ensure that those performing compliance tasks have sufficient delegated authority and the resources to do the job.

Table 5.8 Excerpts from an example scheme of delegation

Compliance task Responsibility Supervisory Auditing

Pollution Prevention and Control (England and Wales) Regulations 2000 (PPC)

For each installation, obtain and keep a current PPC permit granted by the regulator authorising the operation of that installation

Operations manager

Plant manager Operations director

Prepare and maintain a list of all PPC enforcement, suspension and closure notices and their requirements

Senior executive clerk

Company Secretary

SHE director

Dangerous Substances and Explosive Atmospheres Regulations 2002 (DSEAR)

For each dangerous substance liable to be present at the workplace, prepare and maintain a risk assessment document

Operations safety engineer

SHE manager Operations manager

Integration with existing management systems: the initial compliance task identification exercise will provide a structured approach to compliance checking that may not have been present in the company before. New tasks may have been identified that had not previously been subject to management attention, and it may be tempting to set up a dedicated compliance management system


��

specifically to keep compliance issues under control. However, it will probably be more efficient and effective to integrate compliance management within an existing management system, such as an EMS or maintenance system.

Whichever integration route is chosen, most advantage will be gained through implementation, as part of the internal compliance assurance process, of a robust monitoring regime, including auditing carried out by specially trained auditors.

Step�a:Monitoring,auditingandreporting

Monitoring: ongoing monitoring of internal performance indicators, raw material usage and external emissions data can be useful, particularly if it is backed up with trend analysis to give an early indication of whether a non-compliance may be looming. It is important that monitoring is actively carried out and the data obtained is processed and managed effectively. This will avoid the organisation drifting into non-compliance while the opportunity exists to turn the situation around.

Monitoring carried out on an ongoing basis should be backed up with regular auditing to confirm whether the management system is operating in the way it should and that it supports the achievement and maintenance of compliance.

Compliance auditor competencies: as part of the overall internal assurance programme, compliance auditing should be linked to existing internal audit procedures as this will provide the benefits of consistency, efficiency and the avoidance of duplication. However, compliance auditing is not necessarily the same as EMS conformance auditing. In the latter, the EMS auditor will consider the organisation’s documents and performance against the requirements of an external standard such as ISO 14001:2004 or EMAS and the organisation’s own stated policies, procedures and work instructions. EMS auditors also look at legal compliance, which is a key part of EMS audit training syllabus, and audit the organisation’s progress and performance against its stated objectives and targets. It is, however, only part of their already very full brief which is usually delivered against challenging deadlines and can at best only be undertaken on the basis of a limited sample.

Compliance auditors, on the other hand, have the singular advantage of having a dedicated function. They will thus be able to consider in more detail the evidence provided by the organisation against specific legal requirements contained in permit conditions, regulations and sections within primary


��

legislation. To form a meaningful judgement the compliance auditor must understand the legal terminology, but also the technicalities of the subject. This will require detailed knowledge of diverse technical areas such as:

• British, European and international standards for monitoring equipment specifications, noise levels, pollutant emission levels etc;

• pollution control techniques;• risk assessment methodologies; and• major accident modelling.

It also requires sufficient experience and judgement to be able to make a compliance assessment against potentially subjective legal terminology such as ‘best practicable means’, ‘as low as reasonably achievable’, ‘best available technique’ and ‘taking costs and benefits into account’.

EMS auditors should receive adequate training and experience to be able to undertake a compliance audit in a competent manner; they may also develop specialisms in particular industries or areas of legislation. In contrast, compliance auditors may need a different but complementary skill set. The breadth of knowledge required means that different areas of environmental compliance auditing within an organisation may need to be carried out by different individuals possessing the necessary skills and experience in each separate discipline.

In those areas where compliance auditing is seen as particularly important to an organisation, third-party auditing or verification may play an important additional role.

As a result the organisation needs to be aware of the competency requirements of not only its internal auditors, but also its external (or third-party) auditors. This will give increased confidence in the quality of the audit findings and maximise the value of the audit process.

Limitations of internal auditing processes: in the eyes of the law, the view of an internal auditor or third-party verifier is no more than an informed opinion of whether legal compliance has been achieved, as it is only the courts that are in a position to decide definitively one way or another. The same could also be said of the regulator’s view.

However, when the opinions of the regulator and the regulated party differ, it is often the regulator that will have the advantage; the regulator will usually have had far more experience in making compliance judgements, and may have a wide range of specialist opinion to draw upon to form a view. This means that


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an organisation needs to be very sure of its ground before formally challenging a regulator’s view of non-compliance either through appeal or contesting a prosecution. On a more positive note, organisations should bear in mind that regulators are committed to transparency in their enforcement decisions so it should be possible to open a dialogue that will help to explain the particular reasoning, that is considered important in a specific case, and make sure the regulator is aware of any mitigating factors.

Reporting: internal reporting is essential to ‘close the loop’ in terms of making sure that the necessary management information is fed back to decision-makers. Such reporting should be periodic to enable trend analysis to take place and to provide reassurance that the compliance management system is operating effectively. However, it should also be triggered by events or data that indicate non-compliance is likely or has occurred. This enables the management chain to take the appropriate mitigatory actions and helps to minimise the risks of non-compliance.

External reporting within annual reports or annual environmental reports should include information on compliance management as this is an important route by which external stakeholders can be made aware of the organisation’s commitment to good corporate environmental performance.

�.�Summary

Understanding legal requirements and achieving compliance with environmental legislation is often difficult for organisations. Public and other stakeholders’ expectations are high and the consequences of non-compliance can be serious.

Internal compliance assurance is the means by which an organisation can demonstrate that it is in compliance with its legal obligations. It is a three-step process that:

• identifies the legal duties and responsibilities;

• determines what tasks are needed to comply and their frequency, optimised within the resources available; and

• sets up an effective system of delegation, supervision and auditing.


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Compliance assessment - certification and verification

�.1Introduction

This Guide has already explained the role of EMSs in assisting organisations to adopt a structured approach to the delivery of consistent and continuing management of their environmental impacts. An organisation may choose to establish and run an EMS without the involvement of any external body other than the regulator but this Section is concerned only with systems which are certified or verified by an independent third-party as being in accordance with an international standard or European regulation. Through such external assessment, the demonstration of successful implementation of an appropriate, recognised technical standard or regulation enables organisations to assure interested parties that an effective EMS is in place.

This Section explains certification and verification processes in general and, more specifically, the approach certifiers and verifiers take to assessing an organisation’s policy commitment to comply with applicable legal requirements within the context of an EMS. The final part of this Section describes the role of UKAS, the UK’s national accreditation body, in assessing the capability and competence of the certification and verification bodies to undertake this function.

Relationshipofassessmenttolegalcompliance

The main standards and regulation associated with third party assessment are:

• ISO 14001:2004 – ‘EMSs - Requirements with Guidance for Use’;• the Eco-Management and Audit Scheme (EMAS); and• the IEMA Acorn Scheme – using ‘BS 8555 – EMSs – Guide to the phased

implementation of an EMS including the use of environmental performance evaluation’.

ISO 14001:2004: this international standard was developed by a technical committee with worldwide membership drawn from interested relevant international organisations, both governmental and non-governmental, including industry representation. The standard specifies the requirements for an organisation’s EMS.

Section 6

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It should be borne in mind that the ISO standard does not establish absolute requirements for environmental performance beyond commitment, within an organisation’s EMS, to legal compliance and continual improvement. It follows therefore that application of the standard does not, in itself, guarantee future legal compliance.

Organisations wishing to manage their environmental legal compliance through certification to ISO 14001:2004 should use an accredited certification body (CB). Accreditation of a CB is granted by an accreditation body and is formal recognition that the CB is competent to conduct ISO 14001 certifications in specific areas. Accredited CBs are subject to a demanding, rigorous and continuing assessment regime to obtain and maintain accreditation to grant accredited certification to ISO 14001. This regime derives from internationally approved accreditation standards and involves assessment of the competence of third-party EMS auditors and the technical capability of the head office of the CB, as well as the delivery of the certification audit at the client’s premises. At the international level, the International Accreditation Forum (IAF) operates a multilateral arrangement process for accreditation bodies in the field of EMS. The United Kingdom Accreditation Service (UKAS) is the only UK based accreditation body recognised by the UK Government for ISO14001 (and EMAS) and is a signatory to the IAF multilateral arrangement on EMS.

Eco-Management and Audit Scheme (EMAS): EMAS is a European Union initiative. Its EMS specification is the same as that of ISO 14001:2004 but it places additional emphasis on legal compliance and environmental performance. It also contains specific requirements for public environmental reporting. External accredited verifiers assess the EMAS system and validate the environmental statement of the organisation. UKAS has been appointed by the UK Government to accredit EMAS verifiers in the UK.

IEMA Acorn Scheme: the requirements of the IEMA Acorn Scheme are set out in ‘IEMA Acorn Scheme of Accredited Recognition – for organisations evaluating and improving their environmental performance in accordance with BS 8555’. Organisations are able to use the Scheme to implement an EMS through a phased approach. The scheme encompasses the requirements of ISO 14001:2004 for the EMS aspects, together with those of ISO 14031 (ISO, 1999) for environmental performance evaluation.

UKAS accredited Acorn inspection bodies check to ensure that the different phase requirements of the scheme have been met by participating organisations. The inspectors also make observations regarding the organisation’s environmental performance, in particular the relevance and applicability of their environmental

Complianceassessment–certificationandverification

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performance indicators and the organisation’s performance relating to these. In this respect, the scheme covers the additional aspect of environmental performance when compared to ISO 14001:2004 certification.

Overview

Purpose of assessment, verification and inspection: third-party certification assessment provides an independent appraisal of a management system. The assessment is designed to determine whether or not an organisation satisfies the requirements of the relevant clauses of the standard. It will involve preparation, a review of documentation, on-site audit and a consideration of audit reports. It also includes other activities such as a site tour and staff interviews at all levels within an organisation. On completion of an assessment, a CB should have sufficient information to enable a decision on the grant of certification to be made.

EMAS verification checks conformance to the requirements of the EMAS Regulation. It is essentially similar to ISO 14001:2004 except that it additionally requires the validation of an environmental statement. This assessment is carried out by an external environmental verifier to check that the information and data within an organisation’s environmental statement is reliable, correct, credible and meets the requirements of the Regulation. The environmental statement must not be validated where a legal non-compliance exists.

An important element of the certification and verification process is that, in addition to evaluating whether the system elements have been implemented, the assessor will determine whether the organisation is capable of running the system and improving it in the future. As such, the award of an accredited ISO 14001:2004 certificate or EMAS registration indicates an organisation’s ongoing commitment to legal compliance and gives some indication of its capability to comply in the future. The certification and verification process will also determine the extent to which the organisation has set objectives and targets, instigated improvement programmes, and how well they are linked to its legal compliance and performance improvement policy commitments.

The IEMA Acorn Scheme uses accredited inspection, rather than accredited certification, for determining whether an organisation has met the scheme’s requirements. The reason for this is that the certification standards used by accreditation bodies can only be used for assessing organisations that have a fully implemented and functioning system (whether environmental or quality); organisations using the IEMA Acorn Scheme will not have all the system elements implemented in the earlier phases, hence the use of inspection standards.


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Roleofassessorsandinspectors

An assessor conducts a visit as part of the initial certification process. Subsequent periodic surveillance and re-assessment visits are made to verify the continuing conformity of the organisation’s EMS to the standard and that the EMS has been properly implemented and maintained and that continual improvement is evident.

An assessor checks that the requirements of the ISO 14001:2004 or EMAS standard have been met. The assessment focuses on the resources committed to satisfying these requirements to ensure that they are being applied in a manner which benefits the environment, the organisation and the local community in which the organisation operates. This is accomplished through close examination of the factors that give rise to ongoing environmental performance improvement. It assists the organisation in meeting regulatory requirements and delivering reductions in its environmental impacts, thus improving environmental performance as a whole.

Assessors play a key role in ensuring that certified EMSs are delivering meaningful results. This requires them to meet comprehensive competence criteria.

Inspectors, as part of the IEMA Acorn Scheme, have the same overall role and intention as assessors. They have an additional focus on the evolving nature of a developing management system and the processes that drive environmental performance evaluation within the context of a particular organisation.

Competencerequirementsofassessorsandinspectors

The competence requirements for assessors are laid down in the accreditation criteria of CBs offering certification of EMSs. In addition, minimum criteria are prescribed in ISO 19011 (ISO, 2002). The qualification criteria for EMS auditors cover:

• personal attributes;• the ability to apply knowledge and skills;• audit principles, procedures and techniques;• management systems knowledge;• organisational situations such as organisational size and structure;• applicable laws, regulations and other such requirements;• environmental management methods and techniques;• environmental science and technology; and


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• technical and environmental aspects of operations.

An assessor should have knowledge of environmental management systems, environmental terminology, pollution abatement and control techniques and the type of organisation being audited – this includes knowledge of the sector and issues such as the size and complexity of the organisation. In addition, an assessor should have a sufficiently detailed knowledge of environmental laws and regulations to know whether an organisation has correctly identified all its applicable legal requirements related to its environmental aspects.

Inspectors involved in the IEMA Acorn Scheme require the same competencies as those already outlined, but with additional training given in order ensure consistency of interpretation when judging degrees of EMS development against the guidance in BS 8555.

RelationshipbetweenISO1�001,EMASandlegalrequirements

The ISO 14001:2004 standard has several clauses that impact upon compliance with legal requirements.

The clause on environmental policy [4.2] states that it should include a “commitment to comply with applicable legal requirements and with other requirements to which the organisation subscribes which relate to its environmental aspects”. Users of the standard should note that the phrase “applicable legal requirements…” includes all legislation and regulations that include any provision to protect, enhance or conserve the environment, even if the laws are not necessarily classed as being environmental, for example some health and safety legislation includes environmental protection provisions. The “other requirements” relates to codes of practice, contractual requirements, sector guidelines and other such documents.

To comply with ISO 14001:2004 an organisation is also required to “establish, implement and maintain a procedure(s) to identify and have access to applicable legal requirements and other requirements to which the organisation subscribes related to its environmental aspects” and “to determine how these requirements apply to its environmental aspects”. This requirement is intended to promote knowledge and understanding of legal responsibilities. It does not require an organisation to establish libraries of legal or other documents that will rarely be referenced or used, but to develop information that will help the organisation to know what is legally required and how it relates to their organisation.


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For accredited certification to ISO 14001:2004 it is also necessary to ensure that throughout an organisation, environmental objectives and targets are established to support the implementation of environmental policy. The standard requires “legal and other requirements” to be considered when targets and objectives are being established and reviewed.

The process of the identification and assessment of environmental aspects should result in a list of environmental issues, some of which may be classed as significant. In addition, the review of relevant legislation may have highlighted areas of compliance requirement needing tighter control. These issues need to be incorporated within the EMS. The process for identification, evaluation and review of issues should be defined, including the grounds for determining significance. This may relate to applicable legislation, quantity, scale, severity, likelihood of incident, cost, impact on the community or other reasonable grounds as may be determined by the organisation. For example, an environmental aspect may automatically be rated significant by the presence of controlling legislation.

In addition, a key area in ISO 14001:2004 is the requirement for an organisation to establish, implement and maintain a procedure for periodically evaluating compliance with applicable legal requirements and to keep records of the evaluations. This can be demonstrated in several ways and checks should be undertaken on a regular basis to ensure continuing compliance. Analysis should then be undertaken to evaluate the levels of compliance with the legislation and requirements laid down in consents and permits. Note that this will need to include an evaluation of compliance with environmental limit values as well as an evaluation of compliance with the administrative and reporting requirements.

Beyond the requirements of ISO 14001:2004, validation of the EMAS statement must cover environmental performance including that against legal obligations.

StructureofISO1�001:200�assessmentandEMASverification

The enquiry stage: the credibility of any individual certification is dependent upon the capabilities of the chosen CB. The basic requirements are that the CB is deemed competent in the relevant sector and that it is able to award an accredited certificate. When selecting a CB, organisations should choose one that is accredited by UKAS or by another body recognised under the International Accreditation Forum (IAF) multi-lateral agreement – see www.iaf.nu for accreditation bodies recognised under the multi-lateral agreement. Organisations


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should also request full details, including CVs, of individual assessors who will be undertaking the assessment.

An organisation making initial enquiries about certification should also ask about timescales, availability of technical advice and cost. CBs will wish to discuss the scope of the certification activities, the size and complexity of the organisation, environmental aspects and impacts and applicable environmental legislation. Organisations should cross check the number of days quoted by the CB to undertake the assessment with tables in document EA-7/02 (IAF, 2003) – these can be obtained from UKAS and other IAF accreditation bodies. These tables set out the amount of time that will typically be taken to undertake an EMS assessment, dependent on a number of different variables.

Although there might be a temptation to ‘barter down’ the cost of the assessment by reducing the number of days spent assessing the EMS, this will undoubtedly lower the value gained by the organisation, particularly the extent and quality of observations on how the organisation might, in general terms, improve its environmental performance.

Application

Once a CB has been selected, a formal application needs to be made to begin the certification process. When an application has been received, certification assessment is conducted in two stages as shown in Figure 6.1 and described below:

Stage 1 audit: the purpose is to check that the requirements of the standard are adequately addressed by the organisation’s EMS. Stage 1 also assesses the extent to which the EMS has been implemented and applied in order to determine a suitable time frame for the organisation to move towards the stage 2 audit. The assessment programme for the stage 2 audit is also agreed at this stage. With reference to legal compliance, the stage 1 audit should ensure that:

• the EMS is designed to meet the environmental policy – the policy should include a commitment to comply with applicable legal requirements and other requirements relating to its environmental aspects;

• the organisation has appropriate environmental permits in place, eg discharge consents and process licences, relevant to its activities, products and services;

• the organisation has identified all applicable legal requirements relevant to its


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activities, products and services within the scope of its EMS and determined how the legal requirements apply to its environmental aspects; and

• an overview has been carried out of applicable regulations (including licences and permits) and any agreements with regulators, (such as the Environment Agency or the local authority), that the organisation may have.

The assessor also informs the organisation of any additional information that will be required for inspection at the stage 2 audit, such as:

• licence and permit requirements; and

• records, including records of incidents, breaches of regulation or legislation and relevant correspondence with regulators and relevant authorities – and any other information on which the organisation based its assessment of compliance with regulatory requirements.

Stage 2 audit: the objective of the stage 2 audit is to ensure that the requirements of the standard are being met in practice. This stage of the assessment focuses on many issues. Key issues are control, monitoring and improvement to ensure compliance with legal and other requirements.

An assessor examines matters relating to legal compliance in detail, including ensuring that the organisation has established, implemented and is maintaining a procedure for periodically evaluating its compliance with legislation. The assessor will inspect the results of the periodic evaluation of legal compliance. The Stage 2 assessment has a standard format consisting of:

• an opening meeting at which the assessor confirms the scope of the registration and the audit programme – this will relate to the scope of the EMS which the organisation is required to define and document under clause 4.1;

• the assessment itself including a tour of the premises, interviews with staff at all levels, examination of documentary evidence and observation of tasks being carried out – it is at this stage that any deviation from procedures or the requirements of the standard is noted by the assessor – these ‘non conformances’ are discussed with the organisation which is given an opportunity to challenge or agree to them; and

• a closing meeting, during which the assessor presents a report on the assessment and summarises the agreed non-conformities.


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Depending upon the nature of the non-conformities, the assessor recommends either certification or non-certification.

Certification: the assessor’s report is forwarded to the CB with a recommendation regarding certification. The report will be reviewed and if approved a certificate will be issued.

Regular surveillance: an EMS is or should be dynamic and regular surveillance visits are undertaken to ensure continued conformance with the standard and to confirm continual improvement in the performance generated by the EMS.

With respect to legal compliance, the surveillance audit ensures the functioning of procedures for the periodic evaluation and review of compliance with applicable legal requirements.

CBs carry out a re-assessment of the entire EMS over a three-year period, ensuring that all the elements of the system are audited.

Figure 6.1 ISO 14001:2004 assessment process

Enquiry

Application

Stage 1 audit

Stage 2 audit

Certificationrecommended

Surveillance

Certification notrecommended

Reassessment


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Structure of verification and validation for EMAS: EMAS is based on a document review normally conducted on site to meet accreditation requirements for ISO 14001, and an on-site verification audit and validation of the environmental statement. The process is illustrated in Figure 6.2. As a first step, the verifier ensures that an EMS has been implemented according to the requirements of Annex 1 of the EMAS Regulation. The process of verification of the EMAS management system is essentially similar to that for ISO 14001:2004 as described above except for the additional environmental statement, although there is also additional emphasis on legal compliance and environmental performance improvement.

Environmental statement: the environmental statement aims to provide information to the public and other interested parties regarding environmental impacts and performance and continual improvement in environmental performance of the organisation. The statement is produced in order to achieve initial registration and every three years thereafter. It is also updated on a yearly basis and any changes are validated by the environmental verifier.

Statement validation: when the requirements of the EMAS Regulation have been adequately addressed by the organisation, the verifier checks the accuracy and adequacy of the statement and, once satisfied, confirms (or ‘validates’) it by signing and dating each page and counter-signing the final page of the statement. The statement is then forwarded to the verification body along with the report. The verifier shall not validate the environmental statement if during the verification process he/she finds through spot-checks that the organisation is not in legal compliance.

Statement amended by verifier: when the requirements in the EMAS Regulation have not been fully addressed by the organisation, the verifier issues corrective actions or nonconformities and the organisation then amends the environmental statement as necessary. The verifier agrees a timescale for the revised statement to be forwarded for validation once the changes have been made.

Statement reviewed: the statement will be reviewed by the verification body and the original signed statement is returned to the organisation. The organisation can then apply for EMAS registration with the appropriate competent body by completing the application form and enclosing the appropriate fee. The application form and information on fees for the UK competent body can be found at www.emas.org.uk. The competent body in the U.K. is the Institute of Environmental Management and Assessment. The organisation should also forward a copy of the final printed version of the environmental statement to the verification body.


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Verification frequency: following EMAS registration, the verifier ensures that all elements required to maintain EMAS registration are verified in a period not exceeding 36 months. This is usually through a surveillance programme of a visit every 12 months in the 36 month period. In addition, any updated information on the environmental statement is validated at intervals not exceeding 12 months. In smaller organisations, the verification may take place in one visit, at a frequency to be agreed between the verifier and the organisation. Even so, the whole system must be verified at least every 36 months. Deviations from the frequency with which updates are performed can be made in certain circumstances.

Fig 6.2 The EMAS process

Enquiry

Application to verification body

Document review

Verification and validation

Statement signed by verifier

Application and registration with competent body


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Accreditationcriteria

For ISO 14001:2004: An accredited third party CB or EMAS environmental verifier has to operate to specified criteria. ISO/IEC Guide 66 is an international standard that sets out requirements for bodies operating assessment and certification of EMS. This is supplemented by additional requirements within the EMAS Regulation and by UKAS for the accreditation of environmental verifiers.

Further guidance on Guide 66 is necessary in order to achieve harmonised application on a worldwide basis. This guidance is provided by the International Accreditation Forum (IAF) and is called –‘Guidance on the Application of ISO/IEC Guide 66: General requirements for Bodies Operating Assessment and Certification/Registration of EMSs (EMS)’ and is freely available from www.iaf.nu.

For EMAS: a UKAS supplement to the above IAF guidance covers additional accreditation requirements for EMAS; the supplement is freely available from www.ukas.com.

Confidentiality: accredited CBs are bound by the requirements under which they operate to maintain confidentiality. They must have arrangements to safeguard the confidentiality of the information they obtain in the course of their certification activities, including on-site audits.

CBs cannot disclose information to a third-party about the organisation that has been certified without the written consent of that organisation. If there are circumstances where the law requires information to be disclosed, then the CB must inform the organisation beforehand of the information that they have been required to provide.

�.2Legalcomplianceassessmentpractice

Assessors have to determine how an organisation develops awareness of its applicable legal requirements and regulatory obligations and how the EMS assures ongoing compliance. Figure 6.3 shows the key EMS elements concerned with legal compliance. It should be noted that virtually all elements of an EMS such as ISO 14001:2004 impinge upon the understanding and management of legal compliance.


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Doestheorganisationhaveareliableprocedureforidentifyingitsobligationsandmaintainingawareness?

There is a considerable amount of applicable legal requirements relevant to an organisation’s activities, products and services – much of it is complex. To be able to evaluate competently whether the organisation has correctly identified its obligations, assessors require a sound appreciation of the range of laws and regulations applicable to the organisation’s activities, products and services.

The assessor’s questions need to address whether the organisation has a robust and reliable procedure for consistently identifying applicable legal requirements and for maintaining this awareness, particularly where changes occur. The organisation must also be able to demonstrate that it has personnel competent to undertake this. Typical assessment questions and requests might be:

• Explain your procedure for identifying regulatory requirements and maintaining awareness in the light of changing legislation.

• Who is responsible for doing this and how are they deemed to be competent?

• What sources of information are used?• How do you define applicable regulations?• Demonstrate how the legal requirements are applicable to your environmental

aspects.

Once the organisation has satisfactorily addressed these topics, an assessor could put the system to the test by checking that a sample of new and applicable legislation had been captured by the procedure.

Readers will note that ISO 14001:2004 clause 4.3.2 simply requires there to be a procedure. A suitable procedure may exist but may not be documented, whereas similar organisations may have a complex and fully documented procedure. Both may work effectively and be acceptable but the converse may also be true. Reliance might be placed on the employment of experts or external agencies providing filtered details of current and impending requirements and likely obligations specific to the organisation concerned.

Responsibility and competence within an organisation will thus occasionally present difficulties, so assessors will need to judge each situation carefully. It is possible that the competence of personnel who have a long-standing familiarity with the legal regime in which they operate is taken for granted. Alternatively, someone new to the subject, but well trained, might bring a fresh perspective


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and might be more thorough. It is for the organisation to establish procedures and provide competent people. It is for the assessor to evaluate whether this has been done.

Sources of reference information are numerous and much information might be presented. Assessors should always question the use to which the information is being put. When presented with a register (or equivalent) of applicable legislation and regulatory requirements, the assessor should check for completeness and to see that relevance is understood, recorded and communicated. The assessor may comment or make observations on the suitability and usefulness of the content of the registers.

Doestheorganisationhold(orisobtaining)thenecessarypermitsandauthorisations?

Assessors must know an organisation’s obligations and confirm that it holds the necessary authorisations. These may derive from several agencies and may involve planning permissions, substantial all-embracing IPC/PPC permits, consents to discharge, scheme participation to meet packaging regulations or agreements for greenhouse gas emissions.

From activities such as site visits, the assessor will have gained an appreciation of likely authorisation requirements. The organisation should be questioned about licenses held and their revision status. It needs to demonstrate that it is in control, can present up-to-date authorisation documentation readily and understands its obligations.

During the course of EMS development, the organisation could identify missing or inappropriate authorisations. Under these circumstances, it will be necessary for the assessor to gauge the severity of the error, the status of corrective action, as well as communication with, and the viewpoint of, the relevant regulator. If corrective action is seen to be well under way, operational controls and monitoring in place and working, and there is evidence that indicates a satisfied regulator, then it could be appropriate to simply issue an observation.

Areobjectivesandtargetsestablishedandareoperationalcontrolsandmonitoringinplace?

Where there is an applicable regulatory obligation, a means to ensure compliance needs to be in place. Assessors should check that robust provisions exist through assignment of competent personnel, definition of objectives and targets and established procedures, documented where necessary.


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Complexity will be variable. Often a licence provides a clear starting point through comprehensive definition of characteristics to be managed and related performance criteria.

DoestheEMSactuallywork?

The preceding paragraphs point to the existence of audit trails. Assuming that audit trails follow the sequence described, it would be expected that the organisation has demonstrated awareness of its regulatory obligations, has obtained the necessary authorisations (where needed), shown understanding of the control and monitoring requirements and has translated these into objectives and targets. In addition, it is further assumed that control procedures have been established and the whole system is managed by competent people. The assessor’s task is to test whether the system has been implemented and is effective.

After consideration of the legal register, documented authorisations and associated objectives and procedures, the assessor should select the assessment sample. This should take into account environmental criticality, range of regulatory issues involved and past performance. If regulatory breaches have occurred, the assessor should check whether major improvements have been made or are in progress as well as the coverage of previous assessments.

In determining the approach to take, the assessor needs to strike a good balance between office-based and on-site checks.

On-site assessment is essential to confirm the reality of the controls, monitoring and actions being taken. Office-based checks are also important to confirm the applicable EMS arrangements and rationale. It is also a useful approach in checking that what is seen at the time of the on-site assessment is reflected by the records of past performance.

Aworkedexample

By way of illustration, the worked example in Box 6.1 is an assessment of a plant with four air emission stacks, two liquid discharge points, general and hazardous wastes, and considerable use of energy subject to the Climate Change Levy Agreement (CCLA). This example of an assessment is not intended to be prescriptive; alternative approaches could be equally effective.

The aim is to illustrate the range of subjects, explore essential linkages, strike a balance between office-based and on-site assessment and, most crucially, comprehensively question the organisation’s ability to ensure legal compliance.


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Box 6.1 A worked example

One air emission checked in detail involving: aspects, impacts and legal implications evaluation; register recognition of associated requirements; check authorisations; objectives and targets are in place; operational control and monitoring procedures established. With respect to effective operation, on-site checks were made as follows:

targets were being met and improvements made or in progress;

operators understand their responsibilities for control, monitoring and emergency procedures;

real-time demonstration of controls and monitoring allowed comparisons between live data and limits stated in authorisations or procedures;

emergency provisions and performance recording were in place; and

performance records were checked for trends, compliance, and to ensure that cor-rective action had been taken where necessary.

Remaining air emission stacks: this involved further sampling over points of concern arising from the previous detailed checks. Checks were also carried out on maintenance programmes and other ‘preventive’ action measures such as filter element replacement and alarm testing. Reviews were undertaken of performance records, the organisation’s own analysis and management reporting.

Liquid waste discharges: these may differ greatly in criticality. For example it could involve an effluent treatment plant discharge to a river or the discharge of some process water to sewer. The effluent records and consent could be examined as the assessor has been informed of a major improvement that has resulted in reduced discharges of suspended solids – this would be especially interesting if the discharge had previously occasionally breached compliance limits. Assessment checks here might involve:

on-site examination of the improvements;

checks on current discharge controls and monitoring, including the overall state of compliance;

focus checks concerning discharges of suspended solids and comparison of current improved performance with earlier levels; and

office checks to see whether the organisation’s tracking of objectives, targets and programmes have identified achievement.

Waste: in the assessment both general and hazardous waste streams are examined because of problems reported via the organisation’s internal audit and from a non-conformity raised at the previous assessment. The issue was mostly to do with poor segregation and some hazardous waste being wrongly disposed of as general waste.

Actions taken were:

checks on the organisation’s own records of corrective action status;

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•

•

•

•

•

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on-site sample checks on the waste collection and storage routes, involving ques-tions to personnel to check whether they understood their waste procedure; and

checks on waste disposal records to see that ‘duty of care’ requirements are being met including descriptions (including correct use of EU waste codes) and quantities, and use of authorised waste carriers and disposal sites.

Energy use: the assessor is aware that CCLA activity on the site has been subject to its own suite of controls, monitoring and improvement and is being managed as a project running in parallel with the EMS. Also, compliance with the organisation’s agreement obligations has been externally and independently verified during the last three months. However, it may be that energy and carbon dioxide emission reduction is one of the organisation’s major objectives; in which case, the assessor might decide to:

review the verifier’s report;

check that the organisation has done its own review, and where necessary has taken, or is taking, action; and

check on whether the organisation has suitable tracking mechanisms in place espe-cially if these are different from those employed within the EMS.

Common audit subjects: for all of the above the assessor will need to frame and follow suitable audit trails. This is likely to include questions concerning:

corrective action procedures and evidence of analysis and effectiveness;

communications with regulators;

effective application of the organisation’s procedure for evaluating their regulatory compliance;

the organisation’s top management perspective, usually gleaned by interview, cov-ering its involvement and demonstration of how well it is performing with regard to regulatory compliance and the extent to which it believes that it is meeting related policy commitments; and

provision to ensure the use and training of competent people and contractors.

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Comprehensiveevaluationoflegalcompliance

Over and above the specifics of the worked example, this EMS requirement warrants special mention due to it often being misunderstood. Management system specifications, such as ISO 14001:2004, require the organisation to know what is applicable to it (as specified in clause 4.3.2). There is also a separate requirement (as specified in clause 4.5.2) to establish how well the organisation is complying with its obligations and is checking its compliance on a regular basis.


Box 6.1 (cont) A worked example

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Assessors and organisations must clearly distinguish the two requirements and ensure that they check for conformance to both. There are distinct limits to an EMS audit in terms of evaluating for legal compliance and ordinarily, assessors should not certify the organisation’s EMS as meeting the requirements of ISO 14001:2004 if the internal EMS audit alone is being used to fulfil the organisation’s evaluation of legal compliance.

By whatever means, the organisation should have evaluated its compliance with each of the applicable regulatory requirements. Assessors can test the effectiveness of this evaluation through:

• sampling the organisation’s determination of compliance – eg with examples of specific legal requirements;

• looking for evidence of compliance or non-compliance during other assessment activities – eg on-site assessments and audits of operational controls; and

• checking that the organisation’s evaluation of compliance has covered each and every one of the identified legal requirements, and that documented records of all such evaluations are retained.

Inevitably, the certifier or verifier will need to take a sample-based approach to determining that the organisation has fulfilled the requirements for the evaluation of compliance. In determining the sample, the certifier or verifier will consider: the strength and quality of the internal audit process; the type and complexity of applicable legal requirements; the strength of the organisation’s measurement, monitoring and data collection processes; records of evaluation of compliance; and the organisation’s history of compliance and regulatory performance. In addition, the certifier or verifier will also ensure a broad coverage of legal compliance checks over the certification cycle, integrating compliance checks into surveillance visits.

Drawingconclusions

Throughout the assessment and after its completion the assessor should consider the evidence and draw conclusions. It is important that this is done after completing the assessment of each topic or operational area, ensuring ‘no surprises’ for the organisation at the end of the assessment. The judgement to be made concerns whether it has been demonstrated that the EMS will, on the balance of evidence seen, provide an effective mechanism to manage their


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regulatory performance in order to reduce the risk of non-compliance and increase the likelihood of detection (and therefore minimise any environmental harm) in the event of a non-compliance. A positive conclusion can be drawn in this respect if a sound EMS provision has been seen and that no non-conformities of major significance have been identified.

EMAS

The additional assessment elements of EMAS involve checks on the information contained in the environmental statement concerning legal requirements, compliance and improvements.

This requires a review of the declaration of the organisation’s performance against relevant legal provisions with respect to their significant environmental impacts and confirmation of the accuracy of data on environmental performance against permits, licences and consents. For example, the assessor will follow trails to validate figures on pollutant emissions and packaging waste generation.

�.�Non-conformities

Findings from an EMS certification assessment take various forms. They can vary from identification of potential opportunities for further improvement – minor concerns that nevertheless require attention but do not adversely affect the assessment outcome, through to findings that demonstrate that the standard or regulation against which the assessment is being conducted is not being adhered to in one or more key areas.

Such findings are made by obtaining and recording objective evidence during the course of the assessment. They are discussed with the organisation and should be subject to mutual agreement. At the closing meeting of the assessment, the findings are summarised and presented to the organisation so that suitable actions can be taken.

In regard to initial certification, corrective action will be required before certification can be granted where findings demonstrate that one or more EMS requirements are not properly addressed or if objective evidence raises significant doubts as to the capability of the EMS to achieve the policy and objectives of the organisation. Such findings or doubts could give rise to non-conformities and depending upon their severity, suitable corrective action may be by review of documentary evidence, or by a revisit or a reassessment.


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Other lesser findings are followed up at subsequent visits after certification. To ensure objectivity, the results of the audit are reviewed by the CB prior to acceptance. The CB will request further clarification if necessary and is entitled to raise further findings.

When an organisation is certified to the standard or regulation, surveillance assessments will take place on a regular basis (at least annually) to verify that requirements are still being met, that continual improvement is being achieved in line with the organisation’s policy and objectives and that regulatory compliance can be demonstrated. During these visits, similar types of findings to the initial


Fig 6.3 Assessment practice and legal compliance

Identification of relevant environmental legislationand regulatory obligations

Holding and obtaining necessary permits and authorisations

Regulatory obligations covered by objectives and targets, operational controls and monitoring provisions

Management responsibilities defined and competent resource assigned – requirements communicated and understood

Implementation and effectiveness‘Coalface’ checks – working controls and monitoring, reality checks

on implementation of improvements, objectives and targets‘Office’-based checks on performance history records, tracking of

objectives and targets, compliance monitoring and review

Feedback meetings andproduce assessment report

EMS Conforms?

Identify and reportnon-conformities

Categorise whether of major significance

Yes

No

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audit may be raised and, depending upon their severity, a suitable period of time is agreed for receipt of a report on corrective actions. These are reviewed for acceptability, firstly by the auditor and then by the CB.

Serious non-conformities may merit a revisit to verify corrective actions. Should corrective actions not be received or if assessment evidence demonstrates that the system is not being suitably maintained, the CB may apply various sanctions. These vary from special visits, to suspension of certification for a limited period and ultimately to withdrawal of certification.

With regard to breaches of legal requirements, the action taken by the CB will depend upon the circumstances, including the response from the organisation and, where warranted or legally required, the regulator. An isolated minor incident identified and acted upon by the organisation is unlikely to affect an existing certification – similarly with a more serious incident which is being addressed and where the organisation has agreed suitable remedial action with the regulator. However, evidence of a serious legal breach, without suitable response from the organisation may ultimately lead to withdrawal of certification.

During an assessment, a non-conformity may be identified which may have potential legal implications. This will be brought to the attention of the organisation and will be expected to be rectified promptly. If this is not done, then the sanctions described above may be imposed. Initial certification or verification should not be approved if a legal breach exists.

�.�Assessmentreporting

Assessment reporting will be both verbal and written and may take different forms depending on who is receiving the report. Reporting is one of the key deliverables of assessments and assessors should ensure that reports provide a positive contribution to the quality of service and, in the case of regulatory compliance, adds to an organisation’s control and confidence.

Whentocommunicateandtowhom?

To the organisation: assessors should report back to the organisation during the assessment and via a consolidated report at the end. This involves both verbal and written reporting.

Verbal reports should be given on both perceptions and conclusions, once examination of individual topics has been completed. This is important for


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all topics assessed but, in the case of regulatory compliance, the organisation will place great importance on timely verbal reports from the assessors. Verbal reporting also enables the assessor to confirm with the organisation that the assessment is reaching valid perceptions and conclusions. If the assessor has made an error in this respect then it will give the organisation ample opportunity to address any area of confusion.

There should be daily feedback from the assessment team to the organisation. This ensures that all members of the team and the relevant representatives of the organisation are aware of current assessment findings. It is important that assessors report in a balanced manner citing both positive and negative aspects of the assessment.

At the end of the assessment, the team should consider the totality of its findings and reach consensus as to whether the organisation has a sound EMS that is working effectively. In particular, with respect to ensuring regulatory compliance, is the organisation aware of requirements, appropriate authorisations and associated objectives and can it also produce evidence of progress and achievement? In addition, were procedures being operated by competent people and did the evidence indicate that these provisions actually worked?

This information must be imparted to the organisation. Common assessment practice is to communicate to the assembled organisation’s management team and key EMS personnel at a formal closing meeting. It is recommended that, ahead of the closing meeting, assessors ensure that the EMS manager is aware of, and agrees with, the key content of the report. The verbal report should contain details of the regulatory issues involved and the extent to which the organisation has met the EMS requirements to ensure compliance. Both the written and verbal assessment reports should, however, stop short of passing legal opinion.

To the CB/assessment agency: reports are subject to independent review by the CB. The review entails impartial checks on assessment integrity, reliability of conclusions reached and robustness of the assessment team’s recommendation.

Those conducting an independent review will not normally be present during assessments, so verbal communication is likely to be used only between reviewer and assessor where there are queries to be answered. Independent reviews will be conducted mainly on written assessment reports such as that made to the organisation together with detailed assessment notes. This is covered in more detail under ‘Review and approval’ (see below).


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To assessors: follow-up assessments may have to be conducted by other assessors. In order to be able to do this effectively, sufficient report detail concerning the follow-up items will be required. Assessors should ensure this exists.

Whatistobereported?

Assessor perceptions and any subsequent conclusions should be clearly reported and the following report elements and sequence are recommended:

• Positive performance: generally, things seem to be working and some are working very well – major achievements and improvements (so as not to lose sight of this being one of the key EMS requirements) – for organisations being recommended, or who are already certified, there should be more positives than negatives.

• Negative performance: non-conformities of differing severity, observations about management controls suggest that they may prove to be inadequate.

• Opportunities for improvement: where these can be stated in a generic way and do not constitute consultancy.

• Clear statements and conclusions on regulatory compliance, stopping short of drawing legal opinion.

Consistencybetweenverbalandwrittenreports

Verbal reports should be accurately reflected in what is written. Disparity can be a risk at anytime but especially so if the report is produced remotely and some time after the assessment. An example of a report is in Appendix B.

Recommendations

The role of the assessment team is to evaluate the EMS design and implementation. Where a conforming EMS has been found, the team will make a recommendation for certification to ISO 14001:2004 or registration to EMAS as appropriate. With regard to regulatory compliance and its influence, a positive recommendation can be made if there are no non-conformities or if any non-conformities are not of major criticality. This recommendation forms part of the assessment report and is a particularly important item for the organisation. It is subject to independent scrutiny to ensure reliability and safety of the assessment conclusions and their viability.


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Reviewandapproval

The competence of those conducting the independent review needs to be assured by the CB involved. Essential skills will include a broad appreciation of environmental issues and applicable legislation. Where specific knowledge is required beyond their competence, they will require access to experts.

Those conducting the review have to evaluate whether or not the assessment team had the necessary competence, and must confirm whether the team conducted a thorough and comprehensive assessment. They should ensure that the assessment team has:

• established that the organisation has a procedure and competent people to manage regulatory compliance;

• confirmed that the organisation was aware of and understood all their regulatory obligations;

• confirmed authorisations held where needed;• seen that suitable objectives and targets, and control and monitoring

procedures were in place;• confirmed by appropriate sampling that these were working and effective,

and in particular that regulatory compliance was being demonstrated;• seen and validated the environmental statement (EMAS only); and• drawn correct conclusions.

In addition to this review there may be a need to follow-up occasionally with additional assessment action where doubt or error is encountered. It is for those conducting the review to satisfy themselves that assessment coverage has been adequate and a correct conclusion reached before granting certification approval.

For EMAS, the environmental statement is sent to the competent body who confirms with the regulatory bodies that they are satisfied with the performance of the organisation. If no concerns arise, then registration to the Scheme is awarded.

�.�Assessmentlimitations

In order not to influence the assessment outcome unduly, an assessor needs to maintain awareness of the limitations imposed by the assessment. A key part of the training, skills and experience of an assessor is the development of such awareness.


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The two main limitations imposed on an assessment are that it is a sample of the evidence available and that it is carried out at a single point in time. To counter these limitations, an assessor should take into consideration the level of commitment displayed by the organisation in regard to the implementation and operation of the management system, including that of top management.

In this way the specific time allocation for different elements of the assessment will be influenced by the evidence gathered, with more time spent examining the critical issues and areas of concern identified, including those arising from any preliminary visit and examination of documents. This will enable the assessment programme to be adjusted, if necessary, when on site.

At the planning stage for a new client organisation, the time allocated to the assessment is estimated by the CB, as part of the contract review process prior to accepting the client’s application. This enables careful consideration of the size, nature of activities and locations of the organisation to be assessed and a consideration of published guidelines. For subsequent surveillance and reassessment, the assessment time will be kept under review and adjustments made if the nature of the organisation’s environmental impacts changes.

The assessor cross-checks and verifies information obtained to ensure that there is sufficient correlation, prior to drawing a conclusion. This includes following assessment trails, checking evidence from several sources, seeking information about an issue from different perspectives and comparing the results obtained. Whilst particular concerns may be identified during the assessment and require subsequent corrective action or implementation of preventive action, the actual benefit of a sampling approach is that it enables the assessor to confirm, economically, the effectiveness of the whole system and identify shortcomings that need attention.

A further consideration that needs to be borne in mind is that an assessment is carried out within the legal framework in the place where it is being conducted. This includes national, local and sector specific requirements and may, in some countries, include legal restrictions on disclosure of certain information.


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United Kingdom Accreditation Service

The United Kingdom Accreditation Service (UKAS) is the sole national accreditation body recognised by the UK Government to assess, against internationally agreed standards, organisations that provide certification, testing, inspection and calibration services.

UKAS is a non-profit-distributing company, limited by guarantee, and operates under a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Government through the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry. The MoU was originally signed following the setting up of UKAS in 1995, but an appendix to the MoU is regularly reviewed and updated to cover the activities to which the recognition applies, such as EMS accreditation to ISO 14001:2004, the EMAS Regulation and the IEMA Acorn Scheme/ BS 8555:2003.

UKAS has a Board of Directors charged with the day-to-day operations of the accreditation service. However, instead of having shareholders, the accreditation body has Members, which represent those who have an interest in all aspects of accreditation - national and local government, business and industry, purchasers, users and quality managers.

EnvironmentalManagementStakeholderAdvisoryCommittee(EMSAC)

In addition to the UKAS Members and the internal environmental management systems expertise held within UKAS, the technical dimension is supplemented through EMSAC whose role is to provide advice on technical matters related to the development and operation of UKAS EMS activities.

The committee is advisory and non-executive, and provides a forum for input from various bodies and individuals with an interest in UKAS activities, for example, professional bodies, accredited organisations, customers and regulatory bodies. The current representation on the UKAS EMSAC is provided on the UKAS website (www.ukas.com).

Internationaldimensionofaccreditation

Accreditation is used worldwide, and in most developed economies there is a body similar to the UKAS. The accreditation service offered by UKAS is sought

Appendix A

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by many organisations in other countries and UKAS accredits many certification bodies who work outside the UK.

As part of its international responsibilities, UKAS is the United Kingdom’s signatory to European and international agreements to facilitate the breaking down of technical barriers to trade. UKAS is recognised internationally through European and world multilateral recognition agreements. This recognition enables the United Kingdom Government to use accredited bodies to meet obligations under world trading agreements, eg compliance with the EMAS Regulation No. 761/2001 and the WTO TBT (World Trade Organisation Technical Barriers to Trade) Agreement.

One important contribution to international accreditation activity by UKAS is through its membership of the European Co-operation for Accreditation (EA) and the International Accreditation Forum (IAF), which among other activities develops guidance on the accreditation of certification bodies delivering ISO 14001:2004 certifications. Additionally, UKAS is a member of the Forum of Accreditation Bodies (FAB) that is established by the EMAS Regulation to develop harmonised guidance on the accreditation of EMAS environmental verifiers.

IAFGuidanceontheApplicationofISO/IECGuide��

ISO/IEC Guide 66:1999 is an International Guide, which sets out criteria for bodies operating assessment and certification/registration of Environmental Management Systems (EMS). In order for certification bodies to be accredited in a worldwide harmonised manner as complying with ISO/IEC Guide 66, the IAF provides guidance to Guide 66 as necessary.

The main objective is to enable accreditation bodies to harmonise their application of the standards against which they assess certification/registration bodies. This is an important step towards mutual worldwide recognition of accreditation. The Guidance forms the basis of mutual recognition agreements between accreditation bodies, and is necessary for the consistent application of ISO/IEC Guide 66.

This appendix does not seek to develop interpretations of the requirements of ISO 14001:2004 or the EMAS Regulation; rather, it identifies the way in which accreditation can contribute to improvements in the integrity and confidence of legal compliance.

The principal requirement of ISO Guide 66, which should be highlighted

Appendix A

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to secure the integrity of accredited-EMS certification with respect to legal compliance, is Clause 4.1.1.5:

“The maintenance and evaluation of legal compliance is the responsibility of the organization. The certification/registration body shall restrict itself to checks and samples required in order to establish confidence that the EMS functions in this regard. The certification/registration body shall verify that the organization has evaluated legal and regulatory compliance and can show that action has been taken in cases of non-compliance with relevant legislation and regulations”.

This requirement is further reinforced by the IAF Guidance under G.4.1.6, where Legal and Regulatory Compliance in Clause 4.1.1.5 of ISO/IEC Guide 66 means:

“(a) An organization with a certified/registered EMS has a management system that should achieve continuing compliance with regulatory requirements applicable to the environmental aspects and associated impacts of its activities, products and services. The certification/registration body confirms that a system capable of achieving the required compliance is fully implemented.

“(b) Procedures should be developed by the certification/registration body detailing action to be taken by the certification/registration body in the event that a non-compliance, or indication of a non-compliance, with a relevant regulatory requirement is discovered during the activities of the certification/registration body.

These procedures should include a requirement that any non-compliances discovered are communicated (not necessarily in writing) to the organization audited. It is important that the organization is advised of these procedures in advance.

“(c) Certification/registration bodies should be aware that environmental regulatory requirements applicable to an organization may cover the area outside and inside the site boundaries. The regulatory controls may stem from various sources; certification/registration bodies should know which need to be considered”.

The above requirements and guidance, together with the recent publication of ISO 14001:2004, provide a clear system for the evaluation of legal compliance. However, it is further recognised that the accreditation system should reflect the growing needs of society and of the regulators and government, which has led to the development of further enhancements to the UKAS accreditation system.

Appendix A

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EnhancementstotheUKASaccreditationsystem

A recent UKAS project investigated the opportunities for improving the assessment system for accredited certification bodies and environmental verifiers. It concluded that in order for UKAS to implement an effective assessment process, particularly with respect to contributing to the improvement of the environmental performance of certified organisations, UKAS will place particular emphasis on the following technical aspects of the certification bodies:

Competence of personnel: UKAS will pay special attention to the specific knowledge, experience and competence of personnel relevant to the activities they are undertaking. This shall include personnel conducting contract review, decision-making, internal auditing and auditor monitoring, and development of new areas as well as the EMS auditors themselves. UKAS shall challenge the CB’s auditor selection process to ensure that it is effective in selecting an appropriately knowledgeable and competent team for specific sectors and organisations.

Allocation of EMS auditor time: in conjunction with an ‘exception report’ submitted prior to the visit, UKAS shall examine a sample of the contract reviews and associated audit records of highlighted organisations to determine whether the differences to the recommended time in Annex 1 of IAF GD 6 is technically justified. This exercise could result in some audits being selected for post assessment review.

Where certification activities involve the examination of an EMS as part of an integrated assessment, the certification body will be expected to be able to provide an indication of the time allocation set aside for each aspect being assessed, eg EMS, QMS, ISMS.

Audit records and reports: to determine that certification bodies (CB) are consistently maintaining their certification processes, UKAS shall review audit records and reports (either as a full post assessment review or as a case-file audit) in sufficient depth to determine that:

(a) the CB is maintaining a clear audit trail for each certification;

(b) an effective contract review was conducted which ensured that: (i) the client’s needs were fully understood;(ii) the CB had demonstrated competence in certifying EMSs in the field

of concern, and that this was covered by accreditation; and(iii) competent auditor(s) familiar with the business and related

environmental issues with respect to the client were available;

Appendix A

Appendix A

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(c) the client’s EMS is effective in delivering environmental performance improvement and regulatory compliance; and

(d) the audit team provided sufficient information to the CB, demonstrating what was covered by the audit and considered to be within/outwith compliance, in order for the independent decision maker to be able to make an informed decision on certification.

Assessment of legal compliance: UKAS shall pay particular attention to determining whether a certification body is effectively fulfilling its role in the verification of its client’s evaluation of legal and regulatory compliance. Certification bodies will be expected to take account of the full range of legal and regulatory requirements relevant to an EMS. These are not solely limited to those of pollution control or of the main environmental regulatory agency/authority and may extend to other legal instruments and regulatory bodies.

Evidence will be sought to demonstrate that a certification body has adequate processes in place to maintain up-to-date knowledge of relevant legal and regulatory issues. The certification body can demonstrate this through records of up-to-date knowledge relevant to their technical scopes and the legal framework applicable to their clients.

The certification body’s audit of a client’s evaluation of current and proposed environmental legal and regulatory compliance will be assessed. This assessment will examine the competence of the certification body’s management and auditors to understand, interpret and audit legal compliance issues.

UKAS assessment of the certification body’s competence in the evaluation of legal and regulatory compliance will be undertaken in conjunction with the following main assessment techniques:

• Post assessment reviews and reviews of client files - the UKAS assessors will review client files, and discuss with the CB auditor where possible, to determine how the audit team assessed the client’s evaluation of legal compliance.

• Witnessed assessments - at a witnessed assessment, the UKAS Assessor will observe the conduct of the audit with specific emphasis on the deployment of auditor competence, the audit methodology for the verification of the client’s evaluation of legal and regulatory compliance and the audit trails followed by the audit team.

Appendix A

Appendix A

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Where legal non-compliance is found to exist, UKAS shall check that the certification body can demonstrate effective auditing of the client’s corrective actions and that such actions will secure compliance.

In determining the verification of legal and regulatory compliance, UKAS will have regard for national requirements, guidelines or codes of practice that may be relevant.

UKAS will also assess the contractual arrangements between certification bodies and their clients to ensure that a robust mechanism has been established to cover reporting of legal and regulatory non-compliance by the client at the earliest opportunity and the certification body’s actions with respect to such reports.

Assessment of environmental performance: with respect to environmental performance, the UKAS assessment will seek to ensure that the audit has identified the relationship between the organisation’s environmental policy, significant environmental aspects, objectives and targets and its processes or the results of their application.

UKAS will also seek to ensure that the initial certification audit has assessed and reported on the capacity of the organisation’s EMS to achieve and demonstrate continual improvement in environmental performance in line with the environmental policy. In subsequent surveillance and re-assessment audits, the certification body will be expected to assess and report on whether the organisation’s EMS has achieved and demonstrated continual improvement in environmental performance.

Development/assessment of new areas/scopes: the UKAS assessment will seek to ensure that environmental management programmes are audited within the scope of the EMS and that clear audit trails of the management of these additional programmes are being recorded.

Client relationships (impartiality): UKAS will seek in its assessments to ensure that the level of impartiality extends to the relationship of the certification body and/or its auditors with the client organisation.

Evidence will be sought to demonstrate that this relationship is not distorting the integrity of the certification body and that audits are being conducted in a robust and challenging manner.

Appendix A

1�1

The UKAS assessments will examine the type of findings raised by the audit teams against the evidence presented within the audit report or at the witnessed assessment to ensure that non-conformities are being raised in a consistent manner with the definition of non-conformity provided by the IAF.

Use of advisory boards: UKAS will assess the operation and effectiveness of the advisory boards that are established by certification bodies. This assessment may consist of: the review of advisory board minutes; attendance at specific board meetings and interviews with the chairman or board members to assess their competence; the relationship between the certification body and its advisory board and the effectiveness of the board in delivering impartiality; and the development of policies and principles regarding the content and functioning of the certification body.

In addition, UKAS operates a feedback system that allows for the management of complaints regarding the operation of UKAS-accredited certification bodies, environmental verifiers and Acorn Inspection bodies. In the first instance, any complaint regarding these accredited-bodies should be addressed directly to their management. If the complaint is still not resolved by the accredited body then the issue should be raised with UKAS which will investigate each case with the accredited body.

Otherrecentdevelopments

In addition to the enhancements developed by UKAS, it has taken its part in the international contribution to the overall debate on the role of an EMS and legal compliance, a recent IAF working group including a member of the UKAS EMSAC has issued a draft White Paper on ‘The relationship between ISO 14001 management system conformity assessments and Regulatory Compliance’.

Appendix A

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Assessment reporting - regulatory compliance example

Introduction-purposeofassessmentandwhatinparticularisexamined

This report concerns a surveillance assessment of Emissions Ltd at their main Emissionshire site.

Items covered during the assessment were:

• maintenance of environmental impacts and legal databases;• effluent treatment – focus on recent improvements to ensure regulatory

compliance, current operational controls, monitoring and performance, including communications with the EA;

• packaging design and use, including compliance with associated regulation; and

• compliance tracking and review.

Summary-thegeneralpicture

Clear evidence was seen of the EMS being well maintained with regard to keeping up-to-date with environmental impacts and regulatory requirements.

The discharge consent for effluent treatment had been reissued by the Environmental Agency with tighter criteria for suspended solids, flow rate and temperature. This was agreed with the organisation following significant improvements made by them to their effluent treatment plant.

A good and positive working relationship with the regulator was evident from the records of correspondence seen.

Assessment checks made at the effluent plant revealed operation of sound procedures by knowledgeable operators. This included routine operations, monitoring (all measurements inside consent limits), installation of emergency alarms plus testing done during planned maintenance.

Performance records seen for the previous three months showed full and continuous compliance.

Appendix B

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Some confusion was apparent over how the organisation would meet their obligations under the packaging producer and ‘essential requirements’ Regulations. It was clear that they understood their reuse and recycling requirements (advised by packaging scheme operator). However, it was evident that they had had no formal process for achieving these, nor had built this into their EMS objectives. Compliance, it seemed, was being met through series of ad hoc and uncoordinated activities. Please also see non-conformity ref. MH2.

Sound provisions were evident for monitoring and review of regulatory compliance, including tracking of performance concerning the packaging requirements.

Conclusion-concisestatementofwhethertheEMSwasworkingeffectively

With exception of the non-conformity identified concerning packaging, the EMS was seen to be operating effectively.

Recommendation-cantheyremaincertified?

Continued certification is recommended, but is subject to a satisfactory proposal of corrective action to be taken to address the non-conformity, and which will be verified during the next surveillance assessment.

Appendix B

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References

BRTF (2005) ‘The Better Regulation Task’, for further information go to www.brtf.gov.uk

BSI (2003) ‘BS 8555, Guide to the Phased Implementation of an Environmental Management System including the Use of Environmental Performance Evaluation’, British Standards Institution, London – to purchase a copy go to www.iema.net/shop

Dahlström K, Howes C, Leinster P and Skea J (2003) ‘Environmental Management Systems and Company Performance: Assessing the Case for Extending Risk-Based Regulation’, European Environment (13), pp187-203, Wiley Interscience

Defra (2005) ‘The Local Air Pollution Control Regime’, for further information go to www.defra.gov.uk/environment/airquality/lapc/default.htm

EA (1998) To view the Environment Agency’s enforcement policy go to www.environment-agency.gov.uk/business/444217/444661/112913/?version=1&lang=_e

EA (2005a) ‘Delivering for the Environment – a 21st Century approach to regulation’ – further information can be found at www.environment-agency.gov.uk/business/444217/444661/571853/?version=1&lang=_e

EA (2005b) Monitoring Certification Scheme MCERTS, for further information go to www.environment-agency.gov.uk/business/444217/444661/444671/466158/131167/?version=1

EC (1993) ‘Council Regulation (EEC) 1836/1993 of 29 June 1993 Allowing Voluntary Participation by Industrial Companies in the Industrial Sector in a Community Eco-management and Audit Scheme’, Official Journal of the European Community, L168 10/7/93, Brussels

EC (1994) ‘The Transfrontier Shipment of Waste Regulations’ No 121, the regulation can be found at www.epa.ie/Licensing/WasteLicensing/Legislation/FileUpload,5385,en.pdf

EC (1996) ‘Council Directive 96/61/EC Concerning Integrated Pollution

Appendix C

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Prevention and Control’, Official Journal of the European Community, L257 10/10/1996, pp26-40, Brussels

EC (2000) ‘Regulation 1980/2000 of the European Parliament and of the Council on a revised Community Eco-label Award Scheme’, Official Journal of the European Community, L237/3 21/9/2000, Brussels

EC (2003) Directive 2003/87/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing a scheme for greenhouse gas emission allowance trading within the Community’, Official Journal of the European Community, L275/32 25/10/2003, Brussels

EHS NI (2005) To view the enforcement and prosecution policy for Northern Ireland go to www.ehsni.gov.uk/pubs/publications/EP_Enforcement_Policy.pdf

HSE (2002) ‘The Dangerous Substances and Explosive Atmospheres Regulations 2002’ and ‘The Dangerous Substances and Explosive Atmospheres Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2003’, The Stationery Office, London – for further information go to www.hse.gov.uk/fireandexplosion/dsear.htm

IAF (2003) ‘Guidelines for the Accreditation of Certification Bodies for Environmental Management Systems, EA 7/02’, International Accreditation Forum, for further information go to www.european-accreditation.org

IEMA (2005) ‘The IEMA Acorn Scheme’, for further information go to www.iema.net/acorn

IMPEL (1992) ‘Principles of Environmental Enforcement’. for further information on IMPEL go to http://europa.eu.int/comm/environment/impel

ISO (1996) ‘ISO 14001, Environmental Management Systems – Specification with Guidance for Use’, International Organization for Standardization, Geneva – to purchase a copy go to www.iema.net/shop

ISO (1999) ‘ISO 14031 - Environmental Performance Evaluation’, International Organization for Standardization, Geneva – to purchase a copy go to www.iema.net/shop

ISO (2002) ‘BS EN ISO 19011:2002 Guidelines for quality and/or environmental management systems auditing’, International Organization for Standardization, Geneva – to purchase a copy go to www.iema.net/shop

Appendix C

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ISO (2003) ‘ISO/IEC Guide 66, General Requirements for Bodies Operating Assessment and Certification/Registration of Environmental Management Systems’, International Organization for Standardization, Geneva – to purchase a copy go to www.iema.net/shop

ISO (2004a) ‘ISO 14001, Environmental Management Systems – Requirements with Guidance for Use’, International Organization for Standardization, Geneva – to purchase a copy go to www.iema.net/shop

ISO (2004b) ‘BS EN ISO/IEC 17011, Conformity assessment – general requirements for accreditation bodies accrediting conformity assessment bodies’, International Organization for Standardization, Geneva – to purchase a copy go to www.iema.net/shop

REMAS (2005) The REMAS project is designed to examine existing environmental management systems (EMS) in business and industry across EU member states. The project aims to demonstrate that companies and organisations that implement an EMS show better environmental performance overall. For further information go to www.environment-agency.gov.uk/business/444251/466235/346673/?lang=_e

SEPA (2002) To view the Scottish Environment Protection Agency’s enforcement policy go to www.sepa.org.uk/pdf/policies/5.pdf

SEPA (2003) ‘Vision for Regulation: Protecting and Improving the Environment Through Regulation’ – further information can be found at www.sepa.org.uk/pdf/consultation/closed/2003/reg_principles/principles_for_regulation.pdf

Stookes P (2005) ‘A Practical Approach to Environmental Law’, Oxford University Press, Oxford

UK Parliament (1991) ‘The Environmental Protection (Duty of Care) Regulations’, SI 2839, The Stationery Office, London

UK Parliament (1999a) ‘Pollution Prevention and Control Act’, The Stationery Office, London

UK Parliament (1999b) ‘Control of Major Accident Hazards Regulations 1999 (COMAH)’ amended by the ‘Control of Major Accident Hazards (Amendment) Regulations 2005’, The Stationery Office, London

Appendix C

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UK Parliament (2001) ‘Control of Pollution (Oil Storage) (England) Regulations’, The Stationery Office, London

UK Parliament (2003) ‘The Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging Waste) Regulations 1997 (as amended 2003)’, The Stationery Office, London

UN (1979) ‘United Nations Convention on Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution’, United Nations – for further information go to www.unece.org/env/lrtap/welcome.html

UN (1992) ‘Convention on Biological Diversity’ – for the full text go to www.biodiv.org/default.shtml

UN (1994) ‘United Nations Convention on Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution, Protocol on Further Reduction of Sulphur Emissions’, United Nations – for further information go to www.unece.org/env/lrtap/fsulf_h1.htm

UNFCC (2004) For the full texts of the Climate Change Convention and the Kyoto Protocol go to the official websites of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change at http://unfccc.int/resource/docs/convkp

WAMITAB (2005) Waste Management Industry Training and Advisory Board Certificate of Technical Competence, for further information go to www.wamitab.org.uk

Appendix C

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Useful websites

UK Acts of Parliament www.opsi.gov.uk/acts.htm

Association of Drainage Authorities www.ada.org.uk

Better Regulation Task Force www.brtf.gov.uk

British Standards Institution (BSI) www.bsi-global.com

British Waterways www.britishwaterways.co.uk

Business Links www.businesslink.gov.uk

Cadw www.cadw.wales.gov.uk

Chartered Institution of Wastes Management

www.ciwm.co.uk

Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Management

www.ciwem.org.uk/index.asp

Countryside Agency www.countryside.gov.uk

Countryside Council for Wales www.ccw.gov.uk

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

www.defra.gov.uk

Department of Trade and Industry www.dti.gov.uk

Drinking Water Inspectorate www.dwi.gov.uk

Eco-Management & Audit Scheme (EMAS)

www.emas.org.uk

English Heritage www.english-heritage.org.uk

English Nature www.english-nature.gov.uk

Environment Agency www.environment-agency.gov.uk

Environment and Heritage Service Northern Ireland

www.ehsni.gov.uk

Envirowise www.envirowise.gov.uk

European Union http://europa.eu.int/pol/env/index_en.htm

Health & Safety Executive www.hse.gov.uk

Institute of Environmental Management and Assessment

www.iema.net

Appendix D

1�0

International Accreditation Forum (IAF)

www.iaf.nu

Marine Consents & Environment Unit

www.mceu.gov.uk

National Assembly for Wales www.wales.gov.uk/index.htm

National Society for Clean Air www.nsca.org.uk/pages/index.cfm

Netregs www.netregs.gov.uk

Northern Ireland Assembly www.niassembly.gov.uk

REMAS http://remas.ewindows.eu.org/index.htm

Scottish Executive www.scotland.gov.uk/Home

Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA)

www.sepa.org.uk

Scottish Natural Heritage www.snh.gov.uk

United Kingdom Accreditation Service (UKAS)

www.ukas.com

United Nations Environment Programme (global environmental conventions)

www.unep.org/DPDL/Law/Law_instruments/law_instruments_global.asp

Appendix D

Best Practice Series Volume 6 December 2005

T H E I N S T I T U T E O F E N V I R O N M E N TA L M A N A G E M E N T A N D A S S E S S M E N T

iema St. Nicholas House, 70 Newport, Lincoln LN1 3DP UKTel: 01522 540069 Fax: 01522 540090

Managing com

pliance with environm

ental law: a good practice guide

Volum

e 6

D

ecember 2005 IEM

A


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