From Guest Blogger Alex Pejak: Why Are Environmental Management Plans So Important?
Environmental management plans are the central tool your business or organisation uses to minimise the impact of your projects on the environment. In construction, an environmental management plan is often required by law.
Even if an environmental management plan, or EMP, is not required, one may still be a useful tool for achieving your “green” goals. Piecing together an EMP is the first step towards achieving compliance with voluntary environmental standards. Though you may not be required to implement these standards, the resulting certification may be a powerful adjunct to your marketing efforts.
Environmental Management Plans in Construction
EMPs are most frequently required in the construction industry. Both greenfield and urban renewal projects have the potential to impact the local environment. In some cases, simply the act of building a structure in a particular place may risk disrupting the local ecosystem. Other projects may be forecast to cause minimal disruption but could create serious problems in the event something unexpected occurs — like a materials or waste spill.
The environmental management plan demonstrates to the client and sometimes to the local authority that the contractor is committed to preserving the environment as well as completing the project. At the same time, the EMP lays out the steps for the on-site personnel to take in order to comply with environmental laws and minimise environmental impact.
Construction industry EMPs can take different forms depending on the project, including prewritten EMPs (such as these) that save a great deal of time and money. In general, EMPs will contain at least the following points:
– A commitment statement, outlining the contractor’s objectives with the EMP. These objectives are generally along the lines of minimising environmental damage and complying with applicable guidelines or requirements.
The commitment statement provides a focus for all the subsequent points of the plan. Without this overarching statement of objectives, later steps quickly become defocused and ineffective.
– A list of potential site and project environmental issues.
– A section describing how potential issues will be reconciled with project requirements (including legal, regulatory, and contractual issues).
– Work instructions for implementing the plan, and emergency response instructions for minimising environmental damage in the event of an accident.
– Some system for monitoring to ensure compliance with the project requirements.
Developing an Environmental Management Plan
Sometimes building an EMP for your project is simple and foolproof. In other cases, the project may have many stakeholders all with their own concerns the EMP must address.
Regardless of the situation, the first step of developing a plan starts with identifying the objective. Once the objectives are clear, the company can survey the situation and bring back baseline data that will serve as the basis for judging the EMP’s success.
Once your firm knows what the areas in play are, solicit input from all the different stakeholders. EMPs affect many different parties, including those not involved in the contracting relationship. Soliciting input early even from outside parties potentially saves a great deal of time and cost.
Using the objectives, develop the various approaches to a solution, assessing the environmental impact of each. Now it is possible to write the final environmental management plan, usually in concert with experts.
