་འཁ ར་ག ཐའ ནས མ ་ས ་ ང ས ས ང ཡ ་ལ ་ ན ལ ་ཚ །ར ག ། ས ། ༄ ROYAL GOVERNMENT OF BHUTAN ༄ N ། a n ། t i io ། ལ o s ། n s ད ་ར a i པ NATIONAL ENVIRONMENT COMMISSION l m ལ མ E ་ ་ར nvi om ལ ན ལས ronment C ་འབ ག་པ་ཕ གས་ Environmental Environmental Management Tools and Techniques Management Tools and Techniques A Learning Material National Environment Commission P.O. Box 466, Thimphu, Bhutan www.nec.gov.bt NATIONAL ENVIRONMENT COMMISSION Environmental Management Tools and Techniques A Learning Material Table of contents ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT CONCEPTS ........................................................................................ 1 WHAT IS ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT? ......................................................................................................... 1 WHY UNDERTAKE ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT? ........................................................................................ 3 Cost savings ..........................................................................................................................................................................................................................3 Ensuring legislative compliance ................................................................................................................................................................................ 5 Anticipating future legislation .................................................................................................................................................................................. 5 Reduced environmental risk ........................................................................................................................................................................................ 5 Meeting supply chain requirements ......................................................................................................................................................................... 6 Improved relations with regulators ........................................................................................................................................................................ 6 Improved public image and community relations ........................................................................................................................................... 6 Increased market opportunities ................................................................................................................................................................................ 6 Employee enthusiasm ...................................................................................................................................................................................................... 6 ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT PRINCIPLES ...................................................................................... 7 GUIDING PRINCIPLES FOR ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT ............................................................................ 7 Precautionary Principle ................................................................................................................................................................................................ 7 Uncertainty Principle .................................................................................................................................................................................................... 7 Intra-generational Equity ........................................................................................................................................................................................... 8 Inter-generational Equity ............................................................................................................................................................................................ 8 Recognition and Preservation of Diversity ........................................................................................................................................................ 8 Internalization of Costs ................................................................................................................................................................................................ 8 The Polluter Pays Principle ........................................................................................................................................................................................ 8 The Prevention Principle .............................................................................................................................................................................................. 9 The Protection and Promotion of Health and Safety.................................................................................................................................... 9 The Principle of Multi-sectoral Integration ...................................................................................................................................................... 9 The Principle of Subsidiarity...................................................................................................................................................................................... 9 DEVELOPING GUIDELINES ........................................................................................................................................9 ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT TOOLS & TECHNIQUES ............................................................... 11 HOW DOES A FIRM/COMPANY PUT INTO SERVICE ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT? ....................... 11 How can a firm/company make use of these tools? ....................................................................................................................................... 14 ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY ...................................................................................................................................... 15 What is an environmental policy? .......................................................................................................................................................................... 15 NEED TO FORMULATE AN ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY ....................................................................................................... 15 other important aspect of producing a policy .................................................................................................................................................. 16 ways and means to produce an environmental policy ................................................................................................................................. 16 i Disseminating an environmental policy ............................................................................................................................................................. 19 Implementing an environmental policy ............................................................................................................................................................... 19 ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS ...................................................................................................... 20 What is an environmental management system? ...........................................................................................................................................20 ISO 14001 Environmental Management Systems .........................................................................................................................................20 The elements of ISO 14001 ..........................................................................................................................................................................................22 EMAS - THE EC ECO-MANAGEMENT AND AUDIT SCHEME ..............................................................................27 Differences between ISO 14001 and EMAS ......................................................................................................................................................27 Why implement an environmental management system? ..........................................................................................................................29 How should a firm go about setting up an environmental management system? ..........................................................................31 Time and cost involved in installing an environmental management system ................................................................................. 33 ENVIRONMENTAL AUDITING................................................................................................................................. 34 What is an environmental audit? ...........................................................................................................................................................................34 Some audit terminology ..............................................................................................................................................................................................34 NEED TO carry out environmental auditing.................................................................................................................................................36 process to carry out an EMS audit ........................................................................................................................................................................36