1. Aspects, Impacts, and Significant Aspects
EMS Implementation Workshop
Aspects, Impacts, and Significant Aspects

2. Objectives of this Session
Know definitions of aspect, impact, significant aspect
Recognize importance of significant aspects to the EMS
Learn EMS requirements for aspects identification

3. Why do this? Managing Aspects vs. Impacts
It is more prudent and more efficient to manage “how” you interact with the environment than to manage “what” you have done to the environment
An EMS is built around identifying, prioritizing, controlling, and improving upon, those elements of the organization that interact with the environment
For example; it is is better to know that wastewater discharges may impact the environment, and therefore manage the effluent quality than it is to wait for the fish kill and try to manage the crisis.

4. Specific Benefits
Prompts your organization to identify issues not typically managed; particularly non-regulated issues
Integrates environmental issues into operations
Makes for proactive planning

5. Environmental Aspects and Impacts-ISO 14001 Definition
Elements of an organization’s activities, products or services which can interact with the environment. (For example: wastewater discharges, air emissions, resource consumption, energy usage, ecosystem alterations, etc.)
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS
Any change to the environment, whether adverse or beneficial, wholly or partly resulting from an organization’s activities, products, or services (based on the aspects, for example: air emissions impacts the air by degrading the air quality).
Efforts and activities related to managing the environmental aspects is how the EMS becomes tangible to the workforce.

6. ISO 14001 requires organizations to:
develop procedures to identify environmental aspects in order to determine those which have or can have significant impact on the environment
keep aspects information up-to-date (regularly, and whenever changes occur), not once and done.
Necessary records will include aspects lists, and significant aspects list

7. Role of Aspects in the EMS
Significant aspects drive the EMS and are a subset of the full list of aspects
EMS is designed to identify, control, manage, and improve upon the significant aspects
Compliance with Legal and Other Requirements is a part of the system that does relate to the aspects
Elements such as operational control (procedures and work instructions), training, monitoring and measurement, emergency planning, and setting objectives all depend on significant aspects.

8. More on Environmental Aspects
Aspects are “cause”, impact is the “effect”
Control and influence of aspects is a factor
Aspects can be:
direct or indirect
normal, abnormal, or emergency
past, present, or future
Aspects address not only waste stream, but resource consumption, energy, and other “non-traditional” factors (noise, odor, visual)

9. Going About the Aspects Process
Identify who and how this will be done (aspects procedure)
List and characterize activities, products services
Identify aspects and impacts for each A/P/S -Tap into your knowledge base!
Determine significance
Maintain records

10. Activities, Products and Services
This is where you describe what you do at your facility – mostly “activities” for Feds
Consider mission – what ‘facility’ is designed to do - e.g. visitor center
Consider activities that support the mission – e.g. vehicle maintenance
Consider actions that are both regulated and not regulated e.g. commuting to work

11. Aspect Analysis - Examples of Activities
Mission related operations
Maintenance
Motor vehicle fleet operations
Wastewater treatment
Solid waste handling and disposal
Raw material and chemical handling
Bulk storage of fuels
Administrative and employee activities
Engineering
Purchasing

12. Some Ways to Characterize Activities, Products, and Services
Process flow diagrams
Interviews with supervisors, managers, staff
Hazardous material inventories
Hazardous waste records
Records from emergency planning, accident reports, emergency incidents
Water and energy consumption records

13. List Aspects
Can sort and organize aspects, for example:
Releases to air
Water consumption, pollution
Land contamination
Use of raw materials, natural resources
Other local environmental, community issues
Will be able to “re-sort” later to better manage the aspects

14. Examples of Aspects Aspect: Not an aspect: Waste generation
Material usage
Fuel usage
Air emissions
Chemical consumption
Energy consumption
Not an aspect:
Improve air quality – this is an objective
P2 – this is an objective
Vehicle maintenance – this is a activity
Water pollution – this is an impact

15. Examples Activity, Product, or Service Aircraft operations
Bus transportation and maintenance
Environmental Aspect
Jet fuel consumption
Jet fuel releases (potential)
Noise generation
Gasoline consumption
Electricity consumption
Solid waste generation
Water consumption
Waste water generation

16. Examples Activity, Product, or Service Vehicle maintenance
Environmental Aspect
Hazardous waste generation
Gasoline consumption
Noise generation
Electricity consumption
Solid waste generation
Water consumption
Waste water generation
Release of volatiles

17. Examples Activity, Product, or Service Store Cafeteria
Environmental Aspect
Raw material consumption
Fuel consumption for transport
Solid waste generation
Food waste generation
Electricity consumption
Water consumption
Waste water generation
Release of ammonia from refrigeration equipment (potential)

18. Examples Activity, Product, or Service Office work
Environmental Aspect
Electricity consumption
Water consumption
Waste water generation
Release of ozone depleting substances in air cooling units (potential)
Solid waste generation
Heavy metals “use” in computers

19. Examples Activity, Product, or Service Cleaning offices
Playing field upkeep (golf course, softball field, parade ground)
Environmental Aspect
Hazardous material release
Electricity consumption
Solid waste generation
Waste water generation
Water consumption
Runoff from pesticide usage
Gasoline consumption
Grass clipping generation

20. Identify the Impacts of Aspects
Once the aspects are identified, you must identify the impact(s) associated with each one.
This can be done using the same process you used for aspects, except there might be more involvement of environmental staff to assess impacts
List impacts along with aspects
Example of impact not typically part of an environmental program – paper consumption

21. Examples of Aspects & Impacts
Air emissions (exhaust)
Water consumption
Fuel release (accidental spills)
Noise generation
Energy consumption (lights left on)
Paper recycled
Air quality degraded
Water resource depleted
Storm water contaminated
Soil contaminated
Area nuisance
Increased CO2 from coal-fired power plant emissions
Landfill space conserved, raw materials conserved
Examples of regulated, unregulated impacts
Example of natural resource impact
Examples of actual and potential impacts
Example of human impacts
Example of offsite impacts due to products used
Example of positive environmental impact

22. Determine Significant Aspects
A significant aspect is one that has or can have a significant impact on the environment (you define)
Site selects the criteria for significance rating and cutoff value
Significance can be determined by numeric cutoff value or subjective assessment based on yes/no answers
Significance could be tied to: environmental degradation concerns, natural resource concerns, regulatory or legal exposure, concerns of interested parties

23. EMS Requirements
ISO uses “significant” aspects and impacts as the basis for developing objectives and preparing programs.
The organization chooses which aspects are “significant,” based on applying their own criteria, to the related impacts. However, once significant, the EMS must address the aspect.
Process and criteria for significance described in procedure.

24. Many Methods for Determining Significance Criteria
Staff judgment
Risk Assessment
Organizationally-derived criteria and/or hybrid approaches based on staff judgment and risk assessment
Key is to be consistent, and in line with “reality check” – are you capturing what makes sense?
Criteria must relate to environmental impact

25. Examples of Significance Criteria
Magnitude - How big of a problem is it?
Global, regional, local?
Severity - How bad will it get?
Probability - How likely is it to occur?
Daily, weekly, monthly, annually, in emergencies, only when a certain event happens, when a new project starts?
Regulated?
Of concern to interested parties?

26. Applying the Criteria
Each aspect must be evaluated in terms of the criteria
Significant ones listed
Each time a new aspect enters the system for whatever reason, it must be evaluated for significance
ALL significant aspects must be carried forward into the system

27. Where Do Significant Aspects Fit in Your EMS?
EMS manages your significant aspects, impacts
Significant aspects drive objectives and targets and operational controls
Employees need to be aware of significant aspects of their jobs
Must communicate significant aspects externally
Significant aspects are monitored and measured

28. Identify
Aspects
Significant? no
Remains on
aspect list
yes
Significant
aspect
No, or yes
but want to
do more?
Objectives and
targets
Under
Control?
Operation
controls
yes
Address
now?
No (still must have controls)
Yes
EMPs, and
Operational
Control
Deployed
in EMS

29. In Closing- Tips for Effective Aspects Identification and Rating
Be comprehensive
Do not pre-judge! Inventory completely; you have the opportunity to prioritize later
Sort by activity, product, or service; and identify impacts
Significance criteria change over time; all relative. Should never have a situation with no significant aspects (as per continual improvement commitment)
“Aspect” is considered significant although environmental impact is used to make significance determination
Aspects not considered significant will not be carried through the system
Significant aspects affect and drive all other parts of system! “If you must control, it must be significant”.