ARS Environmental Management System (EMS) Introductory Awareness Training

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ARS Environmental Management System
(EMS)Introductory Awareness Training
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• Course Objective
• To provide EMS Annual Awareness Training.
• Introduce you to the EMS tools available
• How Much Time Does the Course take to complete?
• We anticipate that this training should not take
  you more than 30 minutes to complete.
• Receiving Documentation for training completion.
• Our Safety, Health, Environmental Management
  Committee maintains a training record for
  employees. Print out the questionaire at the end
  of the presentation and place the completed
  questionaire with date and signature in the mail
  box of Robert Campbell.
• Questions or Comments
• Please keep in mind that EMS is a continual
  improvement process and EMS Annual Awareness
  Training will change as the system evolves. If
  you have questions or comments about this
  training please contact Robert Campbell,
  Charlotte Burton, Kathy Burrup, Scott McNeil,
  John Rutger

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• Why an Environmental Management System (ISO
  14001)
• Executive Order 13148 requires Federal facilities
  to have an EMS in place no later than December
  2005.
• Executive Order 13423 (2007) mandates specific
  reductions in energy resource use by 2015.
• ARS policy requires all ARS facilities to have an
  EMS in place that conforms to the ISO 14001
  standard.
• ISO 14001 is an internationally recognized best
  management practice for environmental management.
• Implementing an EMS will assist ARS Locations in
  the environmental stewardship efforts by
  ensuring continual review and corrective action
  processes for environmental management.

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E.O. 13148 (ISO 14991 EMS) Issued April 21, 2000

• Reasons
• Demonstrate Federal Government environmental
  leadership
• Ensure that Federal agencies adopt lowest
  life-cycle cost environmental practices
• Ensure Federal facilities are responsible members
  of their communities

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• Benefits of an EMS
• Improve environmental awareness.
• Achieve greater consistency in environmental
  programs.
• Support the mission by prioritizing environmental
  issues and focusing resources on those with the
  greatest significance.
• Remember.
• Being a good environmental steward is everyones
  business. Performing your job in an
  environmentally safe and sound manner benefits us
  all by protecting the health of the surrounding
  ecosystem, preserving resources for future
  generations, being good neighbors, minimizing
  mission impact due to non-compliance issues, and
  saving money by decreasing wasted resources.
• As a member of the Surrounding community, you are
  responsible for performing your job in an
  environmentally safe and sound manner by knowing
  how your job impacts the environment, adhering to
  operating procedures, knowing the potential
  environmental impacts of departing from these
  operating procedures, and by knowing the
  requirements of your job.

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• Responsibilities
• As a member of the ARS community, you are
  responsible for performing your job in an
  environmentally safe and sound manner. You
  should
• Understand the commitments of the ARS
  Environmental Policy
• Know how your job impacts the environment
• Know and adhere to the procedures of your job
• Know the potential environmental impacts of
  departing from the procedures of your job
• Know the environmental requirements of your job

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Environmental Management Programs incorporated
into EMS including

• Incorporate the provisions into existing goals
  and records
• Provide training to personnel
• Incorporate into position descriptions and
  performance standards
• Develop an awards program
• Each location will develop a plan
• Internal Assessments
• Environmental management documents
• Monitoring procedures and data
• Annual reporting to the EPA

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• An ISO 14001 EMS is a set of procedures based on
  a Plan-Do-Check-Act cycle and has five Major
  Components, Policy, Planning, Implementation and
  Operation, Checking and Corrective Action, and
  Management Review

Plan
Act
ContinualImprovement
Do
Check
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• Environmental Policy
• The Environmental Policy describes ARSs approach
  to environmental management. ARS personnel
  should understand that the ARS Environmental
  Policy
• Applies to all
• Commits to environmental compliance
• Commits to prevention of pollution
• Commits to continual improvement
• Is available on the NAA Safety Website

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• Environmental Aspects
• Environmental aspects are elements of the
  locations activities that can potentially
  interact with the environment. Examples are
  taken from Chapter 4 of the NAA ARS EMS

Use of hazardous chemicals
Paper Consumption
Pesticide application
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• Environmental Impacts
• Environmental impacts are changes to the
  environment resulting from an environmental
  aspect. Examples are

Waste generation
Use of natural resources
Soil, water quality degradation
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• Environmental Aspects and Environmental Impacts
• Environmental aspects and environmental impacts
  exist in a Cause and Effect relationship with
  each other.
• Aspect (Cause) Impact (Effect)

use of hazardous chemicals
Waste generation
Paper consumption
Resource depletion
Soil, water quality degradation
Pesticide applications
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• Significant Environmental Aspects
• Current significant environmental aspects are
• Emissions
• Discharges, spills, leaks, or other releases to
  soil or water
• Energy consumption or conservation
• Generation of waste streams
• Generation of noise, vibration, odor, dust, heat,
  light, radiation, and other nuisance activities
• Significant environmental aspects must be managed
  through operational procedures and considered
  when setting environmental objectives and targets.

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Objectives and Targets

• Full Compliance with regulations
• Reduce a hazardous waste stream
• Reduce consumption of energy (electricity)
• Green Purchase Training
• There are Agency targets and location targets
• Many locations have met targets and never
  quantified /credited the success

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• Your Participation
• All personnel will have roles and
  responsibilities at the location for EMS. Your
  level of participation will vary according to the
  work you perform. At a minimum, you are
  responsible for knowing
• The commitments of the ARS Environmental Policy
• How your job impacts the environment
• The procedures/protocols of your job and adhering
  to them
• The potential environmental impacts of departing
  from the procedures of your job
• The legal and other environmental requirements of
  your job

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• Minimizing Environmental Impacts
• An objective of an EMS is to reduce environmental
  impacts. Below are ways you can support this
  objective
• Reduce, Reuse, Recycle Reduce your use of
  resources such as water. Reuse resources such as
  office supplies Recycle all batteries, paper,
  electronics, toner cartridges, metal scraps,
  metal cans, glass and plastic containers, and
  fluorescent light bulbs.
• Purchasing Requirements Government purchasing
  agents, including credit card holders, are
  required to follow the Affirmative (Green)
  Procurement Plan.

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• Minimizing Environmental Impacts - Continued
• Spill Reporting Personnel who suspect a spill
  has occurred should report it through the
  location emergency procedures. Reporting
  petroleum product and hazardous material spills
  in a timely manner can minimize environmental
  damage.
• Carpool ARS has a Carpool Program in place to
  support a regional goal of decreasing vehicle
  emissions.

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• Benefits of Minimizing Environmental Impacts
• Minimizing environmental impacts help
• Protect human health and the surrounding
  ecosystem
• Promote a good relationship with surrounding
  community and emergency services
• Save money through resource conservation
• Reduces and eliminates lab storage issues

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TOP TEN POLLUTION PREVENTION TECHNIQUES

• 1. good housekeeping and maintenance practices
• 2. spill prevention and preparedness
• 3. inventory management
• 4. prudent purchasing
• 5. waste exchange programs

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TOP TEN POLLUTION PREVENTION TECHNIQUES

• 6. alternate cleaning processes
• 7. reuse/recycle process wastes
• 8. process modifications
• 9. changes in equipment/technology
• 10. environmentally preferable purchasing

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Housekeeping and Maintenance

• reducing spills, overflows, leaks, ruined
  samples, and accidents prevents pollution-- while
  also reducing materials costs and stress!
• lab clutter contributes to knocked-over
  containers while also impairing efficiency and
  morale

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Housekeeping and Maintenance

• use secondary containment where appropriate
• inspect and maintain equipment routinely
• replace seals and gaskets on a regular basis
• use tight-fitting lids and bungs to prevent
  evaporation

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Spill prevention and preparedness

• Spills generate waste!
• By preventing spills, you can prevent hazardous
  releases and avoid associated disposal costs

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To avoid accidental spills...

• train employees in proper use of chemicals,
  apparatus, instruments, and tools
• use pipetting aids, spigots and pumps instead of
  pouring liquids
• store materials securely
• and away from traffic

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Inventory Management

• Proper management ensures that your inventory is
  an asset, not a pollution prevention liability.

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Inventory Management Tips

• set up an inventory tracking system
• label all containers with contents and date to
  avoid costly and hazardous unknowns
• store material carefully to prevent spills and
  leaks
• rotate inventory so older material is used first

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Prudent Purchasing

• buy only the amount of chemicals that you will
  use within a reasonable time period
• buy durable apparatus and equipment that can be
  repaired and maintained
• coordinate or centralize purchasing to avoid
  unnecessary purchases

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Buy right size NOTeconomy size
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Waste exchange programs

• Waste exchange is a matchmaking process based
  on the premise that one partys waste may be a
  usable material for another party
• The goal of waste exchange is to minimize waste
  disposal expenses while maximizing the value of
  reusable byproducts

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Recycling

• Common examples of recycling
• at our facility are recycling paper, paper bags,
  catalogs, cardboard, batteries, aluminum cans, IT
  supplies and equipment, and surplus laboratory
  equipment.

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Materials Substitution

• In some cases, labs are unable to make
  substitutions due to required protocols
• Opportunities exist beyond chemical substitution
  such as alternatives to mercury thermometers,
  videos or demonstrations in some instructional
  labs, etc.
• Ask your vendors to keep you informed when new,
  less-hazardous products become available

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• Summary
• All personnel should understand the commitments
  of the ARS Environmental Policy and are
  responsible for performing work in an
  environmentally safe and sound manner.
• Remember that you are responsible for knowing
• How your job impacts the environment
• The procedures of your job and adhering to them
• The potential environmental impacts of departing
  from the procedures of your job
• The legal and other environmental requirements of
  your job

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CONGRATULATIONS and THANK YOU !!!

• After you have completed the questionaire you
  will have successfully completed the EMS
  Introductory Awareness Training. Record of your
  participation is recorded with the Safety, Health
  and Environmental Management Committee.
• Your feedback allows us to continually improve
  the EMS. For more information or to actively
  participate in EMS implementation, please
  contact
• Robert Campbell
• Kathy Burrup
• Charlotte Burton
• Scott McNeil
• John Rutger

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The Safety, Health, Environmental Management
Committee maintains a record of this EMS
Introductory Awareness Training. Sign and Date
the Document and place the completed questionaire
in the mail box of Robert Campbell

• Print Your Name ______________________________
• Sign Your Name_______________________________
• Date You completed this training
  _________________
• 1. Name an Environmental Aspect preferably
  different than the ones mentioned in the
  presentation that you are aware of in your work
  setting.
• 2. Name an Enviromental Impact that is associated
  with the aspect that you came up with in question
  1.
• 3. What do you think could be done to minimize
  the impact to the environment?