Regulation (EC) No 1221/2009 of the European Parliament and of the CouncilShow full title

[F1 ANNEX I U.K. ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW

Textual Amendments

F1 Substituted by Commission Regulation (EU) 2017/1505 of 28 August 2017 amending Annexes I, II and III to Regulation (EC) No 1221/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council on the voluntary participation by organisations in a Community eco-management and audit scheme (EMAS) (Text with EEA relevance).

The environmental review shall cover the following areas:

1. Determination of the organisational context U.K.

The organisation shall determine those external and internal issues that can affect positively or negatively its ability to achieve the intended outcomes of its environmental management system.

Such issues include relevant environmental conditions such as climate, air quality, water quality, natural resources availability, biodiversity.

They may also include but are not limited to the following conditions:

• external conditions (such as cultural, social, political, legal, regulatory, financial, technological, economic, natural and competitive circumstances),

• internal conditions related to the organisation characteristics (such as its activities, products and services, strategic direction, culture and capabilities).

2. Identification of the interested parties and determination of their relevant needs and expectations U.K.

The organisation shall determine the interested parties that are relevant to the environmental management system, the relevant needs and expectations of these interested parties and which of these needs and expectations it has or it chooses to comply with.

If the organisation decides to voluntarily adopt or agree with relevant needs or expectations of interested parties not covered by legal requirements, those become part of its compliance obligations.

3. Identification of the applicable legal requirements relating to the environment U.K.

In addition to the establishment of a register of applicable legal requirements, the organisation shall also indicate how evidence that it is complying with the different legal requirements can be provided.

4. Identification of direct and indirect environmental aspects and determination of those being significant U.K.

The organisation shall identify all direct and indirect environmental aspects with a positive or negative impact on the environment, qualified and quantified as appropriate and compile a register of all identified environmental aspects. The organisation shall also determine which of those aspects are significant based on criteria established in accordance with point 5 of this Annex.

When identifying direct and indirect environmental aspects it is essential that organisations also consider the environmental aspects associated with their core business. An inventory limited to the environmental aspects of an organisation's site and facilities is insufficient.

When identifying direct and indirect environmental aspects of its activities, products and services the organisation shall adopt a life cycle perspective, by taking into account the life cycle stages that it can control or influence. Such stages typically include raw material acquisition, purchasing and procurement, design, production, transportation, use, end-of-life treatment and final disposal depending on the activity of the organisation.

4.1. Direct environmental aspects U.K.

Direct environmental aspects are associated with activities, products and services of the organisation itself over which it has direct management control.

All organisations have to consider the direct aspects of their operations.

Direct environmental aspects include, but are not limited to:

(1)

emissions to air;

(2)

releases to water (including infiltrations to groundwater),

(3)

production, recycling, reuse, transportation and disposal of solid and other wastes, particularly hazardous wastes;

(4)

use and contamination of land;

(5)

use of energy, natural resources (including water, fauna and flora) and raw materials;

(6)

use of additives and auxiliaries as well as semi-manufactured goods;

(7)

local issues (noise, vibration, odour, dust, visual appearance, etc.).

When identifying the environmental aspects, the following should also be considered:

• risks of environmental accidents and other emergency situations with a potential environmental impact (e.g. chemical accidents) and potential abnormal situations that could lead to a potential environmental impact,

• transport issues for goods and services and for staff travelling on company business

4.2. Indirect environmental aspects U.K.

Indirect environmental aspects can result from the interaction of an organisation with third parties which can to a reasonable degree be influenced by the organisation.

These include, but are not limited to:

(1)

product and services life-cycle-related issues that the organisation can influence (raw material acquisition, design, purchasing and procurement, production, transportation, use, end-of-life treatment and final disposal);

(2)

capital investments, granting loans and insurance services;

(3)

new markets;

(4)

choice and composition of services (e.g. transport or the catering trade);

(5)

administrative and planning decisions;

(6)

product range compositions;

(7)

the environmental performance and practices of contractors, subcontractors, suppliers and sub-suppliers.

Organisations must be able to demonstrate that the significant environmental aspects and impacts associated with these aspects are addressed within the management system.

The organisation should endeavour to ensure that the suppliers and those acting on the organisation's behalf comply with the organisation's environmental policy within the remit of the activities carried out for the contract.

An organisation shall consider how much influence it can have over those indirect environmental aspects, and what measures it can take to reduce the environmental impact or to increase the environmental benefit.

5. Assessment of the significance of the environmental aspects U.K.

An organisation shall define the criteria for assessing the significance of the environmental aspects of its activities, products and services and apply these to determine which environmental aspects have a significant environmental impact considering a life cycle perspective.

The criteria developed by an organisation shall take into account the legislation and shall be comprehensive, capable of independent checking, reproducible and made publicly available.

When establishing these criteria an organisation shall consider the following elements:

(1)

potential harm or benefit to the environment including biodiversity;

(2)

the condition of the environment (such as the fragility of the local, regional or global environment);

(3)

size, number, frequency and reversibility of the aspect or impact;

(4)

existence and requirements of relevant environmental legislation;

(5)

views of the interested parties, including employees of the organisation.

Additional relevant elements may be considered depending on the type of activities, products and services of the organisation.

Based on the established criteria the organisation shall assess the significance of its environmental aspects and impacts. To do so the organisation shall take into account considerations that may include but are not limited to:

(1)

the organisation's existing data on material and energy inputs, discharges, wastes and emissions in terms of risk;

(2)

activities of the organisation that are regulated by environmental legislation;

(3)

procurement activities;

(4)

design, development, manufacturing, distribution, servicing, use, re-use, recycling and disposal of the organisation's products;

(5)

those activities of the organisation with the most significant environmental costs, and environmental benefits.

In assessing the significance of the environmental impacts of the organisation's activities the organisation shall consider normal operating conditions, start-up and shutdown conditions and reasonably foreseeable emergency conditions. Account shall be taken of past, present and planned activities.

6. Evaluation of feedback from the investigation of previous incidents U.K.

The organisation shall take into account the feedback from the investigation of previous incidents that could influence its ability to achieve the intended outcomes of its environmental management system.

7. Determination and documentation of risk and opportunities U.K.

The organisation shall determine and document risks and opportunities associated with its environmental aspects, compliance obligations and other issues and requirements identified in points 1 to 4.

The organisation shall focus on those risks and opportunities that should be addressed to assure that the environmental management system can achieve its intended outcome, to prevent undesired effects or accident and to achieve continual improvement of the environmental performance of the organisation.

8. Examination of existing processes, practices and procedures U.K.

The organisation shall examine existing processes, practices and procedures and determine which are needed in order to ensure the long-term maintenance of the environmental management.]