Road Map to Establishing Effective Shared Environmental Governance

Since the 1970s, the U.S. Army has instituted environmental policies, programs, regulations, and management systems to ensure that its mission and support activities have minimal effects on the environment and comply with national policy. In recent years, the Army has incorporated environmental management systems (EMSs) at some installations through the DOD ISO 14001 EMS pilot program, in anticipation of Executive Order 13148, Greening the Government through Leadership in Environmental Management.1 While the EO does not require an EMS to be ISO 14001 compliant, many federal agencies are considering modeling their EMS after ISO 14001. This article presents how well current Army‐wide policy and guidance aligns with the ISO 14001 environmental management standard and offers opportunities for improvements in policy.When viewed from a corporate perspective, the Army generally has the major components for an ISO 14001 EMS, which include environmental policy, planning, implementation and operations, checking and corrective action, and management review. Army policies and guidance that provide the framework and demonstrate general conformance with ISO 14001 fall into three groups: (1) strategies and plans (the Army Environmental Strategy into the 21st Century, the Army Strategic Environmental Assessment,2 and the Army Environmental Campaign Plan and Operational Directive); (2) Army regulations (AR) for management, organization and function, and the environment; and (3) program management processes, reports, and databases (e.g., EPR, ISR II, EQR, ECAS, and EQCC). Additional documentation needed to meet ISO 14000 criteria include: (1) the unifying policy and guidance that integrates and streamlines the Army EMS; (2) a comprehensive assessment system that focuses on the management of the Army Environmental Program; (3) systems for updating administrative publications (e.g., ARs) in a timely manner (i.e., AR 200‐1, Environmental Protection and Enhancement, and AR 200‐3, National Resources—Land, Forest, and Wildlife Management); and (4) new policy and procedures for Army outreach. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Chapter 4 - Sustainable Development and Environmental Reform

How effective has the North American Agreement on Environmental Cooperation been in strengthening the environmental laws and regulations of the NAFTA countries? The agreement was designed to address concerns that trade and investment liberalisation would contribute to a race to the bottom in environmental standards, regulatory chill, and inadequate enforcement of environmental laws. It is argued here that the reformist approach adopted in this regional agreement has been insufficient to offset the continuing pressure on environmental regulations and their enforcement exerted by regional economic integration and neoliberal globalisation.

Panacea, common sense, or just a label?: The value of ISO 14001 environmental management systems

Evaluation of Seawater Quality of Kuwait Bay Using Physio- Chemical Parameters

Recently, significant pollution incidents occurred frequently in China, analysis the five main reasons: the corporate considered its own benefits rather than social image in decision-making; Numerous of sewage treatment plant didn't function properly; the low Illegal costs resulted in ambiguous law enforcement; the relevant departments half-hearted gave a half push on the polluters who was the big taxpayer; mistakes of only GDP cadre appraisal system and other policies. Further analysis of the process in a significant pollution incidents, why the law enforcement was not enough: firstly, the series of environmental laws and regulations lagged, so the law did not have the responsibility; secondly, environmental protection department lacked of the necessary administrative enforcement right; thirdly, the environmental management system was not perfect; fourthly, there was barriers in contingent of environmental law enforcement; fifthly, there was backing of local protectionism; sixthly, environmental law enforcement encountered the helpless two high and one low”. Lastly, the relationship between environment and development was been reflected from the environmental law enforcement in significant pollution incidents.

The impact of regulatory complexity upon self-regulation: Evidence from the adoption and certification of environmental management systems

Distinguished Author Series articles are general, descriptive representations that summarize the state of the art in an area of technology by describing recent developments for readers who are not specialists in the topics discussed. Written by individuals recognized as experts in the area, these articles provide key references to more definitive work and present specific details only to illustrate the technology. Purpose: to inform the general readership of recent advances in various areas of petroleum engineering. Summary In 20 years, a complex body of environmental laws, regulations, and decisions has been established in the U.S. Basic knowledge of environmental laws, regulations, and management techniques is now necessary for design, construction, and operation of oilfield facilities. Environmental permits are on the critical path and could significantly affect project viability or the cost path and could significantly affect project viability or the cost of doing business. In California and many other states, resource development projects face complex and voluminous environmental regulations. Because of these permitting obstacles and the competition for the available permits, early environmental planning is necessary if a project is to be successful and if costs and future liabilities are to be minimized. This paper reviews eight federal environmental laws, significant events that affect our daily business, and the reasons why environmental management must be integrated in our" business as usual" work decisions to minimize future (hidden) liabilities. Introduction Line managers and operating personnel are responsible for environmental protection in a company's operations. To carry out this responsibility effectively, these personnel must have a good working knowledge of all environmental laws, regulations, and policies that apply to their activities. Eight federal laws may policies that apply to their activities. Eight federal laws may affect our daily oilfield operations in the U.S. Most of these laws provide civil and criminal penalties for noncompliance. If you ignore the law, you risk personal fines and possibly a prison term. Therefore, what you don't know will most possibly a prison term. Therefore, what you don't know will most likely end up hurting you and your company. This paper discusses several examples of the possible monetary consequences when a cleanup remedy is imposed by outside parties. Any waste generation or discharge of contaminants into the environment has the potential for future liability. Environmental management programs reduce the potential for undesirable surprises and minimize this hidden liability. These environmental programs consist of assessments, waste minimization, recordkeeping, documentation, and up-to-date training. These programs are briefly reviewed. The assessment program will help ensure that personnel at each operating facility know and are meeting their obligations and responsibilities under the law. If you are responsible for environmental protection, it is in everyone'sinterest for you to do a good job. Important Environmental Statutes Most corporations' environmental policies charge line managers with the responsibility for environmental performance of their activities. The policies also state that every employee is expected to carry out the spirit and the letter of these policies. Knowledge of environmental laws and regulations is necessary for line managers and engineers who control the operations and installations. In some cases, state requirements can be even more restrictive than federal regulations.

In the literature, evidence has been provided that establishes that compliance with environmental regulations promotes the adoption and implementation of eco-innovation activities in manufacturing firms, since through this type of activities not only are the costs associated with the discharges of pollutants, but also increases the level of sustainable performance of companies. However, little is known about the relationship between environmental regulations, eco-innovation, and sustainable performance, since there are few studies published in the literature that have focused on their analysis, so this study aims to fill this existing gap, and generate new knowledge of the relationship between these three constructs through an extensive review of the literature. Likewise, a questionnaire was distributed to a sample of 460 manufacturing firms in Mexico, analyzing the data through confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation models based on covariance. The results obtained suggest that environmental regulations have positive effects on eco-innovation, and eco-innovation has positive effects on sustainable performance of manufacturing firms in the automotive industry. In this context, the results obtained allowed us to conclude that compliance with environmental regulations established by the public administration, by manufacturing firms in the automotive industry, improve both eco-innovation activities and sustainable performance of organizations.

The aim was to determine the concentrations of heavy metals, in soil and groundwater at automobile mechanic villages located in Ibadan, Nigeria, compare the results with guidelines from various countries, draw conclusions and make recommendations. Soil and groundwater samples from 7 automobile mechanic villages and a control site in Ibadan, Nigeria were analysed for selected heavy metals namely: Cd, Cu, Pb, Cr and Ni. Soil samples were obtained in triplicates and at depths of 0 to 15, 15 to 30, 30 to 45 and 45 to 60 cm. Water samples were obtained from dug wells at the sites. Overall, values of Cd, Cu, Pb, Ni and Cr in the workshop soil samples ranged from 0.41 to 17.23; 1.48 to 476.0; 18.25 to 15100; 2.0 to 25.0 and 2.0 to 29.75 mg.kg-1 respectively. Evidence of contamination of these soils was obvious when these values were compared to those of the control. Ni was below detection limit in all control samples while Pb and Cd were less than 0.05 and 0.002 mg.kg-1 respectively. Cu ranged from 4.30 to 10.05 mg.kg-1 while Cr ranged from 6.25 to 19.75 mg.kg-1. Compared to established limits set for soils in some countries, the values measured in this study were higher than these limits in several cases. Compared to the limits set by WHO for drinking water, values measured in the groundwater samples were lower than those limits for the heavy metals with the exception of Cu where all the values were higher than the limits. The recommendations of the study include execution of some form of phyto-remediation measures at the villages; strict compliance to regulatory limits in sludge to be released from these villages into the environment and the enforcement of other environmental protection regulations to arrest the ongoing buildup of these metals on those locations. Findings from this study will be of immense help to researchers and environmental regulators working in this area of interest in developing countries. Key words: Soil, groundwater, lead, cadmium, copper, chromium, nickel.

A cross-functional team of environmental regulatory experts, plant managers, and plant engineers have been working since 1991 on the development, implementation and maintenance of the Environmental Compliance Management System. The Environmental Compliance Management System is a practical and accurate method of determining the applicability of the state and federal environmental regulations and of establishing standard and straightforward procedures to meet these requirements. The Environmental Compliance Management System allows individual manufacturing facilities to avoid the additional manpower that would be required to read, digest and decide on the applicability and plan of action to meet the requirements of all the environmental regulations.

Strategic interaction in environmental regulation and sulfur dioxide emissions: Evidence from China

Many studies have tested the pollution haven effect (PHE) which predicts that the tightening of local environmental regulations would shift foreign direct investment (FDI) to less regulated jurisdictions. However, most of them ignored the heterogeneity of FDI. This paper studies the PHE on local-market-oriented and export-oriented FDI and tests whether the two types have different responsiveness to environmental regulations in a host country. A simple model is developed to describe how different types of multinational companies respond in distinct ways to stricter environmental policies in host countries. Using US outward FDI data for 50 host countries and a survey measure of both the stringency and the enforcement of local environmental regulations, I find a significant deterrent effect of local environmental regulations on inward FDI. Furthermore, FDI in a host country is not only affected by local environmental regulations but also by environmental regulations in proximate countries. More importantly, accounting for the relative stringency of environmental regulations between a host country and the United States is critical for identifying a PHE. I find a significantly stronger effect of environmental policies on both types of FDI in host countries with environmental regulations that are stricter than those in the United States. In these countries, export-oriented FDI also exhibits a greater sensitivity to local environmental regulations than local market-oriented FDI.

Enterprises are confronted more and more with environmental issues of increasing complexity, environmental regulation and public pressure which they have to manage in a new way. An environmental management system is an appropriate instrument which may be certified and accepted internationally and offers answers to the new challenges in a cost efficient manner. Environmental management systems are assigned to the “third” way of environmental policy instruments. The main feature is the voluntary participation of enterprises to such measures. There are many advantages in participating in an international systematic certified system like EMAS in Europe. Participation is voluntary, but the organisation must meet minimum standards to be EMAS registered. Due to the fact that environmental management systems can make an important contribution to a sustainable economic development as well as to reach the Kyoto targets, the European Union should enforce the promotion of EMAS registration especially concerning small and medium-sized enterprises.

Background: One of the main efforts in promoting sustainability is the implementation of ISO 14001, an international standard for Environmental Management Systems (EMS). In addition to helping companies comply with environmental regulations and reduce the risk of legal sanctions, ISO 14001 also contributes to improving operational efficiency, reducing costs, and achieving business sustainability. Effective implementation not only supports environmental preservation but also creates healthier and more productive working conditions. Purpose: To analyze the implementation of the ISO 14001 environmental management system in a concrete production plant. Method: Descriptive observational research with a qualitative approach using a cross-sectional design. This research was conducted at a concrete production company in Demak City, namely PT Varia Usaha Beton Plant Sayung, which has been operating since 1991 and employs 59 workers. The researcher determined the main informant as the subject of this research, namely the manager who is directly responsible for the implementation of ISO 14001 and workers from the quality control section, while for the triangulation informant the researcher chose the Factory Head. ISO 14001 contains 10 clauses, but the researcher only used six clauses with a checklist to assess the implementation of ISO 14001, including organizational context, leadership, planning, support, operations, performance evaluation, and continuous improvement. Results: The implementation of ISO 14001 is in accordance with the standard of 87.2%. Around 71.1% of respondents have a smoking habit which is a major concern in the context of occupational health. This habit can increase the prevalence of health problems such as shortness of breath and flu/prolonged cough observed in some respondents. As many as 20.3% of respondents experienced shortness of breath while working, and 76.2% experienced flu or cough for more than a week. These figures are quite high and may indicate exposure to dust, air pollution, or poor ventilation in the workplace. Most respondents had no history of illness (83.1%), but the high prevalence of respiratory symptoms indicates the need for an environmental evaluation in the workplace. The results of dust measurements also showed that there were areas where the threshold value was exceeded. Conclusion: Although the company has taken positive steps in implementing an environmental management system, controlling dust and enhancing protection for workers remains a critical focus to prevent occupational diseases that are still occurring. Suggestion: To improve the effectiveness of the Environmental Management System (EMS), organizations need to strengthen operational control and communication with external suppliers to ensure that all processes and business partners meet the established environmental standards. In addition, emergency preparedness should be improved through regular evaluation of emergency response procedures, so that responses to critical situations can be faster and more effective.