Cal/EPA Environmental Management System Project Report to the Legislature: Seventh Quarterly Update October through May 2001

Introduction

This report provides the Legislature an interim summary, and seventh quarterly update, on the Cal/EPA Environmental Management System (EMS) Project authorized by Assembly Bill 1102 (Stats. 1999, Ch. 65), codified in Public Resources Code, Section 71045 et seq. The findings, conclusions, and recommendation presented herein are based on analysis of data provided to date by participating pilot organizations, and on extensive dialogue with stakeholders in advisory group sessions, workshops, and informal meetings. A quarterly update will be provided to the Legislature for October 1, 2001 with the final report due January 1, 2002. Additional update data will be collected, analyzed, and vetted through the stakeholder working groups to support the final report analyses, conclusions, and recommendations. While the project is not complete, there is sufficient information to support the interim conclusions and recommendations described.

Environmental Management System Definition

An environmental management system is a management process designed to help an organization achieve and demonstrate improved environmental performance. It is a process by which an organization's management identifies regulated and unregulated environmental aspects and impacts of its operations, assesses current performance, including compliance, and develops targets and plans to achieve both significant and incremental environmental improvements. Environmental aspects are human or industrial activities, products, or services that can interact with the environment. Environmental aspects are evaluated as to whether they can cause significant environmental impacts or changes.

An EMS integrates environmental management into the organization's overall management system by identifying the policies, environmental targets, measurements, authority structures and resources necessary to produce both regulatory compliance as well as environmental performance "beyond compliance." A continual improvement cycle is established through this process, as shown in the figure on the next page. 

There are several models for EMSs; however, ISO 14001 is a voluntary, global standard for environmental management systems governed by the International Organization for Standardization, a non-governmental international organization based in Geneva, Switzerland. In the United States, organizations can elect to be certified (registered) to the ISO 14001 Standard by an independent auditor registered by the American National Standards Institute Registration Accreditation Board (ANSI RAB).

Context
During the next 40 years, California's population is expected to grow by 25 million, in addition to the current 34 million people. This burgeoning population will increase pressures on our ecosystems and on the built environment, threatening the quality of life for all Californians. We already experience these pressures as we approach local limits in the ability of our environment to support the standard of living we enjoy. Acute pressures include energy and water availability, air and water contamination, endangered species, loss of habitat, declining biodiversity, loss of farm land and open space, solid and hazardous waste generation, transportation, housing availability, and many others. State and federal environmental laws and regulations currently regulate some of these pressures. Others are addressed through local laws, such as zoning. Still others are outside the regulatory arena.

Tremendous progress in environmental protection has been made through our media-specific laws and regulations. However, our ability to build on this success and move toward a sustainable society of 60 million people is limited because of the complex multi-media problems we face and the difficulty in designing appropriate responses solely within the current regulatory framework.

During the last 30 years, the first generation of environmental laws and regulations emphasized protection of human health and has led to dramatic improvements in air and water quality and in waste management. We are now seeing the emergence of a second-generation environmental management strategy that builds upon the first; one that uses a variety of tools to systematically address both regulated and unregulated environmental and resource issues; one with a strong foundation in current law and regulation and a floor of compliance; one that is built on long term improvement targets and cooperative agreements to achieve beyond compliance environmental results by those organizations willing and able to do so--ultimately leading to environmental sustainability.

Recognizing the need for an evolving environmental management strategy, representatives of several states met in 1996 to discuss common interests in EMS. It became clear that many states, with both Democratic and Republican administrations, were keenly interested in EMS developments. These states decided to conduct pilot programs to understand the relevancy and value to regulatory programs. From these initial discussions, the Multi-State Working Group on Environmental Management Systems (MSWG) developed. The MSWG, chaired by California, now lists all 50 states, four federal agencies, and a substantial number of businesses, public interest groups, and academic institutions as participating or observing members. An open process, involving quarterly meetings and annual workshops, has been established which has strong involvement of public interest groups. More than sixty organizations are participating as pilot projects in the United States. A national database has been established to support ongoing research on the performance of EMSs.

Description of the authority and project objectives established by the California State Legislature is provided below.

Legislative Authority and Project Objectives
Public Resources Code, Section 71045 et seq. (Assembly Bill 1102) required the Secretary to

• consult with the Boards, Offices, and Departments within Cal/EPA, other interested state, regional, and local agencies, and any other interested party in proposing pilot projects,

• hold at least one public hearing for the purposes of obtaining public comment on the proposed pilot projects,

• establish no more than 8 pilot projects, and 

• submit quarterly reports to the Governor and the Legislature on the status of the pilot projects.

The bill (see Appendices for complete text) authorized the Secretary to

• develop evaluation and monitoring parameters for the evaluation of pilot projects and to

• develop a model memorandum of understanding to be entered into by the Secretary and any regulated entity that agrees to participate in a pilot project

Seven pilot projects were established for the purpose of evaluating both of the following:

1. Whether and how the use of an EMS by a regulated entity that participates in a pilot project increases public health and environmental protection over those protections provided through the issuance, enforcement, and monitoring of any permit, requirement, authorization, standard, certification, or other approval issued by a federal, state, regional, or local agency for the protection of public health or the environment.
2. Whether and how the use of an EMS by a regulated entity that participates in a pilot project provides the public with greater information on the nature and extent of the public health or environmental effects of activities or processes engaged in by the regulated entity than that information provided through the issuance, enforcement, and monitoring of any permit, requirement, authorization, standard, certification, or other approval issued to the regulated entity by a federal, state, regional, or local agency for the protection of public health or the environment, or any other law or regulation governing the disclosure of public information.

The Cal/EPA EMS Project is designed to inform public policy makers and engage stakeholders in determining whether and how the use of an EMS:

1. increases public health and environmental protection and
2. provides better public information than existing regulatory requirements.

Cal/EPA requested public comment on the proposed seven pilots during May 1, 2000 through June 1, 2000. Two public hearings were held; one on May 22, 2000 in Southern California, and one on May 24 2000 in Northern California, and conducted in accordance with Division 34, Section 71045 et seq., of the California Public Resources Code as a forum for public comment. Receiving one procedural comment, Cal/EPA announced selection of the pilot projects as proposed and adopted the pilot selection criteria, model pilot project work plan, and evaluation and monitoring parameters.

Partnerships between community members, environmental organizations, businesses, government agencies and academia are a major element of the EMS Project, implemented through the creation of two regional stakeholder working groups, participation in the Multi-State Working Group on EMSs, and a web site.

Evaluation and monitoring parameters consist of the National EMS Protocols and the California Supplemental Protocols. They are available on the Cal/EPA EMS website at http://www.calepa.ca.gov/EMS.

While the Secretary was authorized to develop a model memorandum of understanding to be entered into by the Secretary and any regulated entity that agrees to participate in a pilot project, it was found by the Working Group participants and the Cal/EPA EMS team to be unnecessary for the purposes of this evaluation. Instead, work plans were selected as the preferable document. The Final Model Pilot Project Work Plan, vetted through the Working Groups and the public hearing process, served as a template for the development of specific work plans that describe how each pilot project is being conducted and completed. The specific work plans include descriptions of roles and responsibilities, schedules, research objectives, stakeholder involvement, data management procedures, and data assessment and analysis techniques. Prior to finalization, the specific Pilot Project Work Plans received input from the Northern and Southern California Working Groups. The Pilot Project Work Plans are not considered contracts or legal agreements and do not bind the pilots or Cal/EPA to any particular action.

Cal/EPA has reported quarterly on progress to the Legislature, and will provide a final analysis by January 1, 2002.

Cal/EPA is working with the following pilot participants:

1. Anheuser-Busch in Fairfield

2. Wastewater treatment facilities (Central Marin Sanitation Agency in San Rafael and San Diego Metropolitan Wastewater Department, Operations and Maintenance Division),

3. IBM Corporation in San Jose,

4. Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Company (formerly the Skunk Works) in Palmdale,

5. Artistic Plating in Anaheim,

6. Pentel of America, Ltd. in Torrance, and

7. Vineyards and wineries (Davis Bynum Winery and Benziger Family Winery in Sonoma County).

Role of Cal/EPA
A multi-disciplinary Cal/EPA team, administered through the Office of the Secretary, manages the EMS Initiative. Team members from the Air Resources Board, Department of Toxic Substances Control, Integrated Waste Management Board, and State Water Resources Control Board serve as project managers for the pilots.

Funded by a grant from U.S. EPA, Cal/EPA organized four workshops for EMS Working Group participants to increase understanding about EMSs and engage in dialogue about the Pilot Projects' EMSs. Workshop topics and hands-on exercises included design and implementation of an EMS, auditing, public policy issues, and sustainability.

A new phase of the California EMS Project is well underway. Regional Working Group meetings are being organized to facilitate a dialogue between pilot project participants and stakeholders regarding facility EMS design and implementation. Pilot facilities are sharing information on EMS implementation, providing a facility tour, answering questions, and receiving feedback.

Pilot projects have received various types of assistance from Cal/EPA, depending on their need and their stage of EMS implementation. Cal/EPA is facilitating development of the winery project EMSs. EMS audit training has been provided to Central Marin Sanitation Agency (CMSA). Cal/EPA team members have participated in local advisory groups at CMSA, San Diego Metropolitan Wastewater Department, Operation and Maintenance Division, and the vineyards and wineries project, providing input to the establishment of aspects and impacts, the determination of significance and the setting of objectives and targets. Cal/EPA team members have participated in various internal and external audits of the pilot projects' environmental management systems.

Cal/EPA EMS team members have collected baseline and update data from the pilot projects on a periodic basis. One more round of data will be collected this summer before the project is completed. See Data Collection Protocols below for more information.

Data Collection Protocols
Baseline and update data on EMS design and performance have been collected. Evaluation and Monitoring Parameters have been adopted by Cal/EPA and are comprised of the national EMS data protocols and a California supplement. In coordination with other states that are members of the Multi-State Working Group on EMS, detailed national data protocols have been developed to collect standardized information on EMS design and performance. The national data protocols are available for review through a web site link at http://www.mswg.org. In order to answer the questions provided in PRC § 71045 et. seq., Cal/EPA is supplementing the national data protocols with additional questions, available at http://www.calepa.ca.gov/EMS. Using these combined protocols, also referred to as the Evaluation and Monitoring Parameters, pilot projects have submitted information in the following categories:

• environmental performance,

• regulatory compliance,

• use of pollution prevention techniques,

• continual improvement,

• employee involvement,

• involvement of interested parties,

• quality and quantity of information available to the public,

• EMS design, and

• EMS costs and benefits.

Stakeholder Involvement
Northern and Southern California Working Groups involving community groups, public interest organizations, businesses, academia, and local, state and federal regulatory agencies have been established to facilitate dialogue about Cal/EPA EMS Project design and implementation as well as regional concerns. More than 60 active participants in the regional working groups are developing a common understanding and knowledge of EMSs through training organized by Cal/EPA and funded by a grant from the U.S. EPA Office of Water. Facility tours and presentations are being provided by pilot organizations. The working groups meet several times a year to advise pilot organizations on the development and continual improvement of their EMSs, evaluate the performance of EMSs, and explore related public policy issues.

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