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Environmental
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NW Pub 1 is the first group environmental management system implementation program for public entities in the Northwest. It is a project of the Public Entity EMS Local Resource Center (LRC) team of the Zero Waste Alliance. The participants are the City of Vancouver, Oregon Department of Parks and Recreation, and Oregon Department of Administrative Services Fleet Administration. The agencies are participating in an 18-month program that began Feb. 4, 2004 with a two-day workshop in Salem. Developing
individual EMSs in a peer group setting is very effective. Being able to
talk with peers from similar organizations solving similar problems at the
same time makes EMS implementation much easier and more fun than doing it
alone, "We
are looking for an EMS to provide a framework for rational decisions to
guide our facility development and maintenance to make us not only the
best parks and recreation department in the nation, but also the most
sustainable," said Tim Wood, assistant director of operations for the
Oregon Department of Parks and Recreation. The
EMS that each NW Pub 1 participant develops will meet the requirements of
ISO 14001, the international standard for Environmental Management
Systems. "Our EMS will not only help us improve our operations, but
also better relate to the many businesses in our area that are certified
to ISO 14001," said Rich McConaghy, solid waste manager for the City
of Vancouver, Washington. Participants
receive assistance, in the form of seven 2-day training workshops, on-site
visits, conference calls, and electronic materials. Consultation is
provided over an 18-month period. ZWA works closely with each participant
throughout the life of the program and provides training, technical
assistance, site visits, and other materials designed to help each
participant develop a complete EMS, using the ISO 14001 International EMS
Standard as a baseline. The completed EMS will meet the EMS criteria for
EPA’s Performance Track Program (http://www.epa.gov/performancetrack).
Participants pay a fixed fee for
implementation. The US EPA provided partial funding for the program to lower participant cost.
This initiative is similar to and builds on the successes of three previous projects sponsored by EPA. More information on these projects can also be found at http://www.peercenter.net. A summary sheet of typical benefits that public entities have realized through their EMS (e.g. lower insurance rates, better bond ratings, cost savings through resource efficiencies...) is available. Dowload Benefits Sheet (pdf). The
formal announcement that preceded the program includes supplemental
information and a section on benefits and application guidelines. Download
announcement and application guidelines (pdf) FOR
ADDITIONAL
INFORMATION ON
THIS OR FUTURE IMPLEMENTATION PROJECTS, CONTACT:
Dorothy
Atwood,
EMS Associate, datwood@zerowaste.org
Larry
Chalfan,
Executive Director, ZWA, lchalfan@zerowaste.org
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