790 Environmental Management Systems (EMS)

Developing Environmental Management Programs (EMP)

The end-product of the Environmental Management System (EMS) planning phase is the development of Environmental Management Programs (EMPs). Each EMP contains formal detailed environmental policies, processes, procedures and practices explaining how the objectives and targets will be accomplished in a particular environmental area.

Here's a list of sample Environmental Management Programs within the EMS you might include at your facility:

• Air Emissions
• Energy Use
• Material Use - Paper Use
• Waste - Purchasing Green Products
• Waste - Zero Waste
• Waste - Green Meetings
• Water Use

Think of the EMP as a formal structured written document that describes an action plan to implement and achieve environmental objectives and targets. The EMP usually includes information on:

• Responsible personnel,
• means and methods
• milestones and dates, and
• measurements of success.

In other words, the EMP specifies who will do what, how they will do it, and by when they will do it.

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