Resources: Cal/EPA Agency-Wide Environmental Management System

Agenda 21
Agenda 21 is a comprehensive plan of action to be taken globally, nationally and locally by organizations of the United Nations System, Governments, and Major Groups in every area in which human impacts on the environment.  Agenda 21, the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development, and the Statement of principles for the Sustainable Management of Forests were adopted by more than 178 Governments at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) held in Rio de Janerio, Brazil, 3 to 14 June 1992.

The Federal Network for Sustainability
The Network creates a flexible, virtual home for Federal agencies and their employees as they strive to implement practices of sustainability in the workplace and beyond.

General information on ISO 14000: American National Standards Institute
ANSI On-Line’s section provides general information and services related to the ISO 14000 environmental management standards.  The American National Standards Institute (ANSI) has served in its capacity as administrator and coordinator of the United States private sector voluntary standardization system for 80 years. Founded in 1918 by five engineering societies and three government agencies, the Institute remains a private, nonprofit membership organization supported by a diverse constituency of private and public sector organizations.

International Organization for Standardization (ISO)
ISO developed the ISO 14001 series of standards, guidance documents and technical reports, including the ISO 14001 Environmental Management System standard. Take the Magical Demystifying Tour of ISO 9000 and ISO 14000.

Multi-State Working Group on Environmental Management Systems
MSWG's site has information on participants and observers, task teams and research, with hyperlinks.

National Database on Environmental Management Systems: Environmental Law Institute
The National Database on Environmental Management Systems is a national effort to evaluate the effectiveness of environmental management systems. This site is sponsored by the Environmental Law Institute, the University of North Carolina and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, in partnership with the Multi-State Working Group. The site contains the data protocols, data, public reports and other information on the database project.

National Pollution Prevention Roundtable
The National Pollution Prevention Roundtable (the Roundtable) is the largest membership organization in the United States devoted solely to pollution prevention (P2). The mission of the Roundtable is to provide a national forum for promoting the development, implementation, and evaluation of efforts to avoid, eliminate, or reduce pollution at the source.  The Roundtable has a white paper on ISO 14001 and it's strengths and weaknesses at http://www.p2.org/inforesources/iso.html

The Natural Step
The Natural Step (TNS) is a non-profit environmental education organization working to build an ecologically and economically sustainable society. TNS offers a framework that is based on science and serves as a compass for businesses, communities, academia, government entities and individuals working to redesign their activities to become more sustainable. The Natural Step encourages dialogue and consensus-building, a key process of learning organizations. It is based on systems thinking, focusing on first-order principles at the beginning of cause-effect relationships. It recognizes that what happens in one part of a system affects every other part, often in unexpected ways.

NGO Working Group on ISO 140000
http://www.ecologia.org/ems/iso14000/
http://www.pacinst.org/inni/
ECOLOGIA and the Community Nutrition Institute (CNI), as well as the Pacific Institute, have been working with other environmental non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to influence the ISO process and encourage application of the standard toward better environmental protection.

North Carolina Division of Pollution Prevention and Environmental Assistance
Information on North Carolina's EMS pilot projects is available at this site.

Oregon Department of Environmental Quality Green Permits Program
The Oregon DEQ has developed a program that recognizes and rewards facilities that use innovative approaches such as environmental management systems, and achieve environmental results that are significantly better than otherwise required by law. Documents describing the program and copies of facility applications and other information are on this site.

Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection
This site includes links to ISO 14000 information on the Internet.

Principles of Pollution Prevention
A web page developed by Dr. Robert Pojasek to introduce principles of pollution, including process mapping, zero waste goals, and other methods to help facilities take a systems approach to achieve cleaner production and sustainable development goals. Distance learning tools are included.

Registrar Accreditation Board (RAB)
The Registrar Accreditation Board site contains lists of RAB-approved ISO 9000 and ISO 14001 registrars, training course providers, and individual auditors.

Resource Renewal Institute and Green Planning Initiatives
The Resource Renewal Institute (RRI) is a nonprofit organization supporting innovative environmental management in the United States and worldwide. RRI's main role is to promote the implementation of green plans--long-term, comprehensive strategies designed to achieve sustainability.  Green plans are designed to solve environmental problems through a systemic, multi-sector process that utilizes proactive management strategies and establishes measurable goals for recovery.

Scottsdale's Environmental Management System
Scottsdale, Arizona Environmental Management System site.

Sustainable community indicators
A web site of searchable sustainable community indicators.  Sustainability is the idea that the economic, environmental, and social issues in a community are linked in many ways that are often overlooked. Sustainable community indicators are ways to measure these connections and develop solutions that strengthen all three elements of the community rather than improving one part at the expense of another.

Sustainable Silicon Valley
The Sustainable Silicon Valley (SSV) Project is a multi-stakeholder collaborative initiative to produce significant environmental improvement and resource conservation in Silicon Valley through the development and implementation of a regional environmental management system (EMS).

U.S. EPA Environmental Management Systems Clearinghouse
This site contains publications and policies available from U.S. EPA.

U.S. EPA Office of Water
The Office of Water site has basic information about ISO 14001 and EMSs and their application in municipalities, small and medium sized enterprises; also answers to frequently asked questions and information on pilot project protocols and data.

U.S. EPA Office of Reinvention and Policy
The EPA is testing innovative approaches to environmental protection through a number of voluntary initiatives. The site provides links to projects such as Project XL and Performance Track.

U.S. EPA Standards Network
This Enviro$en$e site contains answers to frequently asked questions about ISO 14000.

Western Governors' Association environmental governance principles: Enlibra
The Western Governors' Association recently adopted a new principle for governance with respect to the environment. Enlibra is the name of an evolving new doctrine for environmental management, based upon principles that have proven effective in resolving environmental and natural resource debates in a more inclusive, faster and less expensive fashion. The word Enlibra was coined by the western governors to symbolize balance and stewardship. This site is designed to give background information on Enlibra, links to resources, and as a place to share success stories.

Wisconsin-Bavarian regulatory reform working partnership
A regulatory reform pact with Germany's Free State of Bavaria that fosters innovation in several business sectors, among cities, between state agencies and in the academic sector.

Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources Environmental Cooperation Pilot Program
http://www.dnr.state.wi.us/org/caer/cea/ecpp/
http://www.dnr.state.wi.us/org/caer/cea/iso/
The first innovation agreement authorized under the agreement between the U.S. EPA and Environmental Council of States is between Wisconsin and U.S. EPA.  Wisconsin regulatory innovation pilot project law uses EMSs to deliver certifiable and credible environmental performance and allows regulatory flexibility.

Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources Environmental Management System
The Network creates a flexible, virtual home for Federal agencies and their employees as they strive to implement practices of sustainability in the workplace and beyond.

Wisconsin Green Tier proposal
http://www.dnr.state.wi.us/org/caer/cea/environmental/background/history/factsheet1.htm
The two tier system proposes command and control of those that want it but allows qualified parties into a "Green Tier" where they may achieve greater environmental performance and earn regulatory flexibility through performance contracts.

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