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EMAS - THE EU MANAGEMENT AND AUDIT SYSTEM
Starting with 27.05.2008, SRAC has been accredited as EMAS environmental verifier, with a working group of 7 persons, SRAC having the ability to validate environmental declarations for those scopes it has been accredited for.
Any organization, regardless the type of performed activity, can require EMAS registration.
The necessary documents for the EMAS registration of an organization are those mentioned in OM 1018 / 2006 regarding the registration procedure.
The steps an organization should follow in order to obtain the EMAS registration are:
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EMAS Registration Application (a description of the organization, together with its activities, products and services, description of the sites for which EMAS registration is required, information about the chosen environmental verifier); |
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Documents that support the EMAS registration application (the validated environmental statement , the form filled in, in compliance with Annex VIII of EMAS Regulation); |
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EMAS Office (NEPA) preliminary analysis of the documents, announces the Consultative Committee of EMAS and the Accreditation Commission regarding the application, the publication of the information regarding the application on web of NEPA, requiring from NEPA details about the way the applicant respected the environmental regulations in the past 2 years; |
| d) |
Consultative Committee of EMAS (MESD) detailed analysis of the documents necessary for EMAS registration and decides by vote the awarding of EMAS registration. |
EMAS is the EU environmental management and audit system, that allows voluntary participation of the organizations from all activity areas in the purpose of continuous improvement of the environmental performance.
The participation in EMAS is possible by EMAS registration of the organizations.
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Voluntary European regulation that addresses to the EU members and countries from the European Economical Area; |
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Respect of the environmental protection legislation; |
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The audit takes place at maximum 3 years; |
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Continuous improvement of the environmental performance; |
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Promotes the utilization of the best available technologies BAT; |
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Informing the public about the environmental performance; |
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It is applicable in all activity areas. |
At the national level, the procedure of organization and coordination of the EU environmental management and audit scheme is regulated by Order no. 50/2004 of Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, with ulterior modifications and additions.
| Who could register under EMAS? |
The EMAS concept was initiated in 1993 by the Regulation 1836/93 devised by the European Parliament and Council, its scope being restricted to organizations operating industrial activities.
In 2001 the new Regulation EMAS II was adopted and it allows the extension of the scope of EMAS to all sectors of economic activity.
The extension of the scope of EMAS to all sectors of activity allows the volunteer participation of all organizations (company, corporation, firm, enterprise, authority or institution, or part or combination thereof, whether incorporated or not, public or private, that has its own functions and administrations), that wish to improve their environmental performance.
The smallest entity of an organization that can be taken into consideration for registration under EMAS is considered to be a site. Under exceptional circumstances the entity to be considered for registration under EMAS may be smaller than a site.
EMAS promotes continuous improvement of environmental performance of organizations through:
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compliance with the environmental legislation; |
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the integration of ISO 14001 requirements as basis for the environmental management system implementation; |
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assessment of the environmental performance through the verification of the environment management system and the validation of the information included in the environmental statement; |
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provision of information regarding the environmental statement to the public. |
| Comparative analysis between EMAS and ISO 14001 |
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EMAS |
ISO 14001 |
| Regulation applicable in EU |
World wide applicable standard |
| AIM: Continuous improvement of environmental performance of the organizations |
AIM: Improvement of the environmental management system.
The initial environment analysis is optional. |
| Imposes the publication of an environmental statement to inform the public and the interested parties about the impact in the environment and about the environment performance. |
Imposes public access only for the environmental policy; the organizations decide on the content of the information that can be made public. |
| Imposes verification and validation of the information included in the environmental statement by an environmental verifier accredited for the activity scope of the organization. |
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Imposes the mandatory compliance with the environmental regulations and clear results regarding the environmental performance. |
Imposes a commitment to comply with applicable legal requirement.
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The 3 requirements for EMAS implementation:
1. ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT SYSTEM
- EMAS assumes the ISO 14001 requirements regarding the environmental management system.
2. ENVIRONMENTAL STATEMENT
- contains information regarding the environmental performance of the organization. This shall be made public.
3. VERIFICATION/VALIDATION OF THE ENVIRONMENTAL STATEMENT
- the verification is made by an environmental verifier accredited either by the national accreditation body or by the accreditation bodies of other Member States.
Steps for EMAS implementation (click here)
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| The advantages of EMAS implementation | eataes of EMAS implementation
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compliance with environmental legislation; |
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durable development through a better use of raw materials and energy, minimising water consumption, minimising the amount of waste; |
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better relations with consumers, partners, stakeholder and local community; |
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competitive advantage on the European and international market; |
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improved trust of the interested parties; |
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improved working conditions for the employees; |
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reduction of costs as effect of the environmental performance improvement, the improvement of the existing processes, introduction of new, efficient processes; |
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internal and external efficiency of the organization; |
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better internal communication; |
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better communication with authorities; |
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advantage for obtaining future public contracts. |
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