Grantee Research Project Results
2003 Progress Report: Environmental Management Systems: Informing Organizational Decisions
EPA Grant Number: R829407Title: Environmental Management Systems: Informing Organizational Decisions
Investigators: Lave, Lester , Hendrickson, Chris
Institution: Carnegie Mellon University
EPA Project Officer: Hahn, Intaek
Project Period: November 1, 2001 through October 31, 2003
Project Period Covered by this Report: November 1, 2002 through October 31, 2003
Project Amount: $323,265
RFA: Decision-Making and Valuation for Environmental Policy (2001) RFA Text | Recipients Lists
Research Category: Environmental Justice
Objective:
The objective of this research project is to investigate environmental management systems (EMSs) to obtain a better understanding of their contributions to environmental improvement and organizational decisionmaking. The result will include an improved design for EMSs as an environmental information collection and evaluation system for organizations and regulators. We anticipate two major outcomes from this research. First, we will examine and report on the existing EMSs, the data collected through their use, and how these data are evaluated and communicated within an organization. Second, we will develop an EMS model to improve the decisionmaking capabilities of the organization. This EMS model will be designed to link environmental information with other organizational information to provide management with more comprehensive information.
Progress Summary:
Year 2 of the project included the completion of 11 site visits to 9 participating companies. The information from the site visits was synthesized and analyzed to produce an overall picture of the EMSs. Summary reports were provided to all participating firms, which included the overall results of the site visits and a benchmark comparison of each firm to the group. The responses from participating firms were positive, reflecting the lack of benchmarking information on EMSs. The information was examined to detect trends in EMSs, as a whole, as well as trends in environmental information and its uses.
Results
The completion of the case study site visits and analyses of the data have led to some interesting results. This research investigated the EMSs of nine multinational corporations. The participants appear to have implemented similar EMSs, supporting the idea that a "consensus" EMS has developed. Common components include environmental policies, goals, data collection systems, audits, and reviews. Still, the EMSs continue to focus mainly on regulatory issues, potentially hindering the significance of the voluntary programs. The research does not investigate why firms are implementing the EMSs, but focuses on EMS content. The content remains focused on core environmental issues covered by existing regulations. Preliminary analyses on the automobile assembly industry indicate that incidents of noncompliance and enforcement actions occur at facilities with a certified EMS as often as incidents occur at facilities without a certified EMS. As such, the EMSs are an unlikely tool for improving environmental performance beyond current standards.
Despite the commonalities across the EMSs, unique elements exist that assist in organizational decisionmaking. Such elements include detailed process maps to identify environmental issues, collaboration among environmental professionals, and tools to assess risk of potential future issues. These elements are not required by standard EMS frameworks, but they do aid the information exchange among personnel dealing with environmental issues. Communication was considered one of the greatest benefits of a formalized EMS according to the participants in the study. Process maps, collaborative events, and risk assessment tools were three items that aided communication of the environmental health and safety (EHS) function within EHS departments. Companies felt, however, that improvements could be seen with additional communication of the EMS results outside the EHS function of the company. This includes communication internal to the company and to outside stakeholders. Goals that are linked to strategy and reliable information systems are elements deemed necessary for decisionmakers to fully recognize the value of the EMS. The lack of these elements keeps the EHS function separated from the central decisionmaking management of the company.
The preliminary results from the analyses of case study data on the EMSs indicate a wide variety of data availability and usage among the participating companies. Some companies had sophisticated, mature database entry and retrieval systems for the EMSs. Others had a few electronic systems that were accessible to only one or two users. Regardless of the level of automation, data requests to decisionmakers outside the EHS function remain low—approximately on a quarterly basis. The function of the EMS is to provide only lagging indicators of performance, limiting the ability to implement changes to improve performance.
We sponsored a regional workshop focused on environmental management to augment this research project. The workshop was attended by managers and facility personnel of local companies who were assigned the environmental responsibility. The workshop provided a discussion forum for the pressing environmental management concerns of multinational corporations in the region.
Future Activities:
We will complete the industry-level analyses of environmental performance in relation to EMS development and disseminate the final results.
Journal Articles:
No journal articles submitted with this report: View all 5 publications for this projectSupplemental Keywords:
environmental management system, EMS, environmental health and safety, EHS, voluntary environmental initiatives, pollution prevention, public policy, decisionmaking, economics, environmental history, urban planning, regional planning, ISO 14000, ISO 14000 certified EMS, cost benefit, cost-benefit analyses, environmental policy, environmental values, measuring benefits, measuring environmental performance., RFA, Scientific Discipline, Economic, Social, & Behavioral Science Research Program, Economics & Decision Making, Urban and Regional Planning, decision-making, measuring environmental performance, pollution prevention, environmental management systems (EMS), ISO 14000 certified EMS, ISO 14000, cost/benefit analysis, environmental values, measuring benefits, environmental policyRelevant Websites:
Progress and Final Reports:
Original AbstractThe perspectives, information and conclusions conveyed in research project abstracts, progress reports, final reports, journal abstracts and journal publications convey the viewpoints of the principal investigator and may not represent the views and policies of ORD and EPA. Conclusions drawn by the principal investigators have not been reviewed by the Agency.