ISO 14000: WHAT WILL BE
REQUIRED BY THE INTERNATIONAL
ENVIRONMENTAL STANDARD?
By:
Paulette S. Wolfson
Houston
ISO 14000 is an international standard designed to provide a benchmark for environmental management systems. The International Organization for Standardization ("Organization") in Geneva, Switzerland, similar to the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) in the United States, was originally established in 1947 to establish uniform product standards. However, with the interest of corporate management in the concepts associated with total quality management, the Organization developed ISO 9000, which has been widely adopted in the European Union and the United States as a framework for evaluating quality programs. The Organization is now close to completing a similar standard, ISO 14000, to address environmental practices. Many European companies require that their suppliers, whether in the U.S., Europe or elsewhere, meet ISO 9000 standards and have obtained certification of their quality programs; the same will be true for ISO 14000 regarding environmental management systems.
ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY
The current draft of the ISO 14000 would require companies to develop an environmental policy which sets environmental goals. Another element of the policy is to establish a program which achieves the goals set out in the policy. The program should include plans for achieving the elements of the program in specific, day-to-day company operations. The program should also address emergency situations so that loss of product and environmental impact as well as impact on human health can be minimized. Similar to ISO 9000, ISO 14000 establishes a general process for setting goals, measuring achievement of those goals (generally through audits) and for "continually improving" performance by repeating the program and setting increasingly ambitious goals. Companies in the United States that are members of the Chemical Manufacturers' Association (CMA) will recognize that many of the elements of ISO 14000 are similar to CMA's Responsible CareŽ program and that both are based on the total quality management principles of measurement through benchmarking and continuous improvement. Compliance with the requirements of national environmental laws is the minimum performance standard; companies are encouraged to exceed these requirements.
ISO 14000 CERTIFICATION
For ISO certification, a company's management system must address not only compliance with environmental laws but also other voluntary commitments that the company has made such as CMA's Responsible CareŽ, U.S. EPA's 33/50 program for reduction of emissions of toxic substances, or the ICC Business Charter for Sustainable Development, all of which become performance standards under ISO 14000. To obtain certification, resources will also have to be devoted to assembling a registration package, including an environmental management audit for submission to the Organization. Although ISO 14000 will be a voluntary standard, companies that do business in the European Union will be required to obtain certification because the European Union may adopt the ISO 14000 under its Environmental Management Directive.
RELATIONSHIP TO CURRENT
ENVIRONMENTAL PROGRAMS
Many companies already audit their environmental programs to comply with environmental laws and improve environmental practices. In the United States, the CMA has attempted to standardize an environmental quality approach through its Responsible CareŽ program. However, for many companies that do not have environmental policies, detailed environmental management programs and large environmental staffs, preparation of the documentation required by ISO 14000 will be a burdensome task. In addition, there is the current controversy over whether environmental audits should be protected as confidential information to encourage companies to conduct audits rather than ignore potential environmental problems. If audits are not privileged, documenting violations of environmental requirements exposes the company to possible enforcement actions and penalties by state and federal authorities and citizens' groups. Although at present fourteen states have passed some form of legislation to protect such audits, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has not adopted such a policy and has been critical of the states that have adopted such an approach. As a result documentation required for certification under ISO 14000 may pose a risk which should be carefully considered by companies beginning to assemble a registration package.
