The European Eco-management and Audit Scheme

The European Commission, as part of its policy to encourage industry to adopt more sustainable practices, created the EMAS system in 1993. EMAS was also seen as a move towards stated the EU goal of encouraging industry to adopt more self-regulatory practices and a move away from command and control type central legislation. 

At most levels EMAS is very similar to ISO 14001 and, as implied 

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Environmental management systems (EMS), and also ISO 14001, are becoming household names in many organizations. But what about EMAS Almost unknown in the United States, EMAS is the acronym for the European Eco-Management and Audit Scheme, a voluntary system based on European Union (EU) regulations and... 

The ISO 14001 Standard remains the most widely used standard for environmental risk management. The standard is closely aligned to the European Eco-Management and Audit Scheme (EMAS). As a common auditing standard, ISO 19011 Standard explains how to combine this with quality management. Other environmental management systems (EMSs) tend to be based on the ISO 14001 standard. 

Within the European Union, many organisations have decided on a voluntary basis to implement environmental management systems based on EN ISO 14001 1996 or the EU Eco-management and audit scheme EMAS. EMAS includes the management system requirements of EN ISO 14001, but places additional emphasis on legal compliance, environmental performance and employee involvement it also requires external verification of the management system and validation of a public environmental statement (in EN ISO 14001 self-declaration is an alternative to external verification). There are also many organisations that have decided to put in place non-standardised EMSs. 

European Council, 1993. The EC Eco-management and Audit Scheme. EC Regulation 1836/93, Brussels. 

Regulation (EC) No 761/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 19 March 2001 allowing voluntary participation by organisations in a Community eco-management and audit scheme (EMAS), Official Journal of the European Union, EC, 2001, No.L.114. 

The Eco-Management and Audit Scheme (EMAS) was launched in April 1995 by the European Commission under Regulation 1836/93, and is only available to European sites. It encourages industrial companies to manage their environmental effects and to publicly report on their environmental performance. 

The features described under (a) to (e) above are elements of EN ISO 14001 1996 and the European Community Eco-Management and Audit Scheme (EMAS), whereas the features (f) and (g) are specific to EMAS. These two standardised systems are applied in a number of IPPC installations. As an example, 357 organisations within the EU chemical and chemical products industry (NACE code 24) were EMAS registered in July 2002, most of which operate IPPC installations. 

Increasingly, European countries follow the target set by EU directives and adapt their time scales accordingly rather than go-it-alone with national policies. The EU also introduced the Eco-management and Audit Scheme (EMAS) to encourage companies to improve their environmental performances. 

In addition to ISO 14001, other well known environmental management systems include Responsible Care , adopted by the American Chemistry Council (formerly known as the Chemical Manufacturers Association) in 1988, Eco-Management Auditing Scheme (EMAS), adopted by the Council of the European Community in 1993, and Environmental Standard BS 7750, adopted by the United Kingdom in 1994. 

A voluntary scheme, which is administered according to European Council Regulation EEC/1836/93. An eco-audit every three years determines the effectiveness of the environmental management system in place, verifying that environmental policies and objectives are being put into practice. 

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