Environmental

Aspects and
Impacts
Assessments
Wendy Laing

Clean Land, Water and Air

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 We All Must Do Our PartTo
Preserve These Resources For
Future Generations

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Identification of Environmental
Aspects and Impacts
Initial step in formulating a planto fulfill the
organization’s environmental policy.
Organization’s policy, objectives and targets
should be based on knowledge of environmental
aspects and significant environmental impacts.
*Determinesthe past, current, and potential
impact (positive or negative) of an
organization’s activities on the environment.

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 Identification of Environmental
Aspects

Identify the environmentalaspects of

activities, products or services that the
company cancontrol and that have
significant environmentalimpact.

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Definition: Environmental Aspect

Element of an organization’s activities,

products or services which can
interact with the environment.

Examples: Spills, Chemical release, air

emission, water usage
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Definition: Environmental Impact

Any change to the environment, whether

positive or negative, wholly or
partially resulting from an
organization’s activities, products or
services.

Examples: Stormwater contamination,

air pollution, recycling

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Identification of Environmental
Aspects
. Step One

+ Select an activity, product or service

The selected activity should be
large enough for meaningful
examination and small enoughto
be understood.

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 Identification of Environmental
Aspects
Step Two

+ Identify as many environmentalaspects

as possible associated withthe selected
activity, product or service.

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Consider in your Analysis

Raw material Finished

product
Exhaust
Ill
Electricity
Waste Water Ill

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 Identification of Environmental
Aspects
Step Three

+ Identify environmental impacts

Identify as many actual andpotential,
positive and negative, environmental
impacts as possible with each
identified aspect.

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Example Aspect & Impact Matrix

materials groundwater
kquipment Spills Groundwater
maintenance CFC release Air quality
Construction Topsoil Soil quality
conservation Surface water

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Environmental Aspects
*Accidental Spillage AS
*AirEmissions AE
*SolidWaste sw
*Energy Consumption EC
*EnvironmentalNoise EN
*Ground Water GW
*Hazardous Waste HW
*OdorEmissions OE
*Process Waste Water Discharge PWW
*Dischargeto Spent Biomass SBM
*OtherProcess Waste OPW
*Water Consumption wc
*Raw Material Consumption RMC
*Stormwater Discharge SD
*Other Environmental Aspect OEA
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Environmental Impacts
*AirQuality - Particulates AQ-P
*Air Quality - Toxic Vapor AQ-TV
*Air Quality - Ozone Depletion AQ-OZ
*Air Quality - Greenhouse Gases AQ-GG
*Excess Noise XN
*Ground Water Quality GWQ
*Soil Quality SQ
*Surface Water Quality SWQ
*Depletion of Landfill Space DLS
*Depletion of Nonrenewable Resources DNR
*Depletion of Renewable Resources DRR
*OtherEnvironmental Impact OEI

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Ratings
Environmental impact during normal or

+
abnormal operation.
Possible control improvements, or there
is a potentialsignificant impact

+ Current controls are acceptable, or

there is nopotential significant
impact

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 Identification of Environmental
Aspects
Step Four

+ Evaluate significance of environmental

impacts
The significance of each of the
identified impacts can bedifferent for
each organization, considering
environmental & business concerns.

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Impact Summary (by Department)

Aspects and Impacts Analysis Grouped by Environmental Impact

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Impact Summary (by Impact)

Aspect and Impact Identification

Other Considerations
-
- Who is involved in the process more levels
of organization means morecomprehensive
analysis!
- All new projects, equipment, or process
changes which require an investment
application, equipment change, or
engineering work request
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 To Summarize

Involve as many levels of organization as

possible
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Identification of aspects & impacts is
certainly a very time-consuming process!
The data generated from the process is
very valuable.

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