Environmental Management System (ISO 14000)

• An Environmental Management System (EMS) is a set of policy measures, management actions,

operating procedures, documentation and record keeping with defined responsibilities and
accountability of personnel within an organization to address its environmental issues.
• It provides a framework through which an organization can minimize the harmful effects of its
activities on the environment.
• So EMS is a programme of continuous environmental improvement following a defined sequence of
steps drawn from established project management practice and routinely applied in business
management. In simple terms, these steps can be outlined as follows:
Review the environmental consequences to the industrial operations
Establish the action plan to attain the objectives
Monitor performance against these objectives
Report the results appropriately
Review the whole system and strive for continuous improvement.

• The EMS system follows PDCA cycle i.e., Plan - DO- Check - Act

Components included PDCA Cycle

Plan: i. Environmental aspects

ii. Legal and other requirements
iii. Objectives, targets and programs
Do: i. Resources, responsibilities, and authority
ii. Competence, training, and awareness
iii. Communication
iv. Documentation
v. Control of documents
vi. Operational control
vii. Emergency preparedness and response
Check: i. Monitor and measure
ii. Evaluate compliance
iii. Nonconformity, corrective and preventive action
iv. Control of records
v. Internal audits
Act: i. Management review
ii. ISO 14001 audit

Principles of the ISO 14000 series

Attempt to give better environmental management
Products should be manufactured according to safe environmental aspects
 Applicable to all countries
EMS should be based on the broader interests of the public & users
To be cost-effective & flexible
To be scientific based, practical, useful and usable

The ISO 14000 series addresses the following aspects of environmental management:
Environmental Management Systems (EMS)
Environmental Auditing & Related Investigations (EA&RI)
Environmental Labels and Declarations (EL)
Environmental Performance Evaluation (EPE)
Life Cycle Assessment (LCA)
Terms and Definitions (T&D)

ISO 14000 series focuses on two major areas in the evaluation of environmental
management practice.
The standards for organizational evaluation include:
• Environmental Management Systems (ISO 14001, ISO 14004, ISO 14061).
• Environmental Performance Evaluation (ISO 14014, ISO 14015, ISO 14031).
• Environmental Auditing (ISO 14010, ISO 14011, ISO 14012, ISO 14013, ISO14014).

The standards for product, services and processes include:

• Life Cycle Assessment (ISO 14040, ISO 14041, ISO 14042, ISO 14043).
• Environmental Labelling (ISO 14020, ISO 14021, ISO 14022, ISO 14023, ISO 14024).
• Environmental Aspects in Product Standards (ISO 14060).

ISO 14001
ISO 14001 specifies the standard for establishment and maintenance of an environmental management system
(EMS) in an organization. It belongs to the ISO-14000 series of standards relating to environmental
management including eco-labelling and environmental audit etc. ISO 14001 (EMS-Specification with
guidance for use), is the only certifying EMS standard and ISO 14004 (EMS-General Guidelines on principles,
systems and supporting techniques) is the guidance for the implementation of ISO 14001.
Benefits of EMS
ISO 14001 is a voluntary standard but the Enterprises/industries which obtain it have many benefits as below:
1. Improved environmental performance due to compliance of standards.
2. Reduced liability for pollution control.
3. Competitive advantage being environmental friendly.
4. Improved compliance of environmental laws and regulations.
5. Reduced costs of pollution prevention.
6. Reduced accidents due to emergency preparedness plan.
7. Employee involvement due to awareness.
8. Improve public image
9. Enhanced consumer trust.
10. More favourable credit terms.

Major Elements of ISO 14001 Standards

ISO 14001 standards specify the elements of an EMS with advice on how to initiate, implement, improve and
sustain the EMS. It is a system that aims at the integration of environmental management issues with the
overall management function of an organization. Like in the case of quality management, keywords for EMS
are “Plan, Act, Check and Improve”
The five major elements of ISO 14001 are depicted i.e. Environmental Policy; Planning; Implementation
and Operation, Checking & Action and Management Review.

Environmental In the EMS-ISO System, the first step is creating an Environmental Policy. This involves
policy management commitment to compliance, pollution prevention, and continuous
improvement. ISO 14001 requires specifying the policy, identifying impacts, setting
objectives, implementing procedures, and regular reviews. The policy is crucial,
requiring top management commitment, alignment with operations, communication to
all, and compliance with relevant laws.
Planning (i) Identify and evaluate environmental interactions and significant aspects /impact
(ii) Identify legal and other requirements and develop environmental objectives,
(iii) Targets and programmes to achieve which minimize to environmental harm
Implementation Success in any management plan depends on effective implementation and operational
& operation procedures. This involves a proper structure, clear responsibilities, and consideration of
employee competence. Training needs and internal communication are key factors.
Good documentation and control of operational aspects are vital for system
effectiveness. The phage “Implementation and Operation” covers that follows the plan
exercise. (i) Define structure and responsibility (ii) Training awareness and
competence (iii) Communication (iv) Documentation (vi) Operational control (vii)
Emergency preparedness and response
Checking The system requires checks, corrections, and improvements. Procedures for monitoring,
addressing non-compliance, and maintaining identifiable records are crucial. Internal
and third-party EMS audits are conducted, covering monitoring environmental
interactions, compliance evaluation, nonconformance, corrective/preventive actions,
and periodic internal audits.
Management The final element of the EMS specification is the Management Review. Top
Review management reviews environment performance, EMS performance, policy, priorities
and objectives and recommended improvements. Based on the review, the continual
improvement of the EMS and better environmental performance is to be ensured.
The various steps needed by an Enterprise/Company to get ISO 14001 are given below in the flow
Chart
Environmental Auditing
The Confederation of British Industry (Negrei, 1999) defines an "environmental audit" as the systematic
examination of interactions between economic and environmental operations. This involves assessing the
impact of air emissions, water and soil pollution on neighbouring areas and landscapes. Additionally, it
provides insights into the public perception of the company's activities within the local community.
In nutshell, Environmental auditing is to
Investigate
Understand
Identify

Environmental audits help improve the environment by regulating or reducing harmful industrial/human
activities. The audit report documents the effects of organizations or industries on the environment.

Objectives of Environmental Audit

The key objectives of "environmental audit" worldwide are to:
- Evaluate material usage and process performance to identify excess consumption.
- Establish norms for equipment/operations performance and waste minimization.
- Assess water usage, wastewater generation, and characteristics.
- Evaluate air emissions, including sources, quantities, and characteristics.
- Analyse solid and hazardous waste generation, sources, and characteristics.
- Explore options for waste minimization, recovery, and recycling.
- Assess the performance of waste treatment/control systems for modification or addition of control
equipment.
- Evaluate the impact of industrial wastewater, air emissions, and solid waste disposal on the surrounding
environment. Identify and implement preventive measures as needed.

Methodology
A flow chart of the audit methodology is given below:
Selection of Audit Team

Study of Unit Processes in the Industry

Develop Process Flow Diagrams

Joining all unit Operations

Determine All Inputs (Water, Chemicals, Solids, Fuels etc.)

Determine All Outputs (All products, by-products, all liquid, gaseous and solid wastes)

Derive Material Balance

Identify Waste Reduction Methods

Evaluate Environmental and Economic Implications of Waste Reduction

Action
Approaches for Environmental Auditing
Environmental auditing essentiality consists of three main phases
(i). Pre-Audit Activities
(ii). On-Site Activities
(iii). Post-Audit Activities

(i) Pre-Audit Activities:

- Secure full management commitment
- Define overall goals, objectives, scope, and priorities
- Assemble a team ensuring objectivity and professional competence

For a successful environmental audit program, management commitment is crucial. Initiated by management,
the program must be resourced adequately. Plant personnel are directed to provide access and cooperate during
the audit. Management should explicitly commit to addressing audit findings and correcting irregularities.
Once the audit objective is set, gather preliminary industry information through a questionnaire covering plant
location, surrounding land uses, climate conditions, products, raw materials, manufacturing processes, water
utilization, wastewater disposal, gaseous/air emissions, waste generation, hazardous waste, organizational
setup, and environmental management policies.
This data helps identify areas of concern, aiding in the selection of an audit team with members carefully
chosen, including corporate staff, operating staff, and external experts. The team should possess knowledge
of environmental regulations, plant operations, pollution control technologies, and independence.
Upon constituting the audit team, formalize the audit objective and assign specific tasks to each member.
Ensure plant visits are collaborative, not perceived as raids by staff. Staff should feel the audit aims to address
issues constructively, not criticize them.

(ii). On-site activities:

- Well-defined protocols or checklists
- Review of documents and previous records
- Review of policies and plans
- Interviews
- Site inspection
During on-site activities, the audit team reviews plant documents, interviews operating staff, identifies waste
generation and flow, evaluates pollution control equipment performance, and inspects the plant. Once familiar
with the manufacturing process and its environmental impact, the team conducts material balance in each unit
operation to identify sources and quantities of wastewater, gaseous emissions, and solid waste generation.
Locations of potential leaks, spills, and overflows are also identified.
Parameters for pollution control are determined from the material balance. The audit team independently
collects samples, monitoring not only effluents and emissions but also groundwater, ambient air, surface
water, and agricultural land impact. The team prepares a draft report, including material balance, waste
generation locations, sample analysis, field observations, findings, and possible recommendations.

(iii). Post-audit activities:

- Evaluate findings
- Report with recommendations
- Prepare an action plan
- Follow-up
Compare the mass balance of materials in each process with stoichiometric requirements, highlighting excess
usage to management and setting norms for unit performance. Analyse data on pollution control equipment
performance, identify reasons for any failures, and provide suggestions for segregation, neutralization,
equalization, detoxification, etc., to achieve desired pollution control.
Document and compile all aspects discussed, along with recommendations, in a formal "Final Report."
Recommendations may cover best practicable environmental management, annualized capital and operating
costs for pollution control measures, and action plans with timeframes and priorities. The management, after
receiving the Final Audit Report, should develop and ensure the implementation of the recommended action
plan.

Environmental Auditing, Environment Impact Assessment and Environmental Review

Environmental auditing and environmental impact assessment (EIA) are distinct tools with some shared
terminology, such as impact, effect, and significance. Here are the key differences:

- Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA):

- Anticipatory tool conducted before starting a project.
- Aims to predict project impacts on the environment for future action toward sustainable development.

- Environmental Auditing:
- Conducted when development is already in progress.
- Used to assess current practices and evaluate current environmental effects.
- Provides a 'snapshot' of the ongoing environmental situation in an organization.

Environmental auditing encompasses various management practices to evaluate a company's environmental

performance. It involves strict checking systems and procedures against established standards or regulations.
When covering the gathering and evaluation of data with environmental relevance, it is termed an
environmental review.

Benefits of Environmental Audit

Implementing environmental auditing in a constructive way offers numerous benefits, including:
- Safeguarding the environment and natural resources used in the plant/project.
- Verifying compliance with domestic and international environmental laws.
- Addressing current or potential future problems that may arise during the course of action.
- Assessing training programs and providing data to assist in training for skill development initiatives.
- Enabling companies to build on good environmental performance, giving credit where appropriate and
highlighting deficiencies.
- Identifying potential cost savings from waste minimization and other activities.
- Facilitating the exchange and comparison of information between different plants or subsidiary companies
of the parent company.
- Demonstrating the company's commitment to environmental protection to employees, the public, and
authorities.

Environmental Audit Programme in India

India was the first country to make environmental audit a mandatory process. The concept emerged in the
early 1990s, and on March 13, 1992, the Government of India implemented it through a gazette notification.
The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India, the Supreme Audit Institution (SAI), oversees this
process, examining government expenditure and revenues, with audits categorized into financial, compliance,
and performance audits.
The Ministry of Environment and Forests' gazette notification on March 13, 1992, provided guidelines for
SAI India's auditors to assess institutions' consideration of sustainability development and environmental
concerns. The Principal Director of Audit (Scientific Departments) is the nodal office for Environmental
Audit, conducting audits exclusively for the central government. The Regional Training Institute in Mumbai
serves as the nodal training centre.
Over the last 25 years, SAI India has conducted over 100 specialized environmental audits in categories such
as Air, Water, Waste, Biodiversity, and Environment Management System.
Additionally, polluting units in India must submit an environmental statement by September 30 for the
preceding financial year, as mandated by a Gazette Notification under the Environmental (Protection) Act,
1986. This requirement applies to units seeking consent under acts like the Water (Prevention and Control of
Pollution) Act, 1974, the Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981, and the Hazardous Wastes
(Management and Handling) Rules, 1989. Non-compliance may result in imprisonment or fines up to one lakh
rupees.
Environmental labelling
Concept of Eco-labelling Scheme .
The concept of eco-labelling promotes environmentally friendly products in the market. Agenda 21, proposed
during the UN Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) in 1992, encouraged governments to
endorse environmental labelling to alter consumption patterns and conserve the environment for sustainable
development. Eco-labelling began in Germany in 1978 and has since been adopted by many developed and
some developing countries, including India. The European Union (EU) launched a voluntary eco-labelling
program among its member countries in 1992.
Eco-mark is an eco-labelling scheme to identify environment friendly products. The Eco-mark scheme
recognizes a product prepared by environment friendly process, or used and disposed in a way that
significantly reduces the harm on environment.

The Ministry of Environment and Forests, Govt. of India has constituted a scheme in 1991 on labelling of
environment friendly products, even before the India participated in Rio Summit, 1992. It is administered by
the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), which also administrates the Indian Standards Institute (ISI) mark
quality label, required for any product to gain the Eco-mark label.

The scheme provides labelling and accreditation for domestic, household and other consumer products that
meets certain environmental criteria along with the quality requirements of Indian standards for that product.

The specific objectives of the scheme are as follow (Eco-mark notification 1991):
i. To provide an incentive for manufacturers and importers to reduce adverse environmental impact of
products.
ii. To reward genuine initiatives by companies to reduce adverse environmental impact of their products.
iii. To assist consumers to become environmentally responsible in their daily lives by providing information
to take account of environmental factors in their purchase decisions.
iv. To encourage citizens to purchase products which have less harmful environmental impacts.
v. Ultimately to improve the quality of the environment and to encourage the sustainable management of
resources.
Administrative and Organizational Structure or Operational Structure (Three committees)
There are three stages for the award of "ECO-MARK": (Eco-mark notification 1991)
a) Steering Committee - A steering committee, set up by the Ministry of Environment and Forests, to
determine the product categories for coverage under the scheme and also formulate strategies for promotion,
implementation, future development and improvements in the working of the scheme.
b) Technical Committee - A technical committee, set up by the Central Pollution Control Board, to identify
the specific product to be selected and the individual criteria to be adopted, including, wherever possible,
inter-se priority between the criteria if there are more than one product.
c) Bureau of Indian Standards - The Bureau of Indian Standards to assess and certify the products and draw
up a contract with the manufacturers, allowing the use of the label, on the payment of fees.

The Reasons of failure of Eco-mark Scheme in India

Lack of Efforts
The long time period was spent to make product criteria and no efforts were expended for promoting the
awareness.
Improper Marketing strategies
Most of Indian consumers are not aware about the concept of an eco-label or even any existence of an
eco-label in India
The Government already attempted to create awareness about Eco-Mark by publishing a magazine
entitled “Wista Eco-mark” in 1999-2000. But it was inadequate and failed to spread the desired awareness.
Lack of Political efforts
The scheme was set up in 1991, under the regime of well-known environmental activist Maneka Gandhi
(Minister of Environments and Forests). But after that, no political party and person had shown clear cut
agenda regarding Eco-Mark scheme.
Complexity
The Eco-Mark scheme has made cocktail between environmental criteria and Bureau of Indian Standards.
The dual set of criteria led to more complexity of the evaluation process.
Life Cycle Assessment (LCA)

• The life cycle of a product is how long it exists, from when it's made using materials, through its use,
until it's no longer needed and gets destroyed.
• LCA is also called as "cradle-to-grave" assessment for this reason.
• The entire production life cycle from cradle to grave should be assessed to identify the environmental
impacts of a product or service. This notion is called ‘life cycle thinking’.
• ISO 14040 defines LCA as ‘a technique for assessing the environmental aspects and potential impacts
associated with a product by compiling an inventory of relevant inputs and outputs of a system;
evaluating the potential environmental impacts associated with those inputs and outputs; and
interpreting the results of the inventory and impact phases in relation to the objectives of the study’.

Types Of LCA
Cradle-to-grave is the complete LCA starting from raw material extraction ('cradle')
Cradle-to-grave to use phase and disposal phase ('grave'). All inputs and outputs are reflected for all
the stages of the life cycle.
Cradle-to-gate is an assessment of partial life cycle of a product from raw material
Cradle-to-gate extraction (cradle) to the factory gate (before it is transporting to the consumer). The
use phase and disposal phase of the product are omitted in this case.
Cradle-to-cradle is a kind of cradle-to-grave assessment, where the end-of-life
Cradle-to-cradle disposal step for the product is a recycling process. This method minimizes the
or closed loop environmental impact of products by employing sustainable production, operation,
production
and disposal practices.
Gate-to-gate is a partial LCA considering only one value-added process in the entire
Gate-to-gate production chain. Gate-to-gate modules may also later be associated with their
appropriate production chain to form a complete cradle-to-gate evaluation.
Well-to-wheel is the LCA used for transport fuels and automobiles. The analysis is
Well-to-wheel often fragmented down into stages entitled "well-to-station", or "well-to-tank", and
"station to wheel" or "tank-to-wheel", or "plug-to-wheel". The first stage that
involves feedstock or fuel production, processing and fuel delivery or energy
transmission, is known as the "upstream" stage, while the stage dealing with vehicle
operation is often called the "downstream" stage. Then, the well-to-wheel analysis is
frequently used to evaluate total energy consumption, or the energy conversion
efficiency and emission influence of marine vessels, aircraft and automobiles.
Economic input–output LCA (EIOLCA) involves the use of sector wise aggregated
Economic input- data on the quantum of environmental impact that can be imposed on the
output life cycle environment by each sector of the economy. Such analysis can account many
assessment
connected business sectors. However, EIOLCA depends on sector-level averages
which may or may not be characteristic of the specific subsection of the sector related
to a particular product and therefore is not suitable for evaluating the environmental
impacts of products. Also, the translation of economic quantities into environmental
impacts is not validated.
A much wider range of ecological impacts is considered in case of an ecologically
Ecologically based LCA as compared to a conventional LCA. It is planned to provide a guide to
based LCA the prudent management of human activities by understanding the direct and indirect
impacts on surrounding ecosystems and resources. It was developed by Ohio State
University Centre for Resilience.
Technical Framework or Procedure
For successful LCA analysis, ISO (2000), has laid the following standards as a part of ISO 14000 series: It
includes
• ISO 14040: Environmental Management – LCA – Principles and Framework.
• ISO 14041: Environmental Management – LCA – Inventory Analysis.
• ISO 14042: Environmental Management – LCA – Impact Assessment
• ISO 14043: Environmental Management – LCA – Interpretation.

LCA consists of four components namely (i) Goal and scope; (ii) Inventory; (iii) Impact assessment; and (iv)
Interpretation
The goal should state the aim of carrying out the study and to whom it will be
Goal And Scope communicated.
The scope describes the most important methodological choices, assumptions, and
limitations.
It is characterized by the assimilation of the data, and the modelling of energy
Life cycle inventory flows for the product/process under the study.
analysis
Impact assessment consists of three consecutive elements: (1) classification, (2)
Life cycle impact characterization, (3) valuation.
assessment Classification is the stage where we figure out the important environmental issues
related to a product and assign them to different categories. Picking the right
categories is vital. For example, categories could include resource use, pollution
(like global warming or ozone depletion), and harm to land and ecosystems.

The characterization step evaluates how much each part of the product's input
and output data contributes to specific categories. This helps create a profile of the
product's overall impact. Models are used to combine the input/output data and an
indicator that shows the environmental effects or harm.

The last stage of impact assessment, ‘valuation’ which attempts to compare and
rank the differing impact categories to simplify them down to a common base
Here the results of the previous LCA phases are compared with the goal of the
Interpretation study set in the beginning. Validation is an important concern here. It can be done
in two ways-
(i) performance of sensitivity analysis by the LCA practitioners involved; and
(ii) independent, external review (like a peer review).

Advantages
There are basically four types of users of LCAs (Jensen, 1997):
Industry and LCA helps to understand the various environmental benefits and obligations that
other commercial exist in the product or service that the industries produce. The primary applications
enterprises of LCA in the industry are in
* Product improvement
* Product designing
* Formation of company policy
* Product information
* Use in negotiations
NGOs LCAs may make available valuable base data to NGOs on which to act and to
motivate for change and improvement.
Government and The specific areas where government can use LCAs are
regulatory bodies • Eco-labelling
 • Deposit-refund schemes
• Subsidies and Taxation
• General Policy making
Consumers LCA information helps the consumers on the purchasing options based on whether
it is environment-friendly or not.

Disadvantages
Limitations of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) include:

1. Data Quality: Reliability issues arise when comparing products; data from manufacturers may be
available, but alternatives often rely on less credible secondary sources.

2. Life Cycle Boundaries: Inconsistent consideration of the entire life cycle and varying boundaries can
lead to result discrepancies.

3. Lack of Perceived Need: Limited environmental awareness, incentives for chain management, and
responsibility hinder widespread LCA adoption.

4. Scarcity of Expertise: Developing countries face a lack of expertise in performing and understanding
LCA studies, complicating communication with policymakers.

5. Cost: Complex LCAs and data procurement from commercial databases contribute to high costs,
compounded by ISO review requirements.

6. Data Quality and Availability: Obtaining high-quality data, especially in developing countries, presents
practical challenges for LCA studies.
EIA Consultation Accreditation Scheme
The formal process of Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) began in India with the EIA Notification in
1994, issued on January 27. This notification continued until 2006 and underwent 13 amendments during its
11-year tenure. Initially, EIAs were mandated for 29 categories of developmental projects, with an additional
sector added in January 2000. In succession to the EIA Notification 1994, a new notification, EIA 2006, was
issued by the Government of India under the Ministry of Environment Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC)
on September 14, 2006.
According to the notification, projects were categorized as Category "A" and Category "B," with Category 'B'
further divided into 'B1' and 'B2' based on the extent of impacts on the environment, resources, and human
health. The notification applied to:

a. All new projects listed in Schedule II to EIA Notification 2006.

b. Expansion and modernization of existing projects or activities listed in Schedule.
c. Any change in product-mix in an existing manufacturing unit included in Schedule.

Under the provisions of the notification, Category 'A' projects are considered at the central government level,
while Category 'B' projects are considered at the state level.

Genesis of Scheme for Accreditation of EIA Consultant Organizations

Till the end of year 2009, there were no mandatory rules regarding the expertise of environmental consultant,
laboratory facilities available, quality of reports etc. It was felt in the Ministry that there was a need to enhance
the quality of EIA Reports as the Consultants generally, undertake preparation of EIA / EMP Reports in many
sectors and in some instances without requisite expertise and supporting facilities like laboratories for testing
of samples, qualified staff etc. The good quality EIA Reports are pre-requisite for improved decision making.
Throughout this period, experts were of the opinion that EIA essentially involves multi-disciplinary studies
where inputs are required from the relevant industry/sector specific experts. The EIA consultants should have
expertise and knowledge in areas such as land use, air quality, water quality, noise, ecology, socio economic
aspects, risks and hazard management etc.

Keeping in view of the requirements, the Government of India, MoEFCC issued office memorandum
(dated December 2, 2009) regarding accreditation of the EIA Consultants with Quality Council of India
(QCI)/ National Accreditation Board of Education and Training (NABET). The following decisions were
taken in the memorandum:
All the Consultants/Public Sector Undertaking (PSUs) working in the area of EIA would be required to
get themselves registered under the scheme of Accreditation and Registration of the NABET/QCI.
Consultant would be confined in the consultancy only to the accredited sectors and parameters for
bringing in more specificity in the EIA document.
The QCI would put in place detailed procedure for registration of Consultants for taking up the
assignments in category ‘A’ and ‘B’ projects as detailed in EIA Notification, 2006. The QCI would maintain
full transparency on accredited Consultants, procedure followed for accreditation, feedback and evaluation
mechanism for Consultants for quality of EIA / EMP Reports.
After accreditation, the Consultants would need to include a Certificate in this regard in the EIA/EMP
Reports prepared by them and data provided by other Organizations/Laboratories including their status of
approvals etc.

Scope and coverage of the Scheme

The Scheme covers EIA-EMP reports of all projects listed in the Schedule of EIA notification 2006 and its
amendments. Currently the schedule has 40 sectors and further in some cases their subsectors. It covers the
Scheme’s requirements of human resource, quality management systems and procedures to be followed,
integrity of primary data, the assessment process, the accreditation criteria and other relevant requirements of
the Scheme.
Accreditation Process
a. Application assessment process: This is the first step after receiving the application of the consultant
organizations. The process completes with checking of the application at 2 stages as follow:
➢ Stage I– Checking completeness of the application by NABET secretariat
➢ Stage II - Technical review of documents

b. Office assessment process: This is the next step for processing the application received after preliminary
checking and technical review. It involves assessment of an application for the following six aspects:
➢ Quality and performance of personnel

➢ Quality management system

➢ Field investigations and laboratory systems to ensure data integrity
➢ Quality of EIA reports
➢ Organizational evaluation/commitment
➢ Compliance to conditions of accreditation/ improvements achieved

c. Assessment
The application after passing through the above two processes comes for the assessment in terms of marks. As per
the Scheme, marks have been allocated for the above aspects. The table enlists the marks for Office Assessment.
d) Decision making process
On completion of above process, a joint report prepared by the Principal Assessor (PA) and Co-Assessor
(CA) is submitted to NABET secretariat. The NABET secretariat checks the report for its completeness and
may ask additional clarifications/information as required for the purpose. The case is then put before the
accreditation committee by the NABET secretariat for its consideration, review and decision on
accreditation. The committee accesses the application on the basis of the marks obtained in the above process
and take final decision as follow.
➢ Accredited – in case the applicant clears the assessment and accreditation processes successfully with marks
more than 40%.
➢ Not approved – if marks are less than 40% in the office assessment or does not fulfill any other
requirements of the Scheme, the accreditation is not granted.
➢ Incomplete applications – If an AO submits an incomplete application in which requisite details are not
provided or it does not meet the requirements of the Scheme in respect of eligible candidates for EC and FAEs,
QMS, Laboratory details etc., the same is put in the ‘incomplete applications’ list. NABET intimates the AO of
the deficiencies in the application. If it is an application for IA, the same is processed further once all
requirements are fulfilled.
GRIHA Rating of Green Buildings
A green building rating system is an evaluation tool that measures environmental performance of a building
through its life cycle. It usually comprises of a set of criteria covering various parameters related to design,
construction and operation of a green building.
A project is awarded points once it fulfils the rating criteria. The points are added up and the final rating of a
project is decided.
 Scoring points for GRIHA Rating
Points scored Rating
50-60 *
61-70 **
71-80 ***
81-90 ****
91-100 *****
Green Belt Development
Green belt is a policy which is used in land use planning to retain areas of undeveloped, wild, oragricultural
land surrounding or neighbouring urban areas.

Purpose of Green Belt

The stated objectives of green belt policy are to:
Protection of natural or semi-natural environments
Improvement of air quality in urban parts
Confirm that urban inhabitants have admittance to landscape, with consequent
informative and recreational opportunities
Protection of rural societies that might otherwise be absorbed by expanding cities.

Advantages of Green Belt

i. Air Pollution control: Trees removes carbon dioxide from the environment through the process of
photosynthesis and release of oxygen. This way they help to remove pollutants from air and improve air
quality. A green belt development would trap particulate matter and help in their removal from the air.
ii. Noise control: A green belt works as a barrier to the high intensity sound waves. The sound waves can be
deflected, refracted or absorbed by the trees that ultimately reduce their intensity. Extend of intensity
reduction depends on the distance of green belt from the source of sound waves. Trees can make impact on
humidity and climate which affects sound intensity.
iii. The root system of trees binds to soil particles and helps in soil erosion control by improving soil quality.
iv. Green belt retains water and prevent water run offs.
v. Green belt offers area for walking, camping, and biking close to the cities and towns.
vi. Green belt provide habitat for plants, animals and wildlife.
vii. Green belt provides better land use of patterns around the cities. The efficiency of green belts varies
depending on the location and country. They can often be degraded by misuse by the urban dwellers.
Sometimes infrastructural development compromises with the green belt area. This results in the reduction
of green belts and creation of satellite towns.

Key dates in Green Belt History

Particular species used in Green belt
1. Plants which counteract odour are:

a) Bushes with slight but lively fragrance.

b) Acacia farnesiana (Mexican plant): It is plant with yellow-coloured flowers with fragrance. These plants
do not have rich cover but have counteracting smell. But, they have limitation of seasonality and thorny nature.

c) Melaleuca species: The members of this species have sweet fragrance and thin cover in India.

d) Pine, Cedar, Junipers: They provide protection and rich canopy but, are site specific.

e) Eucalyptus: They provide wide cover and can be used for their specific odour. But, they also suffer with
the limitations of site specificity and height in the urban neighbourhood.

f) Hedges, Herbs (Tulsi, Turmeric etc.) can also be used for their effective odour.

g) Vetiver: This plant is renowned as king of perfumes due to its strong odour which can inactivate other
odours. It’s odour relieves fatigue and affects the nervous system, due to which it is used as a key specie in
aromatherapy.

h) Plants which tolerate pollution – A plant which has high efficiency in pollution tolerance is Nerium (Kaner).

i) Other than these plants species used for green belt are Neem, Acacia auriculiformis, Pongamia pinnata,
Bamboo, and Casuarina etc.

Application of Green belt Model

The green belt model is applied to different cases for studying the usefulness of green belt in reducing the
impact of pollution. Out of the two applications, one is a source oriented approach and the other is receptor
oriented approach.
• In the source oriented approach, greenbelt of suitable dimension is planted around a source emitting
pollution and studies are made to know the usefulness of green belt in reducing the effects of pollution
for ground level releases.
• In the receptor oriented approach, green belt of suitable dimension is planted around an object which
is getting deteriorated or likely to get deteriorated as a result of pollution.
Selection of Plants for Green Belt

For absorption of gases For removal of suspended particulate matter

i. Tolerance towards pollutants that is not too high i. Height and spread of crown
to be instantaneously lethal. ii. Leaves supported on firm petioles
ii. Longer duration of foliage. iii. Abundance of surfaces on bark and foliage,
iii. Freely exposed foliage through: through
• Adequate height of crown • Roughness of bark,
• Openness of foliage in canopy • Epidermal outgrowths on petioles.
• Big leaves (long and broad laminar • Abundance of axillary hairs,
surfaces) • Hairs or scales on laminar surfaces.
• Large number of stomatal apertures • Stomata protected (by wax, arches/rings,
• Stomata well-exposed (in level with the hairs, etc)
general epidermal surface)

All tolerant plants are not necessarily good for green belts. e.g., Xerophytes with sunken stomata can withstand
pollution by avoidance but are poor absorbers of pollutants due to low gaseous exchange capacity.