Environment & Audit Process

D.MISHRA

ENVIRONMENT PERSPECTIVE

Environment At a Glance
The green fields ,trees, shrubs, ponds ,lakes, rivers ,forests, blue sky & other various systems existing in nature all constitute the environment. Environment can be divided into Atmosphere, Hydrosphere, Lithosphere and Biosphere. Man made Environment consists of- Housing, Transportation, Technology, Settlement, Utilities etc. Pollution- The Environmental Pollution is the unfavourable alteration of our surroundings, wholly or largely as a byproduct of mans action, through direct or indirect effects, of changes in energy patterns, radiation levels ,chemical and physical constitution and abundance of organisms.

Environment Timeline

Environment Timeline
1952 1962 1963
London SMOG killed 4000 people during 5th Dec to 9th Dec 1952

1964

TOXICS 6/1962 Marine biologist Rachel Carson publishes Silent Spring, calling attention to the threat of toxic chemicals to people and the environment. Source RachelCarson.org

1967

Environment Timeline
1968 1969 1970
Experts from around the world meet for the first time at the UN Biosphere Conference in Paris, France, to discuss global environmental problems, including pollution, resource loss, and wetlands destruction

4/22/1970
Millions of people gather in the United States for the first Earth Day to protest environmental abuses, sparking the creation of landmark environmental laws including the Endangered Species Act and the Safe Drinking Water Act.

POLLUTION 3/18/1967 The Torrey Canyon oil tanker runs aground and spills 117,000 tons of oil into the North Sea near Cornwall in the United Kingdom. The massive local pollution helps prompt legal changes to make ship owners liable for all spills. Source Scilly News: Torrey Canyon

USEPA is formed

Environment Timeline
1972 1973
Participants from 114 Women living in Himalayan countries come to villages in Northern India begin Stockholm, Sweden, for the Chipko movement to protect the UN Conference on the trees from commercial logging, Human Environment. Only which has begun to cause severe one is an environment deforestation, soil erosion, and minister, as most flooding in the region. countries do not yet have environmental agencies. Researchers report that threeThe delegates adopt 109 quarters of the acid rain falling in recommendations for government action and Sweden is caused by pollution push for the creation of originating in other countries. the UN Environment Programme. The Convention on International The Club of Rome, a group Trade in Endangered Species of economists, scientists, and of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), business leaders from 25 countries, which eventually restricts trade in publishes The Limits to Growth roughly 5,000 animal species and which predicts that the Earth's limits 25,000 plant species threatened will be reached in 100 years at with extinction, is adopted. current rates of population growth, resource depletion, and pollution generation.

Environment Timeline
1974 1978 1979
Chemists Sherwood Rowland and Mario Molina publish their landmark findings that chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) can destroy ozone molecules and may threaten to erode the Earth's protective ozone layer. Love Canal declared grave & Imminent peril. Three Mile island Accident took place The Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution, which helps combat acid rain and regulate pollution traveling across national borders, is adopted. Later protocols regulate emissions of nitrogen oxides, sulfur, heavy metals, persistent organic pollutants, and several other pollutants.

Environment Timeline
1982 1983
The UN Environment The UN Convention The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Programme organizes the on the Law of the Sea sets and the U.S. National Academy of Sciences Stockholm +10 conference a comprehensive release reports concluding that the build-up in Nairobi. The attendees framework for ocean use of carbon dioxide and other "greenhouse agree to a declaration and outlines provisions gases" in the Earth's atmosphere will likely expressing "serious on ocean conservation, lead to global warming. concern about the present pollution prevention, and state of the environment" protecting and restoring and establish an species populations. independent commission to craft a "global agenda for change," paving the way for the release of Our Common Future in 1987.

Environment Timeline
1984 1985
An estimated 10,000 people are killed and many more injured when Union Carbide's pesticide plant in Bhopal, India, leaks 40 tons of methyl isocyanate gas into the air and sends a cloud of poison into the surrounding city of 1 million. Scientists report the discovery of a "hole" in the Earth's ozone layer, as data from a British Antarctic Survey show that January ozone levels dropped 10 percent below those of the previous year.

1986

Environment Timeline
1986 1987
One of the four reactors at the Soviet Union's Chernobyl nuclear power plant explodes and completely melts down. The explosion sends radioactive particles as far away as Western Europe, exposing hundreds of thousands of people to high levels of radiation. The Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer is adopted to support the phasing out of production of a number of ozonedepleting chemicals.

Environment Protection Act 1986 enacted in INDIA

The World Commission on Environment and Development publishes Our Common Future (The Brundtland Report), which concludes that preserving the environment, addressing global inequities, and fighting poverty could fuelnot hindereconomic growth by promoting sustainable development.

1988

Environment Timeline
1989 1991
The Basel Convention, which controls movement of hazardous wastes across international borders, is adopted to prevent "toxic traders" from shipping hazardous waste from industrial to developing countries. The Iraqi army, retreating from its occupation of Kuwait, destroys tankers, oil terminals, and oil wells, setting many on fire. The fighting and sabotage leak approximately 1.25 million tons of oil, the worst oil spill in history.

Biologist E.O. Wilson publishes Biodiversity, a collection of reports from the National Forum on

Biodiversity in the United States. The book details how humans are rapidly undermining the Earth's ability to support its diversity of species.

The Exxon Valdez tanker runs onto a reef in Alaska's Prince William Sound, dumping 76,000 tons of crude oil. The spill, the largest ever in the United States, covers more than 5,100 kilometers of pristine coastline with oil and kills more than 250,000 birds.

Environment Timeline
1992 1994 1995
Most countries and 117 heads of state participate in the groundbreaking UN Conference on Environment and Development (Earth Summit), in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Participants adopt Agenda 21, a voluminous blueprint for The World Conservation Union sustainable development that (IUCN) publishes a revised Red calls for improving the quality List of endangered and of life on Earth. threatened species, creating a world standard for gauging threats to biodiversity. Later versions report that one in four mammal species and one in eight bird species faces a high risk of extinction in the near future. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), a group of hundreds of prominent climate scientists assembled by the UN in 1988, releases a report concluding that "the balance of evidence suggests that there is a unidirectional human influence on global climate.

Environment Timeline
1996 2002 2005
The Kyoto Protocol strengthens KYOTO Protocol came into force after the 1992 Climate Change Russia signing the protocal Convention by mandating that industrial countries cut their carbon dioxide emissions by 6 to 8 percent from 1990 levels by 2008-2012. But the protocol's controversial emissions-trading scheme, as well as debates over the role of developing countries, 104 world leaders and cloud its future. thousands of delegates meeting at the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg, South Africa, agree on a limited plan to reduce poverty and protect the environment.

Audit Process

Environmental Concerns in TPP

Chlorine Storage Halon

AAQ

Flue Gas

Boiler
Turbine

Control Room S T A C K
AAQ

APH
Cond

ESP
Boiler Blow down

Cooling Tower

ASPH

Blow Down Water Intake

AAQ

Main Plant Drain

ASH POND

Colony & Drainage

Areas of Concern
Emissions to Air Releases to Water Waste Generated Land Contamination Impact on Communities Use of Raw Materials and Natural Resources Other Local Environmental Issues (Normal/Abnormal/Start up/Shut down and Accidents)

Why to conduct an Audit Program

Audit programs are a Management tools. Audits benefit the company by reducing their legal exposure on a proactive level. Audit are also used to measure environment performance. Use of audits is not limited to operating the plant but can help to achieve higher environmental standards.

Pre Audit Phase Audit Coordinator :

Audit coordinator manages all phases of the audit process and is responsible for preparing, implementing and completing the audit. Audit Coordinator must have a through understanding and skills necessary to ensure effective audit. Audit coordinator is responsible to for ensuring effective and efficient completion of audit within the audit scope. Audit coordinator activities & responsibilities include Determining scope of audit Preparing the announcement correspondence and audit plan Obtaining relevant background information necessary to meet audit objectives Directing activities in accordance with audit procedures Distributing all relevant documents Resolving problems that arise during the audit Notifying the significant nonconformance Preparing and distributing the audit report

Pre Audit Phase

Audit Announcement Correspondence: Approximately four months prior to a scheduled audit an initiation letter ,referred to as Announcement letter is to be sent to station announcing the scheduled audit. Three months prior to the audit ,a second letter referred as Opening letter is to be sent to station conforming the scheduled audit, including specific audit dates and has a Pre audit questionnaire as an attachment. Pre Audit questionnaire: The pre audit questionnaire is a document that requests general information about the station with specific information about air and water pollution control, solid & hazardous waste management & other Environmental related matters The purpose of this Pre audit questionnaire is to familiarize the audit team with the status of station. It is essential that pre audit questionnaire be completed and returned to the audit coordinator in advance of the audit as it is to be used in developing the audit plan.

Pre Audit Phase

Pre Audit questionnaire Attachment:

Along with pre audit questionnaire is an attachment that request that the station make available during the audit following documents related to environmental activities.
All applicable procedures & programs Local regulations Training records Consents & licenses Inspection reports Emergency, spill and waste minimization plan Monitoring data Incident reports Facility drawings Any other documents relevant to environment mangement

Audit protocols:

Audit Protocols are detailed checklists that document regulatory compliances. Auditors responsible must familiarize themselves with the requirements documented in the protocol . The following protocols are to be used during the audit:
General facility information Air quqlity Emergency planning Solid & hazardous waste Water quality Hazardous material transportation Chemical handling Toxic substance handling & control

Audit Plan
Approximately four weeks before the audit ,audit coordinator send the audit plan to the facility. The audit plan is based on the information provided by the station in the pre audit questionnaire. The purpose of audit plan is to describe the audit process and provide the station with the following information: Audit objective and scope Audit criteria Time & duration for major audit activities Audit team members Confidentiality requirement Identification of area to be audited & procedure to be followed Reference documents

Audit Phase

The audit phase consists of an opening meeting, on-site audit activities and a closing meeting. The opening meeting : serves to communicate audit objectives, needs and requirements to the station participants. Following topics are to be covered during opening meeting : Introductions Why compliance audit Purpose of audit Audit topics & regulations Station staff responsibilities Auditor responsibilities

Wide Aisle tour;

At the conclusion of the opening meeting .a wide aisle tour is arranged. The purpose of this tour is to take audit team on a brief visit to the various areas of the station and to understand where they are located and what processes occur at each location.

On-site audit activities involves collecting sufficient evidence by the audit team
to evaluate station compliance. Evidence is to be collected through interviews, examination of documents, observation of activities and conditions. A comprehensive check list is to be followed to complete audit in a systematic manner . Audit is to be supported by Photography & video recording if possible.

Audit Phase
Root Cause analysis: Prior to closing meeting ,the audit team will meet to discuss the significant compliance audit findings and determine if a root analysis is required .Root cause analysis identifies underlying causes of the compliance findings and may point to the systematic solution to the problem. Action Plan Preperation: Prior to closing meeting ,a draft action plan is to be prepared by audit coordinator with input from audit team members .The action plan lists all the findings segregated into the following six categories
Exemplary findings Legal requirement Future requirement Good management practices Corporate actions

Action Item Prioritization: An audit action item prioritization is employed as a tool that assists the station in prioritizing action items to be addressed. The priority in which items must be addressed is directly related to the potential to negative impact on the environment and health.

Closing meeting
A closing meeting serves to formally communicate findings and convey the root cause analysis.Closing meeting offers an oppertuinity for the station to ask questions and clarify any issues that may have to be resolved. Closing meeting should be limited to one hour and should include.
Station Thank You Discussion on most significant findings. Description on audit report format Distribution of interm report Report and action plan follow up schedule Explanation of the audit follow up process Distribution of draft action plan

Post Audit Phase

The post audit phase involves preparing and distributing an audit report and action plan prepared under the direction of coordinator. The audit report discusses the status of the station compliance and summarizes the audit findings .The action plan outlines steps the station needs to take to close compliance gaps. Follow up process is to be established to track the progress of station completing corrective actions in response to the issues identified during the audit and enumerated in action plan.

PRE AUDIT PHASE Audit Coordinator

Audit Announcement correspondence Pre audit questionnaire & attachment

Audit protocols
Audit Plan

AUDIT PHASE Opening Meeting

Wide-Aisle tour On-site audit facility Root cause analysis Action plan Preparation Action item prioritization Closing meeting Program compliance rating

Post Audit Phase Preparation of audit report Follow up process

Audit process