Sample Undergraduate Environmental Management Assignment

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Part I- Acronyms

a. Find out what all the letters stand for and provide their full titles, including the year published.

1. EMS: Environmental Management System emerged in the early 1990s.

2. IPPC: Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control, EU Directive 96/61/EC

3. BAT: Best Available Techniques, defined in Section 5(1) of the EPA Act 1992.

4. IPC: Integrated Pollution Control, licensing given from Environmental Protection Agency.

5. EIA: Environmental Impact Assessment, regulations from European Communities (Environmental Impact Assessment) Regulations, 1989.

6. EMAS: Eco-Management and Audit Scheme 2009, under the regulation (EC) No. 1221/2009.

7. ISO: International Organization of Standardization

8. OECD- the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, founded in 1961 with Ireland as a founding member.

9. COMAH- Control of Major Accident Hazards, derived from Seveso III Directive (2012/18/EU) and implemented in The Chemicals Act (Control of Major Accident Hazards involving Dangerous Substances) Regulations, 2015.

10. WFD: Water Framework Directive, transposed into Irish Law through Water Policy Regulations, 2003; Surface Water Regulation, 2009; Groundwater Regulations, 2010; Good Agricultural Practice for Protection of Water Regulations, 2010; Technical Specifications for the Chemical Analysis and Monitoring of Water Status, 2011; and Water Policy Regulations 2014.

11. IED: Industrial Emission Directive, 2011; from EU Directive 2010/75/EU.

12. BATNEEC: Best available technology not entailing excessive costs; changes to licensing introduced in the Protection of Environment Act 2003.

13. IBC: Intermediator Bulk Containers, introduced in the Waste Management Act, 2011.

14. EPA: Environmental Protection Agency, founded in 1993, following the Environmental Protection Agency Act 1992.

b. Write one sentence (maximum 2-3 lines or bullet points) describing the main points of each one.

1. EMS- Environmental Management System is a structured framework for managing organizations’ significant environmental impacts. National and international EMS certification schemes have become structured and standardized to be compatible and complementary with other standards like ISO 14001 and the Eco-Management and Audit Scheme.

2. IPPC- The EU Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control, through Directive 96/61/EC, provides a permit system for activities of waste management. It was brought into effect in Ireland by the Protection of the Environment Act, 2003.

3. BAT- As derived from the IED legislation, “best available techniques” is the most effective and advanced stage in developing activity and its methods of operation, which indicate the practical suitability of specific techniques for providing the basis of emission limit values. In the case of industrial emissions, it includes other additional license conditions designed to prevent or reduce emissions and their impact on the environment as a whole.

4. IPC- The Environmental Protection Agency of Ireland is responsible for providing Integrated Pollution Control licensing of large or complex industries with significant pollution potential.

5. EIA- Incorporated into Irish Law regarding development other than motorways of EIA Directive 85/337/EEC. The regulations specify development for each environment impact assessment will be required, and the information that must be furnished in an environmental impact statement prepared in connection with a proposed development.

6. EMAS- The Eco-Management and Audit Scheme supplements the EN ISO 14001 as the environmental management system for an organization. It requires that they become compliant with all national and EU environmental regulations.

7. ISO- the ISO 14001 is the international standard that specifies requirements for an effective environmental management system.

8. OECD- Is an intergovernmental economic organization to stimulate economic progress and world trade.

9. COMAH- The purpose of the regulations is to lay down rules to prevent major accidents involving dangerous substances through tiered controls on operators. It seeks to limit the consequences for human health and the environment of such accidents as far as possible.

10. WFD- The directive establishes a framework for protecting all waters, including rivers, lakes, estuaries, coastal water, and groundwater, including their dependent wildlife and habitats.

11. IED- The Industrial Emissions Directive sets out the main principles for permitting and controlling installations based on an integrated approach of best available techniques. The purpose of the legislation was to prevent, reduce, and attempt to eliminate pollution arising from industrial activities by establishing a framework for control of main industrial activities.

12. BATNEEC- These are guidelines introduced in the Protection of Environment Act, 2003, that provides a list of technology that the EPA will use to determine BATNEEC for scheduled activities. The technology needs to be ‘best’ at preventing pollution and ‘available’ because it is procurable by the industry. ‘Technology; can be techniques or use of techniques, while ‘NEEC’ addresses the balance between environmental benefit and financial expense.

13. IBC- Under the Waste Management Act, it is necessary to ensure that lids and levers on intermediate bulk containers are securely closed and a drip cap is present.

14. EPA- The Environmental Protection Agency is responsible for protecting and improving the environment as an asset for the people of Ireland. It operates independently under the Department of Communications, Climate Action, and Environment.

Part II

Explain the difference between primary and secondary legislation and give one environmentally relevant example of each (Max. 200 words).

Primary legislation consists of Acts of Parliament or statutes. At the same time, secondary legislation or delegated legislation is granting additional law-making powers to another branch of government by an Act or a statute.

Regarding Ireland, a member country of the European Union, primary and secondary legislation are two of the three processes of law. Every action taken by the European Union is founded on the treaties, which are binding agreements between EU member countries that set out objectives.

Treaties are the starting point of EU law and are known as primary law. The body of law that comes from these principles and objectives of the treaties is known as secondary law, including regulations, directives, decisions, recommendations, and opinions.

For example, the EU Directive 2010/75/EU on Industrial Emissions (Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control) began with primary legislation regarding the Treaty of the Functioning of the European Union, specifically Article 192(1).

The derived secondary legislation from the treaties gives rise to the Industrial Emission Directive 2010/75/EU, which is transposed into Irish legislation, which introduced a third class of license that the Environmental Protection Agency can grant.