ECO-MANAGEMENT AND AUDIT SCHEME

1. ECO-MANAGEMENT AND AUDIT SCHEME Performance, credibility, transparency The Role of Competent Bodies, Accreditation Bodies and Enforcement Authorities addressing LC in EMAS Paolo Molinas

2. Summary: Registration systems: Competent Bodies & Registration of Organizations Accreditation systems: Accreditation Bodies and Environmental Verifiers Enforcement Authorities: Legal Compliance assessment and role in Registration process Conclusions EMAS requirements 2

3. Subjects in EMAS Promotes EMAS in the EU, informs the Parliament, ensures information to the public and organizations (register), ensures harmonization within the MS, proposes revisions and amendments based on experience EC Eco-Management and Audit Scheme The Commission is assisted by a Committee provided in art. 14 where representatives of MS, experts and stakeholders are invited as well as representatives of FAB and Competent Bodies Art. 14 Committee Accreditation Bodies Competent Bodies Enforcement Authority/ies Verifiers Organizations Stakeholders (public) Accreditation Bodies are designed by Member States to ensure independent accreditation of environmental verifiers Competent Bodies are designed by Member States to ensure registration of organizations Provides information to the Competent Body on the legal Compliance situation of the organization Participates to EMAS following requirements of the Regulation and applies to registration Verifies the Organizations EMS and validates the environmental statement 3

4. Member State Accreditation Body Environmentalverifier Registration ORGANIZATION 1rst pillar of credibility in EMAS at National level Enforcement Authority Competent Body Accreditation Legal Compliance Verification &validation 4

5. Requirements for Competent Bodies (art.5) • Member States shall designate the Competent Body responsible for Registration of Organizations; • The composition of the Competent Bodies shall guarantee independence and neutrality; • Member states shall have procedures for considering opinion of interested parties for the use of Competent Bodies; • Competent Bodies shall have procedures for refusal, suspension and deletion of organizations from registration; • Competent bodies shall be responsible for control and maintenance of the registry. 5

6. A Competent Body shall process applications to EMAS registration submitted by organizations located in its Country according to national based procedures: The application form with minimum information to be sent by the organization to the Competent Body(Annex VIII): Name of the organization Address of the organization Contact person NACE code of activity Number of employees Name of the environmental verifier Verifiers accreditation number (i.e. IT-V-0001) Scope of accreditation (Sector of activity) Date of the next environmental statement The validated environmental statement (Annex III) Applicable fees Application for EMAS registration 6

7. Registration and follow-up The registration decision shall be based on: • Evidence of Legal Compliance of the organization; • Satisfactory results of the Competent Body analysis on documents received; • Payment of fees according to national rules Following the decision to register, the CB shall: • Include the organization into the national register; • Communicate the registration to the EMAS helpdesk (monthly); • After three years provide for renewal of registration (following application); • Suspend from the register if: • no new environmental statement is submitted (yearly update or 3 years new ES) • lack of legal compliance; • Motivated concerns of interested parties; • Delete from the register if no required actions follows suspension. 7

8. EMAS EU Register 8

9. Italian EMAS Register 9

10. Italian EMAS Register 10

11. Direct responsibilities Indirect responsibilities Competent Bodies Tasks Relationships • Reviewing quality and consistency of environmental statements; • Enquire Enforcement Authorities for Legal Compliance; • Register (suspend or delete) organizations; • Participating to Forum of CB; • Keep updated register of EMAS organizations. Ensure organizations in the register continue to comply with environmental legislation • Accreditation bodies (supervision reports); • Enforcement Authorities (Legal Compliance); • Member State (communication of updated list of verifiers); • EU Commission (Helpdesk). 11

12. Member State Accreditation Body Environmentalverifier Registration ORGANIZATION 2nd pillar of credibility in EMAS at National level Enforcement Authority Competent Body Accreditation Legal Compliance Verification &validation 12

13. Requirements for EMAS accreditation system (art.4) • Member States shall establish asystem for the accreditation and supervision of verifiers; • The composition of the accreditation systems shall guarantee independence and neutrality; • Member States shall ensure appropriate consultation of parties involved, in setting up and directing the accreditation systems; • Member States shall ensure that these systems are fully operational (within 12 months following the date of entry into force of the Regulation). 13

14. EMAS requirements for Accreditation Systems • What kind of institution can be used? • existing accreditation institutions may be used (all MS except Germany, Austria & Italy) • EMAS competent bodies (Italy & Ireland); • any other body with an appropriate status. • Which are the requirements for accreditation & supervision of environmental verifiers? • Rules listed in Annex V of the EMAS Regulation. • Environmental verifiers shall be organizations or individuals? • The Accreditation Body may decide for accreditation of individuals, organizations or both. Can Environmental verifiers perform their activities in any EU country? Yes, any accredited verifier in one Member State may perform verification activities in any other Member State. The only condition is that he shall notify to the latter's accreditation system for supervision. 14

15. Accreditation & supervision of Verifiers Which are the basic principles for accreditation? • Accreditation Body shall assess: • Competence through evidence of the applicants (both individuals and organizations) knowledge, relevant experience and technical capacities in the requested fields (NACE codes); • Independence and impartiality of the applicant from consultancy and internal audit; • freedom from any commercial, financial or other pressures which might influence judgment, endanger trust and that they comply with any rules applicable in this respect (if organization through organisational chart detailing structures and responsibilities, statement of legal status, ownership and funding sources); • documented methodologies and procedures, including quality control mechanisms and confidentiality provisions, for the verification requirements of this Regulation. 15

16. Requirements for accreditation of verifiers COMPETENCE (a) knowledge and understanding of the Regulation, the general functioning of environmental management systems, relevant standards and guidance issued by the Commission, under Article 4 and 14(2), for the use of the Regulation; (b) knowledge and understanding of the legislative, regulatory and administrative requirements relevant to the activity subject to verification; (c) knowledge and understanding of environmental issues, including the environmental dimension of sustainable development; (d) knowledge and understanding of the technical aspects, relevant to environmental issues, of the activity subject to verification; (e) understanding of the general functioning of the activity subject to verification in order to assess the appropriateness of the management system; (f) knowledge and understanding of environmental auditing requirements and methodology; (g) knowledge of information audit (Environmental Statement). 16

17. Scope of accreditation • Defined according to the classification of economic activities - NACE codes; • limited by the competence of the environmental verifier; • take into account the size and complexity of the activity. • NACE "Nomenclature générale des activités économiques dans les Communautés Européennes“ Regulation No 3037/90 of 9/10/1999 – now revision 2 Regulation N. 1893/2006 • NACE codes are represented as follows: • "Sections" – by a letter (i.e. Section A - Agriculture, forestry & fishing) • Sections include several "Divisions" represented by numbers (i.e. Division 01 - Agriculture, products from animals, hunting and related service activities) • Each Division includes “Groups" represented by numbers (i. e. Group 01.4 Farming of animals) • Each Group is represented by further detail in "Classes“ (i.e. 01.47 Farming of poultry) 17

18. Supervision of environmental verifiers (ANNEX 5.3.1) • Supervision is carried out by the accreditation body which granted their accreditation; • Environmental verifier shall inform the accreditation body of all relevant changes (related to accreditation or scope); • Supervision shall be done at intervals not exceeding 24 months to ensure that the environmental verifier continues to comply with the accreditation requirements (& monitor the quality of the verifications); • Supervision may be performed by office audit, witnessing, questionnaires, of validated environmental statements review and verification report review; • Any decision by the accreditation body (terminate, suspend accreditation or curtail the scope shall) be taken only after the environmental verifier has had the possibility of a hearing. 18

19. Supervision of environmental verifiers from other member state (ANNEX 5.3.2) • Notification shall be submitted to the AB at least four weeks in advance(accreditation details, competences, team composition and when/where the verification will occur, measures to deal with legal and language knowledge); • The accreditation body may request further clarification; • Notification shall be communicated before each new verification(and validation); • The accreditation body shall not require other conditions(discriminatory fees, delays, etc.); • Costs for supervision activity can be charged by the accreditation body; • If the accreditation body is not satisfied with the quality of the work done by the environmental verifier, a supervision report shall be sent to: • the environmental verifier concerned; • the accreditation body which granted the accreditation; • the competent body where the organisation being verified is located; • in case of dispute, to the forum of accreditation body. 19

20. Example of Verifiers List (Italy) 20

21. Direct responsibilities Indirect responsibilities Accreditation Bodies Tasks Relationships • Accreditation of verifiers; • Supervision of verifiers (also notified); • Participating to FAB; • Be subject to peer review; • Keep updated list of accredited verifiers. • Ensuring verifiers work quality through supervision (this includes LC issues); • Ensuring quality & consistency of environmental statements (through review of validated statements). • Competent Body (supervision reports); • Enforcement Authorities (Legal Compliance); • Member state (communication of updated list of verifiers); • EU Commission (Helpdesk). 21

22. Member State Accreditation Body Environmentalverifier Registration ORGANIZATION 3rd pillar of credibility in EMAS at National level Enforcement Authority Competent Body Accreditation Legal Compliance Verification &validation 22

23. Article 6 - Registration of organisations - If a competent body; is satisfied through inquiries at the competent enforcement authority regarding LC with the relevant environmental legislation .. it shall register receives a supervision report from the accreditation body which gives evidence that the activities of the environmental verifier were not performed adequately …. registration shall be refused or suspended as appropriate . is informed by the competent enforcement authority of a breach by the organisation of relevant regulatory requirements regarding environmental protection, it shall refuse registration or suspend … as appropriate. Refusal of registration, suspension or deletion .. shall require the consultation of the appropriate interested parties … The Competent Body shall inform the organisation …… and of the process of discussion with the competent enforcement authority. Refusal or suspension shall be lifted if the Competent Body has received satisfactory information that the organisation is in compliance …. or if it has received satisfactory information from the competent enforcement authority that the breach has been rectified …… Legal Compliance in the EMAS registration process 23

24. Enforcement Authorities are involved in: the registration process since Competent Body’s decision is taken following “evidence received” through enquiry that the organization is in Legal Compliance; the follow-up after registration through information to the Competent Body if any relevant breach to Legal Compliance is reported concerning the organization; the suspension and deletion processes since Enforcement Authorities are interested parties to be consulted before that decision is taken; removal of suspension of an organization since it shall ensure that Competent Body that the reasons for suspensions have been rectified in a satisfactory way; avoiding unnecessary duplication of effortswhile inspecting the organization (according to national legislation implementing the principle in article 10). EMAS registration and involvement of Enforcement Authorities 24

25. Enforcement Authorities are not directly involved in the registration process; Member States are not obliged (specifically for EMAS) to ensure that enforcement authorities reply to requests from the Competent Bodies concerning Legal Compliance of an organization; There is no obligation in EMAS on a deadline for Enforcement Authorities to answer to Competent Bodies enquires; The role of Enforcement Authorities seems to be “passive” (acting under request) rather than “active” (completely integrated in the process) in the actual EMAS text; Legal Compliance is required but not defined: the national systems may give not homogeneous interpretation of this concept within the EU. Some weak point in the EMAS text 25

26. National systems implementing EMAS show wide spread of procedures within the EU for enquiring the Enforcement Authorities such as: Most Competent Bodies enquire Enforcement Authorities by writing but some only by “hearing”; Some Competent Bodies have procedures for sending the request and for processing Enforcement Authorities opinion; Some Competent Bodies will need written response, other Competent Bodies opinion is based on a “no answer = positive report” principle; Some Competent Bodies relay only on the verifiers activity (i.e. environmental statement) or require the organization itself to provide a “statement of LC”; Some weak points in the EMAS text 26

27. Conclusions • 3 main pillars of credibility in EMAS: Competent Bodies, Accreditation Bodies and Enforcement Authorities; • Transparency of the whole system is ensured by the “public nature” of the scheme; • Competent bodies are subject to peer review through questionnaires (reports sent to the Commission); • Accreditation Bodies are subject to peer reviews by means of direct audits (reports sent to the Commission); • Continuous monitoring of LC from Enforcement Authorities ensure that organizations in the register are legal compliant; • Member States rely on the scheme, therefore supports organizations by means of regulatory benefits by national and local legislation; • Harmonization among national systems is ensured by the supervisory role of the Commission. 27

28. Thank you for your attention Paolo MolinasAPATAgency for the Protection of the Environment and for Technical services www.apat.it/certificazioni Paolo.molinas@apat.it