Commission Decision (EU) 2023/2463 of 3 November 2023 on the publication of the u... (32023D2463)
Commission Decision (EU) 2023/2463 of 3 November 2023 on the publication of the user’s guide setting out the steps needed to participate in the EU eco-management and audit scheme (EMAS) pursuant to Regulation (EC) No 1221/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council (notified under document C(2023) 720)
- COMMISSION DECISION (EU) 2023/2463
- of 3 November 2023
- on the publication of the user’s guide setting out the steps needed to participate in the EU eco-management and audit scheme (EMAS) pursuant to Regulation (EC) No 1221/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council
- (notified under document C(2023) 720)
- (Text with EEA relevance)
- Article 1
- Article 2
- Article 3
- ANNEX
- EMAS USER GUIDE
- INTRODUCTION
- 1.
- What is EMAS?
- 2.
- EMAS’s costs and benefits
- 3.
- EMAS support for SMEs
- 4. ‘
- EMAS Easy’ method
- 5.
- Synergies with other legislation and voluntary instruments
- Figure 1
- Integrative interaction of different standardised management systems (source: The Umweltbundesamt, UBA)
- Figure 2
- Advantages of EMAS over and above EN ISO 14001 (source: The Umweltbundesamt)
- Figure 3
- Other advantages of EMAS
- 6.
- Recognition of other management systems and approaches to EMAS - Article 45 of the EMAS Regulation
- 7.
- The eight steps to EMAS
- Figure 4
- The eight steps to EMAS
- Figure 5
- Timeline for the registration process
- 8.
- Actors and institutions involved in implementing and maintaining EMAS
- Step 1:
- Plan and prepare
- 1.1.
- Defining the scope of EMAS registration inside and outside the EU –
- Annex II A.4.3 to the EMAS Regulation
- 1.2.
- Entity to register in EMAS
- – Article 2(21) and 2(22) of the EMAS Regulation
- 1.2.1.
- Organisations operating on a single site or at a single location.
- Figure 6
- Three examples of operations concentrated on a single site.
- 1.2.2.
- Organisation operating across different sites/locations.
- a.
- With the same or similar products or services
- b.
- With different products or services
- 1.2.3.
- Organisation for which a specific site cannot be properly defined.
- 1.2.4.
- Organisations managing different sites in a dispersed area.
- Figure 7
- Examples of organisations controlling different sites in dispersed area.
- 1.2.5.
- Organisations controlling temporary shared spaces.
- Figure 8
- Examples of shared spaces
- 1.2.6.
- Different organisations at a single location
- Figure 9
- Example of organisation located at shared site.
- 1.2.7.
- Cluster concept – Article 37 of the EMAS Regulation
- 1.3.
- Management commitment to the environmental management system –
- Annex II A.5.1, 5.3, B.2
- (32)
- 1.4.
- Carrying out an environmental review –
- Article 4(1a), Annex I, Annex II B.3 to the EMAS Regulation
- (33)
- 1.4.1.
- Determining the context of the organisation
- – Annex I No.1, Annex II A.4.1 to the EMAS Regulation
- Figure 10
- Examples of internal and external factors that determine the context of the organisation.
- 1.4.2.
- Identifying interested parties and their needs and expectations
- – Annex I No 2, Annex II A. 4.2 to the EMAS Regulation
- Figure 11
- Examples of interested parties and possible expectations (source: the Umweltbundesamt).
- 1.4.3.
- Identifying the applicable legal requirements and other compliance obligations relating to the environment
- – Annex I No 3, Annex II A. 6.1.3 and B. 4 to the EMAS Regulation
- 1.4.4.
- Identifying direct and indirect environmental aspects
- - Annex I No 4, Annex II A.6.1.2 to the EMAS Regulation
- 1.4.5.
- Sectoral Reference Documents
- – Article 46(1) of the EMAS Regulation
- Figure 12
- Sectors for which sectoral reference documents are available.
- Figure 13
- One possible way to integrate SRDs.
- Figure 14
- Typical environmental aspects to be considered in a product life cycle (Source: EMAS Environmental Management System Guideline for operational practice, Chamber of Industry and Commerce in Bavaria)
- 1.4.6.
- Assessing the significance of environmental aspects
- – Annex I No 5, Annex II No 6.1.2 to the EMAS Regulation
- Figure 15
- Example of an evaluation matrix with the ABC analysis (source: Environmental Statement of the German Federal Environmental Agency, 2020)
- 1.4.7.
- Evaluate feedback from investigation of previous incidents
- – Annex I, No 6 to the EMAS Regulation
- 1.4.8
- Determination and documentation of opportunities and risks
- – Annex I No 7, Annex II A. 6.1 to the EMAS Regulation
- 1.4.9.
- Examining existing processes, practices, and procedures
- – Annex I No 8 to the EMAS Regulation
- Step 2:
- Define environmental policy.
- 2.1.
- Defining the environmental policy
- – Annex II A.5.2 to the EMAS Regulation
- Step 3:
- Develop an environmental programme – Annex II A.6.2.1, B.5 to the EMAS Regulation
- Figure 16
- Interaction of environmental review, environmental policy, environmental objectives, and targets, planned measures and environmental programme (Source: EMAS Environmental Management System Guideline for operational practice, Chamber of Industry and Commerce in Bavaria)
- Step 4:
- Set up and implement an environmental management system –
- Article 4(1b), Annex II to the EMAS Regulation
- 4.1.
- Set out resources, tasks, responsibility, and authority –
- Annex II, A.5.1., A.5.3, A.7.1. to the EMAS Regulation
- 4.2.
- Establish a procedure for determining compliance obligations and evaluation of compliance
- – Annex II, A.6.1.3, B.4, and A.9.1.2. to the EMAS Regulation
- 4.3
- Employee engagement, competence, training, and awareness –
- Annex II A7.2, B.6 to the EMAS Regulation
- Figure 17
- Flowchart of training courses within the environmental management system
- 4.4.
- Establish a procedure for internal and external communication
- –- Annex II A 7.4. to the EMAS Regulation
- 4.5.
- Documentation and control of documents
- –
- Annex II, A.7.5 to the EMAS Regulation
- Figure 18
- Procedure for handling documents within an environmental management system
- 4.6.
- Operational planning and control
- –
- Annex II A.8.1 to the EMAS Regulation
- 4.7.
- Emergency preparedness and response – Annex II A.8.2 to the EMAS Regulation
- Figure 19
- Managing emergency plans.
- 4.8.
- Monitoring, measurement, and analysis of environmental performance
- –
- Annex II A.9.1 of EMAS Regulation
- 4.9.
- Procedure for dealing with non-conformity and taking corrective action
- –
- Annex II, A.10.2 of EMAS Regulation
- Step 5:
- Internal audit
- –
- Article 9, Annex III of the EMAS Regulation
- 5.1.
- Put in place an internal environmental audit procedure.
- 5.1.1.
- Audit frequency
- 5.1.2.
- Activities within the scope of internal environmental auditing
- 5.1.3.
- Reporting on conclusions of the environmental audit
- 5.2.
- Management review
- –
- Annex II A.9.3 to the EMAS Regulation
- Step 6:
- Create the environmental statement.
- 6.1
- Prepare the environmental statement
- — Annex IV to the EMAS Regulation
- 6.1.1
- Minimum requirements for the EMAS environmental statement
- — Annex IV B to the EMAS Regulation
- 6.1.2.
- Core environmental performance indicators
- — Annex IV C to the EMAS Regulation
- ✓
- Energy
- ✓
- Emissions
- ✓
- Water
- ✓
- Material efficiency
- ✓
- Waste
- ✓
- Land use in relation to biodiversity
- Figure 20
- Example of the allocation of areas for the core indicators 'Land use with regard to biodiversity'.
- 6.1.3.
- Other relevant environmental performance indicators
- 6.1.4.
- Local accountability
- — Annex IV D to the EMAS Regulation
- 6.1.5.
- Updating the environmental statement
- — Article 8 of the EMAS Regulation
- 6.1.6.
- Public access
- — Annex IV E to the EMAS Regulation
- Step 7:
- External verification
- —
- Articles 18 and 19 of the EMAS Regulation
- 7.1.
- Third-party verification
- 7.1.1.
- Who is allowed to verify and validate EMAS
- ?
- 7.1.2.
- Verification by the environmental verifier
- — Article 18 of the EMAS Regulation
- 7.1.3.
- Frequency of verifications —
- Articles 6, 7 and 19 of the EMAS Regulation
- 7.2.
- Sampling method
- 7.2.1.
- Requirements for the application of a sampling procedure for the assessment of organisations with many sites
- 7.2.2.
- Eligibility criteria for applying the sampling method.
- 7.2.3.
- Requirements for the applicant organisation
- 7.2.4.
- Criteria for exclusion of sites from the sampling procedure
- 7.2.5.
- Guidelines for the use of a sampling procedure for the assessment of multi-site organisations
- 7.2.6.
- Procedure for the application of the sampling method for multi-site organisations
- 7.2.7.
- Selection and calculation of the sample
- 7.2.8.
- Procedure in the case of deviations
- 7.2.9.
- Documentation to be included in the environmental statement justifying the sample size and sampling procedure.
- 7.3.
- Report of the environmental verifier
- 7.4.
- Validation of the environmental statement
- — Articles 6, 7 and 19 of the EMAS Regulation
- Step 8:
- Registration in the EMAS register
- —
- Articles 4, 5 and 6 of the EMAS Regulation
- 8.1.
- The registration process
- —
- Articles 4, 5 and 6 of the EMAS Regulation
- 8.1.1.
- Required documents for EMAS registration.
- 8.1.2.
- Registration
- 8.1.3.
- Duration of the registration process
- 8.1.4.
- Suspension or deletion of an EMAS registration
- Figure 21
- EMAS main actors and governance system
- 8.1.5
- Continuous improvement of environmental performance with EMAS
- 8.2
- Use of the EMAS logo
- —
- Article 10 of the EMAS Regulation
- Figure 22
- EMAS logo
- 8.2.1.
- Who can use the logo?
- 8.2.2
- Who awards the logo?
- 8.2.3.
- Limits to the use of the logo
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