The Department of Environmental Protection announced the availability of two new publications to help local governments and small businesses save energy and money by improving their environmental performance.

“Environmental Management Systems: A Guidebook for Improving Energy and Environmental Performance in Local Government” is aimed at helping local governments and municipalities walk through the implementation process of an Environmental Management System (EMS) with a minimum of outside support.

The implementation of an EMS provides organizations with a systematic framework to address the ongoing management of their environmental issues such as waste generation, energy efficiency, pollution prevention, consumption of natural resources, etc. By using the guidelines, as well as the tools and templates available in this manual, an organization can implement a complete EMS.

“Steps for Improving Your Business and the Environment” is a workbook aimed at helping small- or medium-sized businesses manage environmental issues at their facilities and enhance their energy, environmental and economic performance. It is for anyone in a small or medium-sized company who is looking for help to improve their business’ environmental performance, but is unsure where to begin.

By answering a series of questions, the workbook directs users to a number of valuable tools to review and decide how best to use them in their business.

These documents were prepared by Five Winds International under a grant from DEP. In addition, an accompanying document was developed entitled “Sample EMS Manual: Environmental Management System Model Manual Specific to Pennsylvania Municipal Operations.” This manual may be used in conjunction with the guidebook—or by itself—by organizations desiring to develop and implement an EMS with a minimum of external support.

For more information visit the EMS webpage.

9/3/2004