ED1 Diploma Supplement - RRC Training Supp.pdf · ED1 Diploma Supplement 2 © RRC International The...

ED1 Diploma Supplement

© RRC International 1

NEBOSH DIPLOMA IN ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT UNIT ED1

Introduction This Supplement contains updates to your study material for Unit ED1 of the NEBOSH Diploma in Environmental Management. Please read it carefully.

Element 1: Principles of Environmental Risk Management

Natural Cycles and SustainabilityAt the beginning of this main section, the following new paragraph has been added beneath the Key Information box:

“We have already seen that the concept of the ‘environment’ embraces both the physical resources of the Earth (air, water, land and raw materials) and the living resources (animals, plants and humans). The various elements of the environment are continually interacting, and of particular significance is the way in which important nutrients are exchanged between the physical and living components of the environment.”

Carbon, Nitrogen and Phosphorus Cycles

The Carbon Cycle

The first two paragraphs of the text under this subheading have been amended and now read as follows:

“The element carbon is vital for life. It is a primary component of the biological compounds from which all living organisms are made, including proteins, carbohydrates (sugars and starches), lipids (fats and oils), and genetic material (DNA and RNA).

The carbon cycle describes the way in which carbon moves between plants and animals and the physical components of the environment (the atmosphere, ground and water bodies). The key stages of the cycle are described below:

• Plants photosynthesise, taking carbon in the form of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and using it to make carbohydrates (sugars). These are used as building blocks for other materials that are incorporated into plant tissues.

• Animals obtain carbon from the carbohydrates, proteins, fats and oils they ingest by eating plants, or other animals. As they break these foods down they release some of the carbon back into the atmosphere as carbon dioxide through the process of respiration.

• Plants also release carbon dioxide back into the atmosphere through the process of respiration, but much less than they take from the atmosphere during photosynthesis.

• Dead plant and animal tissues, as well as animal excrement, are digested by decomposers – mainly microbes, such as fungi and bacteria. During decomposition, carbon is released back into the atmosphere in the form of carbon dioxide or methane.

• Carbon dioxide from the atmosphere also dissolves in the oceans and can be converted, as calcium carbonate, into the shells and skeletons of marine organisms.

• In certain conditions, the remains of living organisms, especially plants, may become fossilised, eventually forming carbon-based fossil fuels (coal, oil and gas).

• Both fossil fuels and dead plant material (wood) may eventually be combusted, releasing the carbon they contain back into the atmosphere as carbon dioxide.

• Volcanoes and grass and forest fires also release large amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.”


2 © RRC International

The Nitrogen Cycle

The diagram in this subsection has been replaced by the following new diagram:

The Nitrogen Cycle



Hydrological CycleThe diagram in this subsection has been replaced by the following new diagram:

The Hydrological Cycle

Element 2: Environmental Risk Evaluation

Environmental Assessment

Environmental Impact Assessment

Identification of Projects Requiring Formal Environmental Assessment

The Topic Focus box in this subsection has been expanded and is now as follows:



Requirement for an Environmental Impact Assessment

The EU EIA Directive (2011/92/EU) was first introduced in 1985 and has been amended several times. The Directive requires an impact assessment of projects likely to have significant environmental effects, prior to them being granted consent by local and/or national authorities. The requirements of the Directive are implemented in the UK through the Town and Country Planning (Environmental Impact Assessment) Regulations 2011. These Regulations cover England and projects serving national defence purposes in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. The Town and Country Planning (Environmental Impact Assessment) (Scotland) Regulations 2011 and the Planning (Environmental Impact Assessment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2012 are similar and cover EIA requirements for Scotland and Northern Ireland.

An environmental impact assessment must be carried out on the environmental effects of proposed major industrial or civil engineering developments, as specified in Schedule 1 of the Regulations.

• Crude-oil refineries.

• Coal gasification or liquefaction plants.

• Major power stations.

• Iron and steel plants.

• Chemical installations.

• Hazardous and radioactive waste-disposal facilities.

• Major roads, railway lines and ports.

Projects listed in Schedule 2 are those that may require an environmental assessment, if the Planning Authority believes that the proposed development would be likely to have a significant effect on the environment, owing to:

• the characteristics of the development (e.g. size, use of natural resources, production of waste);

• location of the development (e.g. effects on protected areas);

• characteristics of the potential impact (e.g. probability and frequency of the impact).

These include the following project types:

• Agricultural.

• Extractive industry.

• Energy industry.

• Processing of metals.

• Glass-making.

• Chemical industry.

• Food industry.

• Textile, leather, wood or paper industries.

• Rubber industry.

• Infrastructure projects, such as:

– Industrial-estate development projects. – Urban development projects.

(Continued)



• Other projects, such as a holiday village or hotel complex.

• The modification of a Schedule 1 development already carried out.

• Temporary testing of Schedule 1 methods or products for not more than one year, etc.

Thresholds for the determination of inclusion in Schedule 2 are also defined in the Regulations, e.g. agricultural developments.

Agriculture and Aquaculture

Description of Development Applicable Thresholds and Criteria

(a) Projects for the use of uncultivated land or semi-natural areas for intensive agricultural purposes

The area of the development exceeds 0.5 of a hectare.

(b) Water-management projects for agriculture, including irrigation and land-drainage projects

The area of the works exceeds 1 hectare.

(c) Intensive livestock installations (unless included in Schedule 1)

The area of new floorspace exceeds 500 square metres.

(d) Intensive fish farming The installation resulting from the development is designed to produce more than 10 tonnes of dead weight fish per year.

(e) Reclamation of land from the sea All development

Guidance on environmental assessment, including whether an environmental assessment is required for Schedule 2 projects, is given in Planning Practice Guidance – ID: 4 Environmental Impact Assessment.

A copy is available at http://planningguidance.planningportal.gov.uk/blog/guidance/environmental-impact-assessment/

The EIA Regulations prohibit the granting of planning permission in cases where the Regulations apply, unless environmental information has been taken into account.

A company may also voluntarily submit an assessment, if it feels that it would add to the Planning Authority’s understanding of the project, or if it is part of the company’s environmental policy to carry out such an assessment.

It should be noted that the EU Commission is undertaking a fundamental review of the EIA Directive. It is expected that the issues that an impact assessment is required to consider will be expanded to include: population, human health, biodiversity, climate change and land. Assessments will also need to consider the exposure, vulnerability and resilience of developments to natural and manmade disaster risks.

Element 5: Developments in Environmental Legislation

Development of Environmental Law in the UK

The Role of the European Union in Influencing UK Law and its Direct Impact on Organisations and PeopleThe text under this subheading has been amended and now reads as follows:

“The European Union (EU) seeks to break down economic and commercial barriers between member states. Because environmental concerns might be used as trade barriers, the EU Commission has sought to harmonise environmental protection measures across the EU. The strategic thrust of the EU’s current environmental policy is contained in the 7th Environment Action Programme, ‘Living well, within the limits of our planet’, which was adopted in November 2013 and which will guide environmental action until 2020.

The EU has historically implemented its environmental policy by setting Directives on specified issues. Directives specify the environmental objectives that must be implemented through national law by each member state. This approach allows for considerable variation in legislation across different member states on key environmental issues. Consequently, the EU is increasingly using the instrument of the Regulation when passing new environmental legislation. An EU Regulation is directly applicable law in every member state.



It is undoubtedly the case that EU policy is now the greatest single driver for the development of environmental legislation in the UK. Within the framework of EU membership, the UK may set or influence environmental law as follows:

• Provide input and debate to influence the European Commission’s programmes and the detailed content of draft Directives and Regulations.

• Set unique UK environmental law to implement the requirements of Directives.

• Enact unique UK environmental law that does not contradict any EU law and which the European Commission does not regard as a barrier to trade.”

Element 7: Public Access to Environmental Information

Information Available to the PublicIn this main section, the first two subsections have been redrafted and now read as follows:

“Legal Requirements Relating to Public Access to InformationThe Freedom of Information Act 2000 came into force in 2005 and gives the public a right of access to all types of recorded information held by public authorities, but with a wide range of specified exemptions from that right – for example, in relation to matters of national security and personal information. The equivalent provision in Scotland is the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002.

Public authorities covered by the Act include:

• Government departments.

• Local Authorities.

• Police and Police Authorities.

• National Health Service.

• The armed forces.

• Other publicly-funded organisations.

A person who requests information from a public authority is entitled to be given it by that authority, and there are specified procedures and timeframes for information requests. Information Commissioners have been appointed to enforce and promote the requirements of the Freedom of Information Acts in the UK.

Legal Provisions Affecting Access by the Public to Environmental InformationAs well as the general rights given by the Freedom of Information Acts there are specific legal provisions that give the public rights of access to environmental information. These provisions flow from the international UNECE Aarhus Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-Making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters 1998, to which the EU and UK are both signatories. This convention has been ratified in the EU by the Public Access to Environmental Information Directive 2003/4/EC and in the UK by the Environmental Information Regulations 2004 (the Scottish equivalent is the Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations 2004).

The following website provides further information regarding implementation of the Convention in the EU: http://ec.europa.eu/environment/aarhus/

Public authorities have a duty to make environmental information available to any person who requests it. They are also required to provide advice and assistance. The procedures for making and responding to information requests are similar to the general provisions under the Freedom of Information Acts. There are also similar exemptions, including: security and defence, commercial confidentiality and intellectual property.

Information includes anything contained in any records, covering registers, reports and returns, as well as computer and any



other records.

‘Environmental Information’

Includes any measure or activity likely to affect, or affecting the environment, measures designed to protect the environment, emissions, discharges and other releases, cost-benefit and economic analyses and the state of human health and safety. Information should only be withheld if the benefit of doing so outweighs the public interest in the information.

The definition of ‘Environmental Information’ follows that in the Aarhus Convention and includes:

• The state of the elements of the environment, such as: air and atmosphere; water; soil; land; landscape and natural sites; biological diversity and its components, including GMOs.

• Factors such as substances, energy, noise, radiation, or waste likely to affect the above.

• Emissions, discharges and other releases into the environment.

• Measures such as policies, legislation, plans and programmes affecting, or likely to affect, or intended to protect the environment; cost-benefit and other economic analyses and assumptions used in environmental decision-making.

• The state of human health and safety, conditions of human life, cultural sites and built structures inasmuch as they are, or may be affected through the state of the elements of the environment.”

Presentation of Information on Environmental Management PerformanceThis main section has been restructured and redrafted. Please refer to your online material for the revised content.

Element 9: Solid and Liquid Wastes

Minimising Waste and Effluents

Disposal

Environmental Bodies Credit Scheme

At the end of this subsection, the following new paragraph has been added:

“From April 2015 the landfill tax in Scotland will be collected separately by Revenue Scotland and be called the Scottish Landfill Tax. At present, landfill tax is collected in the UK as a whole by HMRC. The enabling legislation is the Landfill Tax (Scotland) Act 2014. The rate of tax to be levied will be decided by Scottish Ministers through the release of a future Order.”



Element 11: Water Resources Management

Polluting Substances Released to Water

Designation of Controlled Waters and Water Protection Zones

Nitrate Vulnerable Zones (NVZs)

At the end of this subsection, the following new text has been added:

“The Nitrate Pollution Prevention (Amendment) and Water Resources (Control of Pollution) (Silage, Slurry and Agricultural Fuel Oil) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2013 further amend the 2008 Regulations. The key changes include:

• Introduction of new exceptions to the 250kg limit of nitrogen in organic manure, e.g. use of certified green compost as mulch on orchards.

• Non-livestock organic manure is now covered by the requirements that relate to total nitrogen spread on the land when certain crops are grown.

The amendment regulations also apply to the Water Resources (Control of Pollution) (Silage, Slurry and Agricultural Fuel Oil) (England) Regulations 2010. These laws are amended such that those who propose to build or improve their storage facilities for slurry, silage or fuel oil must notify the Environment Agency 14 days prior to construction work beginning.”

Element 13: Hazardous Substances

Legislation Affecting Use of PesticidesThis main section has been restructured and redrafted. Please refer to your online material for the revised content.

Element 14: Environmental Implications of Development and Land Use

Developing and Managing Land

Protection Given to Listed Species

IUCN Red List

After the More box at the end of this subsection, the following new subsection has been added:

“Invasive Species

Most non-native species do not have a significant effect on biodiversity in the UK. However, some non-native species have the ability to negatively affect native biodiversity and have a significant economic impact. Banning the sale of species is likely to have little effect where they are endemic. However, it can assist in preventing invasive species becoming established in areas where they could not do this by natural means. Under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 therefore it is an offence to sell or offer for sale non-native species that are listed in Schedule 9 of the Act. (The Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 (Prohibition on Sale etc. of Invasive Non-Native Plants) (England) Order 2014 added further plant species to the Schedule.) Examples of species in Schedule 9 include:

• Floating water primrose.

• Large mouth black bass.

• Signal crayfish.

• American mink.

• Japanese knotweed.

• Zander.”



Contamination of Soil and GroundwaterThis main section has been substantially amended. Please refer to your online material for the revised content.

Element 15: Energy Use and Efficiency

Reduction of Energy Use and Carbon Emissions

International and National Control Strategies for Carbon-Dioxide EmissionsThe Topic Focus box at the beginning of this subsection has been replaced by the following revised Topic Focus box:

International Control Strategies

The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) is a treaty that entered into force in 1994 and is the foundation stone of international efforts to tackle climate change. There are now 195 parties to the Convention, including the European Union and the UK. The Convention is implemented by the Kyoto Protocol, which was adopted in 1997 but did not come into force until 2005, when 36 industrialised countries and the EU committed to meet specified emissions targets.

The main objective of the Protocol is to reduce emissions of six greenhouse gases: carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, sulphur hexafluoride, hydrofluorocarbons and perfluorocarbons. The first phase (‘first commitment period’) of the implementation of the Protocol ran from 2008 to 2012 and set national emission targets, which, overall, amounted to an average 5% emissions reduction of this basket of gases compared with 1990 levels. Developing countries, such as Brazil, had no emissions reduction targets but committed to monitor and report their emissions.

The Doha Amendment to the Kyoto Protocol was adopted in 2012 and introduced a second commitment period running from 2013 to 2020. Participants have agreed to reduce GHG emissions by at least 18% against 1990 levels in this period. The list of reportable greenhouse gases has been amended by the addition of nitrogen trifluoride, used as an etching material in microelectronics production.

Countries that have signed up to the second commitment period (so-called ‘Annex l’ countries) have flexibility in the actions they take to achieve the specified reductions, and this may include participation in ‘market-based mechanisms’, such as the EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS). Two new international mechanisms – the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) and Joint Implementation (JI) – have been introduced by the UN to provide further flexibility.

The CDM allows an Annex I country to implement emission reduction projects in developing countries. Such projects can earn certified emission reduction (CER) credits (each credit is equivalent to one tonne of CO2), which can be traded and sold to other Annex I countries to meet a part of their emission reduction targets under the Protocol. Joint Implementation allows an Annex I country to invest in an emissions reduction project in another Annex I country, thereby earning emission reduction units (ERUs) that can be used towards their own reduction target.

The adoption of the Kyoto Protocol has always been highly controversial, with certain major trading countries resisting the concept of binding emissions reduction targets. The current Annex I countries account for only about 15% of global GHG emissions, and a number of important industrialised nations, including the USA, Canada and Russia, have yet to sign up to the second commitment period of the Protocol.

Further information on international strategies for climate change can be found on the websites of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and the United Nations Environment Programme:

http://www.ipcc.ch/ and http://www.unep.org/climatechange/



Renewable Heat Incentives (RHIs)In this subsection, immediately before the Topic Focus box, the following new paragraphs have been added:

“The Renewables Obligation Order 2009 imposes an obligation (known as the renewables obligation) on suppliers of electricity in England and Wales. Suppliers are required to produce a number of renewable obligation certificates (ROCs) covering every megawatt hour of electricity that is supplied during a specific time period.

The Gas and Electricity Markets Authority issues ROCs to generators of renewable electricity based on their eligible renewable output, who then sell them to electricity suppliers. Administrative changes to the Order were made by the Renewables Obligation (Amendment) Order 2014.”

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