18-Env-B1 Environmental Assessment and Management Systems · May 2017
Nivaar worked solution (AI-drafted; not reviewed by a licensed engineer)
Reference texts: Mihelcic & Zimmerman, Environmental Engineering: Fundamentals, Sustainability, Design; Davis & Cornwell, Introduction to Environmental Engineering (6th ed.); ISO 14001:2015, Environmental Management Systems — Requirements with Guidance for Use; ISO 14040/14044, Life Cycle Assessment — Principles and Framework; Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999 (CEPA); Impact Assessment Act, 2019 (Canada); World Commission on Environment and Development, Our Common Future (the Brundtland Report), 1987.
Question text not reproduced: the examination questions are © Engineers and Geoscientists BC. Open the official past paper (linked at the top of this page) to read the question, then follow the worked solution below.
(i) Four key differences between an EMS and an environmental audit.
| Aspect | Environmental Management System (EMS) | Environmental Audit |
|---|---|---|
| Nature | A continuous, structured management framework (policy, planning, implementation, review) that runs indefinitely. | A discrete, point-in-time verification exercise conducted periodically against a defined scope. |
| Purpose | Proactively manage and continually improve overall environmental performance (ISO 14001 Plan-Do-Check-Act cycle). | Retrospectively verify compliance with regulations, permits or the EMS's own procedures. |
| Ownership | Operated by facility management and staff as part of day-to-day operations. | Typically performed by an independent internal or third-party auditor, separate from day-to-day operating staff. |
| Output | Objectives, targets, procedures and a management-review record that evolve over time. | A findings report with identified non-conformances and recommended corrective actions at a single point in time. |
An audit is, in fact, one of the checking tools an EMS uses (ISO 14001's internal-audit requirement), but the two are not interchangeable: an audit alone has no mechanism to set forward-looking objectives, while an EMS without periodic auditing has no independent check that its procedures are actually being followed.
(ii) GIS applications to reduce environmental impacts of a large hydro dam — northern-Quebec-scale hydroelectric development. Three important areas: 1. Reservoir footprint and habitat-loss delineation. GIS overlays the proposed reservoir's flood extent onto land-cover, wetland and wildlife-habitat layers to quantify exactly which forest, wetland and fish-spawning habitat will be inundated, letting the design team compare alternative dam heights/reservoir levels to minimize habitat loss before construction commitments are made. 2. Downstream and cumulative watershed impact mapping. GIS models the altered flow regime's effect on downstream channel morphology, fish passage and any existing licensed water users along the same river system, capturing cumulative impacts that a single-site environmental review focused only on the dam footprint would miss. 3. Reservoir mercury-methylation and water-quality risk mapping. By overlaying the flood extent on soil-organic-carbon and forest-biomass layers, GIS identifies zones of high flooded-biomass density that pose the greatest methylmercury bioaccumulation risk, allowing targeted pre-flood vegetation clearing to be prioritized where it reduces the most downstream fish-consumption risk per hectare cleared.
