Perspectives on Environmental Assessment: A risk based approach to - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Perspectives on Environmental Assessment: A risk based approach to managing environmental liability

I NT NTROD ODUCT CTION ON On One aspect of HSE that is often not well developed in plans and pr procedures is the he E: Environment En Environmental Envir En ironm nment ntal al cons nsid iderat atio ions ns ar are wid ide rang anging ing and and touc uch on n a a as asses essmen ent is by its number of dis num iscip ipline ines. Wit Within in the realm of HSE, E, these are most often proc of ocedu dures s for or de dealing wi with sp specific environ onme mental events s na natur ure or or issu ssues, s, usu sually those ose that oc occur ou outsi side de of of nor orma mal practices. s. mu multidisci ciplinary, an and touch ches es on a a My go My goal today is to touch ch on the E in HSE, but also provide a wi wide range of sco copes mu much mor more com omprehensi sive view w of of wh what environ onme mental of wor of ork and assessment is as is. act activi vities es. Today we e will explore some wi me of these varia th iables.

I NT NTROD ODUCT CTION ON Before we go Be go further I wan ant to introduce ce each ach member of WL WLCS CS present he pr here today. Sc Scott V Verot: O : Operations M Manager Environmental En asses as essmen ent is by its David Fortin, Ph.D. Da D.: Senior Environmental Scientist na natur ure mu multidisci ciplinary, Sc Scott B Barnes, P , Ph.D .D., ., P. P.Ag.: P .: President and touch an ches es on a a Be Between us we have 40+ year ars of working g in environmental al wide range of sco wi copes sc science and d proj oject t ma manageme ment. t. of of wor ork and activi act vities es. Today we e will explore some wi me of these varia th iables.

I NT NTROD ODUCT CTION ON The maj Th ajor themes I wan ant to co cover today ar are as as follows: • Defining environmental science and assessment De Environmental En • Defining environmental liability and give examples where De asses as essmen ent is by its this th s may exist st na natur ure mu multidisci ciplinary, • De Develop the concept of risk assessment techniques and touch an ches es on a a re regarding the assessment of environmental l li liabili lity wide range of sco wi copes • Have a small Ha ll group exercise to help lp you be become famili liar r of of wor ork and wi with this s approa oach. act activi vities es. Today we e will explore some wi me of • Bu But most importan antly – an answer your questio ions these varia th iables.

W HA IS E NV NTAL S CI NCE ? HAT IS NVIRONM ONMENT CIENCE En Envir ironm nment ntal al scie ienc nce is is the collectio ion n of kno nowledge held by a a person, compa pe pany, or othe her group p tha hat allows it to sys ystematically y as assess a a proce cess, locat catio ion or in incid cident for the presence ce or ab absence ce of envir ironmental al liab iabil ilit ity. Environmental En sc science is s a new This is a Th a relat atively new field in terms of acad academic c progr gram ams. discipline. It has di Th The first environmental al sci cience ce progr gram ams in Can Canad ada a ar are only beco become me popular ar with ar around 25 year ars in in age age. most co mo colleges and Prior to tha Pr hat, pe peopl ple would be trained in othe her discipl plines and uni universities no now br bring that knowle ledge to solv lving environmental l proble blems. offering prog of ograms. Can Canad ada a is is a a world lead ader in in the pool of pract actit itio ioners as as well as as re regula lations that govern rn industry.

W HA IS E NV NTAL S CI NCE ? HAT IS NVIRONM ONMENT CIENCE Who does envir Wh ironm nment ntal al scie ienc nce? In In m most c cases, p , projects w will r require p professional o oversight a and si sign of off. For or example, th this s is s si simi milar to o an engineer si signing of off Environmental En on on a st structural dr drawi wing. as asses essmen ent is to be be done by qualified do d There is not (as Th as of yet) a a professional al body that at is direct ctly pe persons ns. This is rela re lated to environmental l science. There re are re a number r of other r de defined d by the pr professional organizations tha hat accredit environmental practitioners – in pr in Sas askat atchewan an these ar are cal alled Qual ualif ifie ied Sa Saskatch chewan Pe Persons. Departmen Dep ent of the e Environment. En ht http: p://www.en environmen ent.gov.sk.ca/qualified edper person

W HA IS E NV NTAL S CI NCE ? HAT IS NVIRONM ONMENT CIENCE A A good shortcut ut to see if if someone ne is is qua ualif ifie ied can n be done ne as fo follows: A A member of one ne of the following ing professio iona nal bodie ies: Environmental En Agrologists, B Ag , Biologists, C , Chemists, F , Foresters, E , Engineers. as asses essmen ent is to be be do done by qualified d Has a perm Ha rmit to pra ractice. pe persons ns. This is de defined d by the Car Carrie ies professio ional al liab iabil ilit ity in insuran ance ce. Sa Saskatch chewan Ev Every proje ject is is dif ifferent nt, and and as as suc uch dif ifferent nt qual ualif ifie ied Dep Departmen ent of the e pe persons may y be needed for aspe pects of work rk – i. i.e. in in their ir scope Environment. En of of practice.

Q UA UALIFIED P ERS ERSON V ERS ERSUS E NV NTAL A SSE NVIRONM ONMENT SSESSO SSOR As Assessing ing a sit ite or a process is is a team effort. As As stated a qu qualified person is responsible to ensure that a project is co completed to relevan ant professional al stan andar ards. Assessment is As A A team approach is is common, n, where the qua ualif ifie ied person n works us usua ually done ne in n a wi with an environ onme mental asse ssessor ssor. These se indi dividu duals s have a range team appro te roach, with of of ski skills s and d acade demi mic backgrou ounds. ds. The qualified d person son the qu th qualif ifie ied person wo works with them to develop project specific tasks to be working with and wo completed under supervision. co supervisi su sing an Fo For ex example, we recently t trained 1 15 G GGFN m N members a as j junior asses as essor. en environmen enta tal asses essors to act t as monitors for the the Enbridge e Li Line e 3 Repl eplacem emen ent Pr Program.

W HA IS E NV NTAL S CI NCE ? HAT IS NVIRONM ONMENT CIENCE No Now w we kn know w who d does t the w work, w , what i is t the s scope? Th This is a a difficu cult an answer, but in ge general al if there is a a best pr practice, regulation, requirement, or incident involving known or Environmental En potential impa po pacts to the he environment, the here is a scope pe of work rk sc scopes s of work are re to to be executed. qu quit ite varia iable, and mo most often are part Some e So envi vironmental w work i is e easy t to d define, a , and i is s specifically of a larger proj of oject. scop sc oped d as s a proj oject. t. It t is s also so very common ommon for or environ onme menta tal sc scop opes s of of wor ork to o be part t of of a larger proj oject, t, and d su subcon ontr tracted d Wh When planning a out. If you ou ou are a proj oject ma manager, kn knowi wing wh what environ onme mental project, be aware pr require re rements are re in pla lace are re key to ensuri ring success, much th that t th there may be the th e sa same e as s knowing th the e hea ealth th and d sa safety ty req equirem emen ents. ts. en envi vironmen ental al is issues.

W HA IS E NV NTAL L IA ITY ? HAT IS NVIRONM ONMENT IABIL ILIT En Envir ironm nment ntal al liab iabil ilit ity is is a a us useful ul conc ncept in in scoping ing en environmen enta tal work and ta tasks. A working quer ery y would ask the the fo following: Environmental En Is t Is there k known o or p potential e envi vironmental i impacts o on a a s site, i , in liabili li lity is the known a proce a cess, or from an an event? or or likelihood ood of of the pr presenc nce of If so, t If s , there i is t the p potential f for e envi vironmental l liability. en envi vironmen ental al An assessment An nt of envir ironm nment ntal lia iabil ilit ity requir uires the imp impacts ts. This is is is considerat co ation of a a number of fact actors. in investig tigated th through en envi vironmen ental al as asses essmen ent.