Environmental Requirements for the Aviation Industry - Assignment Example

Environmental Management: The Airport Industry Name of Student Student No: Supervisor’s name: Date: Introduction As the officer in charge of the safety and compliance in a small airport, it is my duty to ensure that all safety parameters are being kept by all the one thousand employees that work here. Airports are important as a national resource because of the crucial role they play in transportation that spans local, national and international destinations for people and commodities. The smaller airports in conjunction with their board of governors are coomitted to good neighborliness, improving their environmental compliance efforts and educating the public about these initiatives. Due to inadequate wherewithal, and staff shortages it is difficult to retain a full time expert in environmental practices. This is coupled with the insufficient technical resources that are at the disposal of smaller airports in which all federal environmental compliance requirements are all summed up in a single paper including any opportunities to enhance performance from an environmental point of view. Environmental Requirements for the Aviation Industry The Airports Council International-North America environmental goals were adopted in February of 2009 in an attempt to improve the compliance of airports that are members of the association. The general goals adopted and binding on every member were: A policy statement should have been formulated for each airport by 2010. Every member airport should endeavour to come up with an Environmental Management System in place by 2019 for small airports. Other goals were put in place that deal with the specificities of environmental areas. i. Air Quality, Climate and Energy. By 2019, there is expected to be a 50% conversion rate of all airport-owned and operated vehicles to the low emission type. The conversion of access vehicle that frequent the airport to low emission should have been achieved by 2010. Support framework for such vehicles should be available in at least half the member airports by 2019 and by 2014 there should be an energy conservation program in place that especially promotes goals that are aimed at reducing non-renewable energy use in an airport-specific manner. 25% of the loading bridges should be fitted with pre-conditioned air and 400hz of power come 2019. Incentives should be issued to low emission passenger vehicles or a reduced fee charged for at least half the members by 2010. A Green House Gas emissions account must be done by at least half of the membership by 2015. ii. Noise A Noise and Land Use Compatibility Policy must be formulated by each member airport by the year 2019. iii. Management of Waste A fundamental program for recycling must be in place for every member airport by 2011, while 50% of these must have an expanded recycling program by 2014. iv. Quality of Water Member airports are given until 2014 to execute a program that conserves water and comprises of airport specific objectives to reduce water use. Training will also be carried out in spill reduction with the aim of decreasing the spill rate by 25% from the 2005 levels by the year 2015. The rate of petroleum-based spills should be reduced to zero. Environmental Management of Airports. Development or expansion of airports bring about great challenges from an environmental perspective. It also presents the opportunity to incorporate green features into its system. In order to address issues of sustainability in development of the airport, it is important to possess an Environmental Management System (EMS) with which to deal with the compliance issues that are contained in the International Organisation for Standardization (ISO) 14001 guidelines, as well as the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and local regulations. In order to begin, the first step is to follow the ‘Plan-Do-Check-Act’ (P-D-C-A) cycle as illustrated in the figure below. Figure 1: Plan-Do-Check-Act Cycle This cycle was popularised by Dr W. Edwards Deming and is commonly associated with the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) (2004)14001 Environmental Management System (EMS) standard although they do not necessarily comply with those standards. Plan Identification of Hazards. According to Frankel (2007) ecological problems connected to airport operations comprise: · Sound and vibrations: mainly from the landing and taking off of planes, various ground based equipment operations, aircraft auxiliary power units as well as engine testing operations. Other sources include the noise from access vehicles on the airport roads. · Storm water and effluent: this originates mainly from pavement run-off and sanitary effluent from within facilities on the ground in the aircraft. The former may contain pollutants from leaks and spills from airplane and ground vehicle engines. In the winter, there is addition of deicing fluids that contain poisons that may contaminate aquatic environments although they are biodegradable. They increase oxygen demand and cause eutrofication due to the nutrients in the deicing chemicals. · Dangerous materials management: the fuels that are used in airports must be stored and handled especially when the actual fueling is taking place. in smaller airports this may be done via tanker trucks. · Solid waste: this is the by-product that is left behind by passengers and services utilising the airport. · Air emissions: from combustion exhaust emanating from the aircraft, and ground service vehicles. Plus vapour from the storage and handling of fuel, fuel combustion during fire training, on site electricity and heat generation and solid waste incineration. · Energy and water utilization: very high amounts of energy can be utilised for lighting, cooling and heating within airports. Use of water is subject to the system used in maintenance and types of passenger. Dealing with Hazards In order to deal with these hazards and avoid non-compliance with environmental regulations, the following plan was formulated as a guideline to the employees. Category Sustainability Practices and Criteria Executive Come up with strategies, measures and devices, community outreach, and human resources Storm water management, It is necessary to set up attrition and sediment management, rate and quality treatment, operations, contamination, de-icing facilities and have a prevention plan Water efficiency There should be a water management plan, effluent expertise and reduction of water consumption Land Transportation Ensure access to public transportation, lower emission fuel means of transport, parking facility, and appropriate thoroughfare design Site and external design Reduction of light pollution, water resourceful landscaping Energy efficiency and environment Begins with systems assignment, lowest energy performance, optimize energy performance, and chlorofluorocarbon reduction Interior ecological features It is essential to have tobacco smoke control, carbon dioxide supervision, aeration efficiency, low-emitting materials, chemical and contaminant source control, and limitation of sound diffusion. Facility operations Comprises of operations, maintenance and equipment, site selection and restoration, Brownfield and contaminated site redevelopment, exterior air quality, noise, vegetation and wildlife management Materials and resources In order to maximise usage, it is important to have waste reduction, storage collection of recyclables, structure, and reuse of building where possible. Construction practices Ensure that during inception of the airport site, the following construction practises were followed; sustainable construction project report, implementation of sustainability inspection program, construction scheduling and sequencing, construction waste management, recycled content, use of local or regional material, rapidly renewable materials, planning for deconstruction, disassembly and flexible use of space, construction health and safety Noise Pollution To deal with noise pollution the airport undertakes to implement preferred procedures and routes for landing and take off as outlined in the Aeronautical Information Publication of the airport in order to reduce the amount of noise in areas where there is sensitivity to it. this would entail provision of instructions on noise preferential routes (NPRs) including continuous descent approach or Low Power/Low Drag procedure that minimises aircraft noise by such operations as no flap or wheels deployed. Table 1: summary of sustainability practises at the airport site. Issues that Arise From Dealing with Government officials. The EPA currently concentrates on the measurement of environmental compliance within industries. This assists in keeping tabs on industries to ensure that they comply fully with the Clean Air Act, the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, the Clean Water act and any other statute that may apply. Non-compliance with these Acts may lead to consequences that may range from stipulated penalties to supplementary environmental projects. EPA (1995). Below is a sample of the EPA checklist for airports. Figure 2: environmental screening checklist for airports and tenant operations Challenges in Ensuring Compliance to Environmental Regulations Once planning is complete, the ‘Do’ phase of the cycle begins and it involves implementation of the program goals by the employees of the firm. Special attention is given to the timings of regulatory compliance requirements more so if they require a customary inspection, supervision, reporting, training or notification in advance. One way to ensure compliance is by digital distribution of a strategy calendar to ensure that deadlines are met. McGormley et al(2011) There must also be some training conducted to acquaint staff with the environmental requirements that they should observe. This serves as a way to increase awareness on the airport’s environmental policies and objectives while reinforcing roles and responsibilities that the staff, tenants, contractors and vendors are supposed to play. This training efforts are continuous in a bid to maintain staff awareness levels. It is necessary that the participants have a positive experience during training and if one is reviewing past mistakes it should avoid apportioning blame but concentrate on ways to avoid recurrence in future. The environmental manager also takes the opportunity to laud those employees who have had a positive effect on the environment for example those who have successfully launched new environmental initiatives, etc. this is a good place to generate new ideas on environmental policy implementation and to obtain feedback. Combination of different aspects of regulations should be conducted in one session to save on company resources and to illustrate the linkages between different regulations. Possible Ethical and Professional Dilemmas The assumption is that regulations pertaining to environmental laws are composed in an ethical manner that will give guidelines on how to affect development without detriment to the environment. However, a development may comply with the letter of the law but not the spirit of it. This leaves the environmental manager in a situation where he or she has to use their own discretion in order to protect the natural resources. For example, training may not be entrenched in the regulatory framework, and it may cause some friction due to utilisation of resources, but it is also necessary for the airport workers to have an awareness of what measures have been taken to meet environmental goals. Therefore the good environmental manager must find a way to balance these two aspects. Kauffman (2001) Conclusion The job of the environmental manager is a difficult and often thankless one. However, the significance to the environment cannot be gainsaid and even as the quest to balance the company bottom line vs. the environmental benefit may prove to be a struggle, it is a necessary one to ensure the health and safety of the public. Oftentimes employees may not understand the need to comply with continuous trainings or to fill in the checklists as required and it is the job of the environmental manager to ensure that the work gets done regardless. Some benefits such as control of run-off and effluent may not be immediately obvious but the saving garnered in utility bills through energy saving mechanisms is an immediate and tangible effect of good environmental management practises. A reduction in green house gas emissions and subsequent lowering of the company carbon footprint is a measurable consequence of environmental awareness which brings with it its own reward. However, the fundamental reason behind the necessity for environmental planning and administration is the continued health of the planet and the living things that live within it. References EPA. (1995). Compliance and Enforcement History. Sector Notebook Project. Federal Aviation Administration Office of Airports (ARP). (2006). Order 5050.4B -National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) Implementing Instructions for Airport Actions. Washington D.C.: Author. Frankel, C. (2007) .Environmental, Health, and Safety Guidelines for Airports. World Bank Group. ISO 14001 (2004) ISO 14000 Essentials. (2004). Retrieved 21st September, 2011 from http://www.iso.org/iso/iso_14000_essentials Kauffman, G.J. (2001). The Ethical Dilemma of the Natural Resources Policymaker: Perspectives from a State Water Coordinator. in PA Times, American Society for Public Administration (ASPA), July. McCarthy, J. E. (2010). Aviation and Climate Change: R40090. Congressional Research Service: Report, 1-11. McGormley, R.W; Lengel, Jr., J.A, Seal, D.E, Foster J.N et al. (2011). Guidebook of Practices for Improving Environmental Performance at Small Airports. Airport Cooperative Research Program Read More