Environmental verifier
Environmental verifiers are natural or legal persons who are granted the right by the Environmental Audit Act (UAG ) to confirm that organizations (industrial, service companies or other institutions) have fulfilled the requirements of the European Eco-Audit System (EMAS). It is checked whether all regulations of the EC Eco Audit Regulation and the data and information in the environmental statement have been complied with. With the validated environmental declaration, the company can participate in the environmental audit system of the European Union. The environmental verifier is selected and paid by the client himself. However, the verifier must meet the professional and personal requirements and be accredited. Environmental verifiers / organizations go through special approval procedures for such authorization.
tasks
Duties of an environmental verifier according to Regulation (EC) No. 1221/2009 (EMAS)
One of the main tasks of environmental verifiers is the validation of companies or organizations in accordance with the EMAS regulation. Among other things, the environmental verifier checks the appropriateness of the first environmental review , the environmental management system and the company's environmental auditing procedures. The focus of the audit, however, is the examination of the environmental statement for reliability, credibility and correctness of the data. This must show the following minimum content:
- Clear, unambiguous description of the organization
- Description and evaluation of all significant direct and indirect environmental aspects
- Description of the environmental goals and the measures derived from them
- Comprehensible summary of the data on environmental performance . Information on the six core indicators: energy efficiency, material efficiency, emissions, water, waste and biodiversity.
A prerequisite for validation with the EMAS seal is also compliance with the applicable environmental regulations and continuous improvement of the company's environmental performance. The environmental verifier records the results of the assessment in writing. The report must contain information on whether the provisions of the EMAS regulation have been complied with, what evidence has been viewed, how environmental goals and continuous improvement of environmental performance have been assessed, whether deficiencies have occurred and to what extent they have been remedied and whether the company complies with the applicable environmental regulations adheres to. Further recommendations and suggestions for changes may also be made.
If the company fulfills all requirements of the EMAS regulation and there are no indications of violations of environmental regulations, the expert confirms this formally by signing the "Declaration on the assessment and validation activities".
Further tasks
In addition to validations in accordance with EMAS, environmental verifiers carry out other expert and expert activities. This includes various reviews and certifications for the requirements of the state according to the specifications and requirements of the corresponding laws:
- System monitoring according to the Federal Immission Control Act ( BImSchG )
- Expert activity in environmental impact assessments
- Expert activity for permit applications according to BImSchG
- Checks according to the Packaging Act ( VerpackG )
- Certifications according to the Altfahrzeuggesetz ( AltfahrzeugG )
- Certifications according to the Ordinance on Waste Management Companies ( EfbV )
- Certifications according to the Renewable Energy Sources Act ( EEG )
- Certifications according to the Greenhouse Gas Emissions Trading Act ( TEHG )
- Certifications according to the Biomass Electricity Sustainability Ordinance ( BioSt-NachV )
The approval of environmental verifiers in Germany
General
The approval of environmental verifiers is carried out by the European Environmental Management and Audit Scheme (EMAS). EMAS is a voluntary environmental policy instrument for companies and organizations with the aim of continuously reducing environmental impact. Organizations using the EMAS process are kept in a public register. This should continuously improve environmental protection and at the same time contribute to sustainable and environmentally friendly development.
EMAS monitors the approval and the requirements for the environmental verifier.
Admission process
- Checking the reliability
- Verification of independence
- Review of specialist knowledge (personal examination of people)
Periodic supervision
- Review of the admission requirements
- Review of the quality of the assessments carried out
- Review of the documents on assessments including the environmental statement
- Witness audits (verification during practical work on site)
- Supervisory measures in the event of errors / quality deficiencies
Event-related supervision Review of special incidents or defects that have become known in current assessments, e.g. B. Assessment without sufficient area of approval, validation despite indications of non-compliance with legal provisions or validation without sufficient impartiality.
The admission procedure for environmental verifiers and environmental verifier organizations in Germany is illustrated in the graphic opposite.
The admission requirements in detail
reliability
An environmental verifier according to § 5 UAG is reliable if, due to his personal characteristics, his behavior and his skills, he is suitable for the proper fulfillment of the tasks incumbent on him. As a rule, this does not apply if he is punished for violating certain regulations, if he is not in an orderly economic situation or if he is unable to practice the profession of environmental verifier for health reasons. The environmental verifier must also have the independence required in accordance with Article 23 (4) of Regulation (EC) No. 1221/2009.
independence
Independence (§ 6 UAG) means e.g. B. that the environmental verifier may not at the same time be the owner of the organization he is reviewing, has a majority stake in it, is employed by it or is otherwise linked. He must be able to carry out his work objectively and free of instructions.
Expertise
An environmental verifier has the necessary specialist knowledge if, based on his training, professional training and practical experience, he is suitable for properly performing the tasks incumbent on him. The specialist knowledge requires, among other things, the completion of a relevant degree, sufficient specialist knowledge and at least three years of independent full-time activity. The specialist knowledge must be proven in an oral examination.
System for listing approved environmental verifiers
Environmental verifiers are approved for one or more industries. The so-called NACE code (French: Nomenclature statistique des activités économiques dans la Communauté européenne ) is used to describe the areas of approval, which is used for the statistical systematization of all economic sectors in the European Community. Every economic activity is described in the NACE code by a sequence of up to five digits. The number system according to the NACE code is structured hierarchically, i. H. the first two digits of the code indicate the superordinate branch, the next two digits the branch of business in this branch, and the last two digits a specific specialist area. So stands z. B. number 15 for the food industry, number 15.96 for breweries.
The basic structure of the NACE classification of economic activities, which was originally used in European statistics, dates back to the 1980s and has already been revised and adapted several times by the European Council . Since April 2008, approval has been granted - based on the revision of the economic sector classification by Regulation (EC) No. 1893/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council of December 20, 2006 - according to the new classification WZ 2008 (2nd NACE revision). The environmental verifiers have been recoded since November 21, 2008.
A list of all environmental verifiers approved in Germany can be found on the homepage of DAU - German Accreditation and Licensing Society for Environmental Verifiers mbH under the heading "Environmental Verifiers", "Database". The addresses of various environmental verifiers are displayed here by entering various search criteria such as name or approval number, location or approval area according to the old coding WZ 93 and the new WZ 2008. A corresponding list of the NACE codes for the various branches of industry can also be found on the DAU homepage under “Publications”.
Web links
THE EMAS ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSOR Guarantee the reliability and credibility of the EMAS system ( Memento from January 21, 2016 in the Internet Archive )
http://www.uga.de/umweltgutachter/weiter-taetigungen/
http://www.uga.de/fileadmin/user_upload/UGA-Homepage/Allgemeines/PDF-Dateien/Ver%C3%B6ffnahmungen/UGA-Aufgabe-LL_EEG.pdf ( Memento from July 2, 2014 in the Internet Archive )
http://www.dau-bonn-gmbh.de/dauList.htm?cid=203