Original Date: 04/24/2007
Revision Date: / /

The Environmental Management Plan developed by University of New Orleans, College of Engineering researchers is an effective tool that can be used by U.S. industry for managing environmental processes, concerns, and regulatory compliance.

The University of New Orleans, College of Engineering (UNO COE) developed a comprehensive environmental management tool that is applicable to not only the shipbuilding industry, but also other manufacturing enterprises. In order to develop an effective Environmental Management Plan (EMP) for any industry, a clear understanding of several factors is required. Some of those factors include processes; materials used in products; multimedia wastes generated; emissions pathways (land, air, and water); impact on the environment and health; environmental regulations; best management practices and controls; control over compliance, costs, image, and feedback; and continuous improvement.

In developing the EMP for the shipyards, all typical major shipyard processes were identified (e.g., surface preparation, surface finishing, painting, coating, welding, cutting, etc.) and then flowcharted to identify the possible sources of environmental concerns and the environmental outfall flow. After the processes were identified and flowcharted, the process flow verified, and environmental concerns identified, the UNO COE researchers developed a comprehensive series of reports and resource books detailing the process followed for the development of an effective program. These reports and resource books also provide guidance on regulatory requirements, waste minimization equipment, waste sampling and analytical methods, employee training, best management practices, and focus areas to reduce multimedia emissions.

This approach continues to benefit shipyards and Navy yards and is scalable to other industrial sectors with some modifications.

For more information see the Point of Contact for this survey.