Recently in Compliance & Sustainability Reporting Category

Clean Air-Cool Planet and Forum for the Future have just published Getting to Zero: Defining Corporate Climate Neutrality  (Download — PDF), a joint project "developed in the absence of any hard and fast standards for climate neutrality, and out of growing concern that the real value of the concept could be lost in a stream of inflated claims."

"There's no agreed-upon definition of how much of a company's carbon footprint it needs to offset or what's needed to offset it," states Joel Makower in Two Steps Forward.

Getting to Zero attempts to make sense of all this, laying out the boundaries, providing definitions, and recommending company approaches. Among the recommendations:

Embrace a stretching boundary. The key tension surrounding any claim of neutrality remains reconciling the absolute nature of the claim — implying zero net impact — with a practical boundary-setting process. In the spirit of the term, we recommend that companies accept that claiming neutrality implies some responsibility to consider and address broader value-chain emissions. This is not to suggest that companies accept legal responsibility for the direct emissions of others, but rather that indirect emissions be explicitly considered as part of the neutrality process.

SAS, the leader in business intelligence, is helping organizations accurately measure and manage their environmental impact. Today's announcement of SAS® for Sustainability Management introduces the first decision-support software platform for proactively identifying innovative strategies that effectively address complex environmental, social, and economic situations while achieving stakeholder objectives.

"While most executives agree that a green strategy is a good idea, few know how to value or prioritize their initiatives," said Kimberly Knickle, Practice Director, Emerging Agenda, Manufacturing Insights, an IDC company. "They struggle with the business case, waiting to implement strategies until outcomes can be predicted more reliably."

According to a McKinsey survey [1] , environmental issues including climate change top the agenda in executive suites worldwide. But measuring and managing environmental impact is difficult, intricate work that stretches across an organization's operations.

Causal relationships connecting issues such as greenhouse gas emissions, use of scarce resources, ethical sourcing and regulatory compliance make it extremely complex to invest in green technology and expand sales of products and services with measurably better environmental performance.

"Lessening our impact on the environment and mitigating the future risk of depleting our planet's natural resources is becoming a priority in shaping every organization's strategy," said Jim Goodnight, CEO of SAS. "With SAS, organizations can optimize business strategies for minimizing risks and costs, developing new lines of business, and improving resource use, environmental or otherwise."

Cisco is using SAS to support its sustainability efforts. "Cisco believes that new innovative technologies and the power of collaboration are keys to achieving our sustainability goals and minimizing our impact on the environment," said Laura Ipsen, Co-chair of Cisco's EcoBoard and Senior Vice President of Cisco Global Policy and Government Affairs. "By partnering with SAS and utilizing SAS for Sustainability Management, Cisco can better prioritize projects and resources that create a positive return for the environment, shareholders, and our employees. The SAS solution will enable us to simulate the impact on carbon footprint, waste reduction targets, greenhouse gas emissions and other goals so we can more effectively predict and manage the impact of our operations on the environment."

SAS for Sustainability Management, based on the SAS Enterprise Intelligence Platform, uses the Global Reporting Initiative framework to report on Triple Bottom Line indicators. These indicators relate to the three spheres of sustainability – environmental, social, and economic, using SAS' predictive abilities to validate strategies, identify causal relationships, forecast improvement scenarios and drive innovation. The SAS Corporate Social Responsibility Report (PDF) conforms to the Sustainability Reporting Guidelines developed by the Global Reporting Initiative.

TechDirect, hosted by the U.S. EPA's Technology Innovation Program, is an information service that highlights new publications and events of interest to site remediation and site assessment professionals. At the beginning of every month, the service, via e-mail, will distribute a message describing the availability of publications and events. For publications, the message will explain how to obtain a hard copy or how to download an electronic version.

Technology News and Trends is a newsletter for environmental professionals that features a combination of articles on innovative, in-situ technologies for the characterization and treatment of soil, sediment, and ground water. Technology News and Trends replaces Tech Trends and Ground Water Currents, which were published from 1992 through 2002. Technology News and Trends is published quarterly.

Technology Innovation News Survey contains market/commercialization information; reports on demonstrations, feasibility studies and research; and other news relevant to the hazardous waste community interested in technology development. This report is updated each month.

Federal Business Opportunities (FedBizOpps) is published weekly. This update contains summaries of procurement and contract award notices issued the previous week that pertain to hazardous waste, solid waste, underground storage tank remediation, and other environmental topics. However, it does not necessarily contain EVERY notice on these topics.

Subscribe to these helpful publications at www.clu-in.org

Growers of fresh produce on the Central Coast of California currently face conflicting demands regarding measures to protect food safety and those to protect environmental quality. To explore the extent of conflicting pressures and identify the range of possible impacts on the environment, California Agriculture conducted a survey of Central Coast irrigated-row-crop growers during spring 2007.

The results indicate that growers are experiencing a clear conflict, and some are incurring economic hardships because their practices to protect the environment have resulted in the rejection of crops by buyers.


These actions could affect large areas of land on the Central Coast and, as indicated by growers, they are likely to increase over time.
 
The Central Coast contains some of the greatest biodiversity of any temperate region in the world. At its heart is the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary, the largest marine sanctuary in the United States, and the Elkhorn Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve.

While the Central Coast houses many natural resources, according to the Central Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board (CCRWQCB), it also has some of the most polluted waters in California. The Pajaro River and Elkhorn Slough are listed as impaired for sediment and nutrients under California’s 2002 Section 303(d) of the 1972 Clean Water Act. The Salinas River is 303(d)-listed as impaired for sediment, nutrients, pesticides and pathogens.

In response, the CCRWQCB adopted a Conditional Waiver Program in 2005, which requires growers to enroll in the program, attend water quality training sessions, adopt farm water-quality management plans, complete management practice checklists and participate in water quality monitoring (Cal EPA 2007).

An important aspect of these efforts is the adoption of conservation practices, which aim to improve and protect water quality, prevent soil erosion, reduce the use of agricultural chemicals and protect wildlife. Vegetation on and around farmland is a key component, including vegetated field borders, grassed waterways, riparian buffers and constructed wetlands.

For the past decade, the Central Coast farming community has been proactively working with resource agencies to develop and implement voluntary conservation practices to improve water quality and reduce water consumption through the adoption and implementation of the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary’s Agricultural and Rural Lands Plan (MBNMS 1999). Adoption of these practices has now become a key component for compliance with the CCRWQCB’s Conditional Waiver Program.

Despite an intensive investigation, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the California Department of Health Services (CDHS) have not been able to conclusively determine the specific causes of the spinach outbreak (CDHS/ FDA 2007).

In early 2007, with oversight by the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA), produce industry representatives developed the California Leafy Green Products Handler Marketing Agreement (see www.caleafygreens.ca.gov). More than 100 handlers (companies that move fresh produce products from growers to retail and food-service buyers) are signatories. Representing more than 99% of the leafy greens production in California, they are obligated to handle leafy green produce only from growers who adhere to the best management practices detailed in the Commodity Specific Food Safety Guidelines for the Production and Harvest of Lettuce and Leafy Greens, known as the “Metrics” (see www.caleafygreens.ca.gov). The Metrics were developed and continue to be updated through a process involving the produce industry, government agencies, natural resource organizations and scientists.

In addition to the Metrics, many companies and retailers who handle or sell leafy greens have developed their own company-specific food safety requirements, which also affect farm management practices. Because growers often sell their crops to multiple buyers, most now must meet at least one if not several different sets of requirements. In addition, field interpretations of the Metrics and company-specific guidelines vary.

Specific measures stated or implied in the Metrics and company-specific requirements may potentially conflict with efforts to improve and protect water quality and support wildlife habitat.

Eight percent (8.0%) of growers reported that their crops had been rejected based on the presence of practices to improve water quality or wildlife habitat on the farm. Some of the explanations shared by respondents included:

• Lost $17,500 worth of crop due to deer tracks.
• 1 acre of romaine lettuce rejected due to proximity to horse pen.
• 23 acres of head lettuce and 2 acres of mixed lettuce rejected due to contact with Salinas River floodwater.
• Crop rejected due to potential frog habitat.
• Portions of fields rejected by processor if frogs, tadpoles, snails, mice or other small animals were found.
• Harvest stopped due to the presence of frogs and tadpoles in creek.
• Crop rejected due to deer intrusion.
• Crops planted for processor near trees needed a buffer of 100 to 150 feet.

Some 88.9% of the survey respondents indicated that they had adopted at least one measure to actively discourage or eliminate wildlife from cropped areas

Wildlife exclusion. Some 88.9% of the survey respondents indicated that they had adopted at least one measure to actively discourage or eliminate wildlife from cropped areas

Conservation practice abandonment. Approximately 15% of all growers surveyed indicated that they had removed or discontinued the use of previously adopted conservation practices in response to suggestions made by auditors or buyers due to food safety concerns.

The survey results illustrate that growers are in the middle of a clear conflict between current food safety standards and continued efforts to address water quality and environmental concerns on the Central Coast.  

The process and standards for protecting food safety in leafy greens on the Central Coast of California set a precedent that will certainly be modeled for other crops and growing regions nationwide.  

M. Beretti is Program Director, Resource Conservation District of Monterey County, Salinas; and D. Stuart is Doctoral Candidate, Department of Environmental Studies, UC Santa Cruz.

READ the Rest of the Story, SOURCE:  California Agriculture

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency  awarded $4.2 million in Brownfields grants to 12 Northern California community redevelopment agencies in April, 2008.

The groups will use the grants to develop inventories and assess sites contaminated by hazardous substances, clean up contaminated sites, and support community outreach activities.

“The EPA is very pleased to provide funding for work in these deserving Northern California communities," said Debbie Schechter, manager of EPA’s Pacific Southwest region’s Brownfields program. "Work conducted under our Brownfields grants will provide the type of assistance necessary to transform these underutilized lands into community assets."

Communities and agencies in 43 states, two tribal nations and two territories will share over $74 million in Brownfields grants designed to help revitalize former industrial and commercial sites and allow for productive community use.

Brownfields are sites where expansion, redevelopment, or reuse may be complicated by the presence or potential presence of a hazardous substance, pollutant or contaminant. The EPA’s Brownfields program authorizes up to $250 million in grant funds annually and encourages redevelopment of America's estimated 450,000 abandoned and contaminated waste sites.

Grants have been given to the following groups:

- California Department of Toxic Substances Control and the communities of Sutter Creek and Jackson - $200,000 to create an inventory of sites contaminated by hazardous substances, input site information into geographic information system, and conduct environmental site assessments;

- Yolo County - $400,000 to create an inventory of sites contaminated by hazardous substances and petroleum, conduct environmental site assessments, and support community outreach activities;

- City of West Sacramento - $200,000 to cleanup a site contaminated with hazardous substances;

- City of Tulare - $200,000 to remove hazardous substances from a local site, assist in cleanup planning and oversight, and support community involvement activities;

- City of Sutter Creek - $200,000 to conduct an environmental site assessment for hazardous substances, and support community involvement activities;

- Satellite Housing, Inc. of Manteca - $200,000 to remove hazardous pesticides, and support community involvement activities;

- Petaluma Community Development Commission - $1 million for hazardous substances and petroleum cleanup, and to support community involvement activities;

- Humboldt County - $400,000 to develop an inventory of sites contaminated by hazardous substances and petroleum, conduct environmental site assessments, and support community involvement activities;

- Fresno Redevelopment Agency - $200,000 to address hazardous substances contamination, and support community involvement activities;

- City of Eureka - $600,000 for hazardous substances cleanup and support community outreach activities;

- City of Emeryville - $400,000 to conduct environmental site assessments for sites contaminated by hazardous substances and petroleum; and

- Sacramento Capitol Area Development Authority - $200,000 to remove hazardous substances from a more than century-old residential site.

Since the beginning of the Brownfields program, the EPA has awarded 1,255 assessment grants totaling over $298.6 million, 230 revolving loan fund grants totaling over $217.7 million, and 426 cleanup grants totaling $78.7 million.

For more information, please visit:  http://epa.gov/brownfields/

 

Compliance regulations are difficult to execute and tools that help with compliance can also help a company with the transparency reporting for social responsibility.  Craft Strategies is a publisher of compliance software and a librarian of standard compliance content.

Craft Strategies is a full service organization focused upon Profit Improvement by blending the right people (development of human assets), technology and governance.  By offering CBOS’ ComplyBase Compliance Software and Content Library, Craft can save its clients up to 80% of the cost for SOX compliance by using CBOS’ pre-existing compliance library and customizing it to your company’s work flow.
 
“Craft” stands for Corporate Responsibility, Accountability, Fairness and Transparency.

Thomas Troiani, Founder of Craft Strategies, is also the author of “Vision to Reality; Making governance work for you”.  His book describes the board member’s new responsibilities, as a result of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, and provides them with a checklist of criteria by which they can assess the wellness of the company and the performance of the Chief Executive Officer.

Craft Strategies, has the complete SOX suite that will satisfy C-SOX, JSOX compliance and any risk management solution, to include advisory and consulting services.  We can improve the speed, efficiency and quality of your compliance process as we have already developed the following contents (templates) that can save you the out-of pocket cost of compliance, and about 4 to 6 months in elapsed time.

Companies can take advantage of the recent adoption of AS5 to integrate and combine most, if not all, of their compliance issues (SOX, ISO, and other Governance, Risk and compliances (GRC)  requirements) to simplify the processes and permit the organization focus on operations.

Craft Strategies provides:
·         Test Samples
·         Policy & Procedures
·         Control Procedures
·         Flowcharts
·         Risk Management Assessment
·         Control Objectives
·         Control Definitions
·         Business/Operation Assessment (walkthrough) 

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