Submission of EMAS registration application is preceded with preparation stage in which the organization must proceed a number of activities to meet all EMAS Regulation requirements. Preparation for EMAS registration consists of many stages which have to be implemented step-by-step. The preparation process is similar for all organizations, regardless the type of performed activities, and possible differences can result from the organization’s size and number of occurring significant environmental aspects. The preparation process starts with the decision on implementation of environmental management system by top management of the organization, followed by the development of operational plan and selection of team members responsible for EMS implementation. Then, identification and evaluation of environmental aspects is done, and legal and other requirements are assessed. All these is followed by development of environmental policy as well as development of the first group of system procedures directly defined in Annex I-A of EMAS Regulation. The next step is to define environmental goals and objectives including their implementation program, after which it is necessary to develop a group of environmental procedures including operational, monitoring & measurement as well as emergency procedures. When the procedures are ready, they have to be implemented in the organization.

The following stage of preparation is development of another group of system procedures which includes supervision of records, auditing, implementation of corrective and preventive measures, and defining the scope of staff responsibilities.
The organization is obliged to check the implemented system and to use corrective measures by means of performing periodic legal compliance checks, internal auditing and defining the plan for corrective and preventive activities. Then, the top management carries out the effectiveness analysis of the goals that were set up for the implemented environmental management system. The last element in the registration preparation stage is development of the environmental statement and its verification by the accredited EMAS verifier.

Depending on the size of organization and complexity of its activities, the process of preparing for EMAS registration can last for 6-18 months since the decision on environmental management system was made.

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