All the ISO standards are developed through a voluntary, consensus-based approach. Each member country of ISO develops its position on the standards and these positions are then negotiated with other member countries. Draft versions of the standards are sent out for formal written comment and each country casts its official vote on the drafts at the appropriate stage of the process. Within each country, various types of organizations can and do participate in the process including industry, government (federal and state), and other interested parties, including various non-government organizations (NGOs). For example, EPA and states participated in the development of the ISO 14001 standard, including the evaluation of its usefulness through a variety of pilot projects.

The ISO 14001:2015 standard requires that a community or organization put in place and implement a series of practices and procedures that, when taken together, result in an environmental management system. ISO 14001:2015 is not a technical standard and as such does not in any way replace technical requirements embodied in statutes or regulations. It also does not set prescribed standards of performance for organizations. The major requirements of an EMS under ISO 14001:2015 include:

A policy statement which includes commitments to prevention of pollution, continual improvement of the EMS leading to improvements in overall environmental performance and compliance with all applicable statutory and regulatory requirements.

- Identification of all aspects of the community organization's activities, products, and services that could have a significant impact on the environment, including those that are not regulated.

- Setting performance objectives and targets for the management system which link back to the three commitments established in the community or organization's policy (i.e., prevention of pollution, continual improvement, and compliance).

- Implementing the EMS to meet these objectives. This includes activities like training of employees, establishing work instructions and practices, and establishing the actual metrics by which the objectives and targets will be measured.

- Establishing a program to periodically audit the operation of the EMS.

- Checking and taking corrective and preventive actions when deviations from the EMS occur, including periodically evaluating the organization's compliance with applicable regulatory requirements.

- Undertaking periodic reviews of the EMS by top management to ensure its continuing performance and making adjustments to it, as necessary.

Yes. Because ISO 14001:2015 is essentially a system designed to help communities and other types of organizations meet their environmental obligations and reduce the impact of their operations on the environment, it is relevant to all types of organizations. Counties, municipalities, towns, and townships typically oversee a number of separate facilities and operations. EMS's can be used as a framework to help these operations improve their environmental performance and make greater use of pollution prevention approaches. Use of the standard by counties is not well established at this point, but some are beginning to use it. For example, Washtenaw County, Michigan is implementing an EMS based on ISO 14001 for its Sheriff's Department and participated in an earlier series of demonstration projects funded by EPA. The EPA now wants to expand this approach and work with additional counties and municipalities.

Improvements in overall environmental performance and compliance.

- Provide a framework for using pollution prevention practices to meet EMS objectives.

- Increased efficiency and potential cost savings when managing environmental obligations.

- Promote predictability and consistency in managing environmental obligations.

- More effective targeting of scarce environmental management resources. .

- Enhance public posture with outside stakeholders