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Sustainable Development and Environmental Reform
been met. The main goal is compliance with regulations as well as conserva-
tion of natural resources, which will finally lead to sustainable development.
Regulations
Regulations are the basis for achieving sustainable development; these regula-
tions are set by the government to provide organizations and projects with the
policies they must abide by in order to reach sustainability. According to these
regulations, it is necessary to develop a fine/incentive mechanism to encour-
age those who approach 100% sustainability by giving money/benefits and
discourage those who ignore sustainability by taking money/fining according
to a sustainability formula, which will be discussed later in this chapter.
Industrial audit/environmental management system
To attain sustainable development many elements have been outlined and
researched. One of the elements that is widely discussed is integrating envi-
ronmental management systems (EMS) or ISO 14001within industries. An
EMS consists of a systematic process that allows an organization to “assess,
manage, and reduce environmental hazards”. Thus the continuous monitor-
ing of environmental impacts concerning that organization is integrated
into the actual management system guaranteeing its continuation as well as
commitment to its success.
During the operation of the project an industrial audit (IA), sometimes
called environmental audit (EA), must be implemented to evaluate its actual
environmental performance. Industrial audit is considered a management
tool that encompasses a set of environmental management techniques
needed to ensure that the operation of the project complies with the envi-
ronmental requirements and regulations, or the development of an
Environmental Management System (EMS) within the organization will be
implemented for continuously managing its environmental performance
based on the ISO14001: 2004 standards. An EMS incorporates the environ-
mental concerns into the organization’s operation and enables it to reduce
its environmental impacts as well as increase its operating efficiency.
An EMS is a part of the overall management system of an organization,
which consists of organizational structure, planning, activities, responsibil-
ities, practices, procedures, process, and resources for developing, imple-
menting, achieving, reviewing, and maintaining the environmental policy.
In general an EMS should include the following elements, also shown
in Figure 4.2:
• Management commitment and environmental policy.
• Planning for the environmental policy.
• Implementing the environmental planning.
• Evaluation and corrective/preventive actions.
• Management review.

