have important input to the value of EMS and ISO 14000, but they may see it as an additional burden. So, look for ways that it benefits them to gain their support and creative input. "Focus in the early stages on identifying win-win initiatives in order to reinforce and deliver the bottom line opportunities for your organization. ISO 14000 A program in Taiwan will support companies interested in ISO 14000. This concept may be a key to the success of ISO 14000 in general: support by government agencies Self certification may be the best first step for many companies. The Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission (TNRCC), the state EPA has a very aggressive program to help industries set and achieve effective pollution prevention. TNRCC will send several of their registered engineers to your plant, not as enforcement officers, but as pollution prevention consultants.The TNRCC also has a Small Business Assistance Program which offers small businesses free environmental consulting to achieve environmental compliance. The voluntary consultants are referred to as 'enviromentors'. Targets and objectives: tying environmental effects to targets gives a company (and the people who work there) something to work towards and be proud of when they achieve their targets. It helps create "champions" who will do a great deal of work on their own, without cattle prodding from the EHS management. 14000 According to SGS, an international certification organization, these have been the major areas of nonconformance to the standard found in audits: establishing procedures for identifying environmental aspects, integrating the EMS into existing management system elements, identifying appropriate operational controls , and procedures for identifying problems and taking action to eliminate them . Extra attention to these areas during EMS development and a high quality phase I or gap analysis can speed the re...