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manholes, and 46 employees. <br />Key Reasons for Implementing an EMS <br />^ Enhance the City's overall image; <br />^ Improve environmental performance; <br />^ Help lead the region's public sector toward compliance with the ISO standards through education, . <br />training, and awareness; <br />^ Maximize efficiency, reduce costs, and avoid costly environmental emergencies thereby saving <br />taxpayers money; and compete with, and be better than, the private sector. <br />Current EMS Objectives and Targets <br />Lowell has established Environmental Management Programs to achieve their robust quantitative EMS <br />Objectives and Targets, which currently include: <br />^ • Reduce impact on wastestream <br />o Increase waste recycled by 5% by 12/31J05 <br />o Maintain program aimed at increasing public awareness in 2005 <br />^ Eliminate sludge disposal to landfill <br />^ Energy Conservation <br />o Continue to reduce Kw usage by 12/31/05 <br />^ Improve chemical management <br />o Achieve zero spills in 2005 <br />o Continue to.quantify state regulated waste disposed by end of 2005. <br />^ Odor reduction -Not to exceed previous year's odor complaints <br />^ Improve industrial effluent <br />^ Establish inter-departmental new business awareness program <br />Top 3 Keys to Success <br />1. Hardworking and dedicated staff <br />2. Supportive upper management, including City Manager, City Council, and other elected officials. <br />3. Hiring an external consultant to assist with document control and the development of the EMS Manual. <br />Top 3 Barriers <br />1. Time and resource allocation -educating employees about the ISO concept and conducting <br />implementation activities can be time consuming. <br />2. Lack of active support and buy-in from the community. <br />3. Staff turnover, including the loss of key Core Team members. <br />Top 3 Lessons Learned <br />1. Hire an external consultanf to support early implementation and training efforts <br />2. Add an additional facility within the original EMS fenceline to eliminate duplicating efforts down the line. <br />3. Development of metrics proved to be one of the most difficult EMS elements, as this practice was still <br />relatively new in the municipal sector. <br />Resource Commitment <br />^ 14 members on the original EMS Implementation Core Team, including the Executive Director, with 7 <br />members currently on the EMS Team. <br />^ 10% of time dedicated by a single Environmental Management Representative ("EMR") to serve as <br />overall program manager or team leader for the EMS implementation. <br />^ Bi-weekly Core Team meetings (14 team members) during the EMS development phase and less <br />frequent, focused meetings during the ongoing maintenance phase of the EMS. <br />^ One complete EMS cycle (24 months) required 1,424 total. person hours at a total cost of approximately <br />$27,100 in direct labor resources, $10,500 in consultant costs, and about $4,800 in other travet and <br />material costs. <br />