بررسی وضعیت پیاده سازی سیستم های مدیریت زیست محیطی در کالج ها و دانشگاه های ایالات متحده

A census of 925 U.S. colleges and universities offering masters and doctorate degrees was conducted in order to study the number of elements of an environmental management system possessed by small, medium and large institutions. A 30% response rate was received with 273 responses included in the final data analysis. Overall, the number of environmental management system elements implemented among the 273 institutions ranged from 0 to 16, with a median of 12. The proportion of U.S. colleges and universities that reported having implemented a structured, comprehensive environmental management system is discussed. Stratified analyses were performed by institution size, Carnegie Classification and job title.

In an effort to protect public health, the number of environmental regulations has increased substantially during the last thirty years in the United States (U.S.) [1], [2], [3] and [4]. In recent years, U.S. colleges and universities have come under increased scrutiny by state and federal regulators regarding environmental matters [5], [6] and [7]. This has elicited various responses, including attempts at modification of federal regulations for colleges and universities, environmental incentive programs, and the implementation of International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 14001 registered environmental management systems [8], [9], [10], [11], [12] and [13]. ISO 14001 is a voluntary international standard that sets requirements for the establishment of an environmental management system, which provides a framework for companies and government agencies to develop and maintain a reliable process that consistently meets environmental obligations and commitments [14]. Environmental management systems, when registered and audited regularly by an accredited third party, may become ISO 14001 certified [15]. This certification or registration is largely unknown in U.S. college and university circles with just a few universities, including The University of Missouri Rolla and The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, having achieved it to date [16] and [17]. However, ISO 14001 is becoming increasingly popular in U.S. industry, due to the major automobile manufacturers' insistence that their suppliers become registered by 2003 in order to avoid environmental scandals and fines [18].

This research study reports on a statistically relevant sample, resulting in a broad overview of the status of implementation of environmental management systems at colleges and universities in the U.S, and represents the largest survey of its kind ever reported. Although electronically emailed surveys have traditionally low response rates of less than ten percent, contacting all 925 institutions, in concert with follow-up of non-responders, resulted in a 30% response rate. A limitation of this study is that self-reporting of information by survey is not always completely accurate and in this case may have resulted in an overestimation of the number of elements of an environmental management system that an institution has in place and or an overestimation (or more optimistic) outcome regarding intent to implement an environmental management system. Non-response bias is a concern. Non-responders may have fewer elements of an environmental management system in place and be less inclined to participate in the survey than those institutions farther along in the implementation process. In fact, the number of elements implemented among the 273 institutions ranges from 0–16, with a median of 12. Since 47% of the institutions that responded had at least one full-time employee that spends at least forty hours per week on environmental compliance and 55% budgeted annually for environmental improvements, this would indicate that approximately half of the institutions that responded had environmental programs that were well-developed enough to commit substantial time and resources to environmental issues and compliance. The USEPA Region III survey [19] found that 36% of the institutions surveyed had implemented environmental management systems, while during this survey participants indicated that 30% felt that they had implemented an environmental management system. Since these proportions are not significantly different, this lends support to the credibility of this study and confirms the USEPA results. These results do not support the concept of increased implementation of environmental management systems in USEPA Region III during the approximate five-year period in between the USEPA's survey and this survey. The information collected in this study should be of value to experts in the environmental compliance field, including the USEPA and other regulatory officials, even when the limitations above are taken into consideration.