Corporate Environmental Services of Ecosmart India Limited

Ecosmart India Limited provides environmental services to public and private businesses in manufacturing and service industry. Corporate environmental services of Ecosmart assist companies in a range of environmental activities from setting up their environmental program to accessing environmental finance from various sources. Menu of Corporate Environmental Services offered by Ecosmart is as follows:

1. Environmental Training: Environmental training is necessary to generate awareness among all stakeholders especially employees. Training needs at different levels differ as at senior most level issues of long-term sustainability of the companies business matter most, at middle management level compliance issues and profitability through resource saving is important while at lower level, environmental issues of routine work profile can make significant difference in ownership of the environmental program by the workers. Ecosmart provides customized environmental training modules for different seniority levels from ‘Doorman to Chairman’ of a company. Some of the most frequently run training modules of Ecosmart are as follows:

• Concepts of Environmental Management and Triple Bottom line – Half day module for top management
• Water & Energy Conservation in Service Industries such as Hotels, Hospitals, Shopping Malls, Airport Terminals, Large Commercial Complexes – two day module
• Introduction to Environmental Management System Conforming to ISO14001 – two day module
• Train the Trainer program for Environmental Awareness Training – three day module with mock program
• Cleaner Production Methods – Two days program with half day ‘Walk Through’ practical

2. Environmental Performance Reporting: Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) has issued Sustainability Guidelines for Environmental Performance Reporting; ISO system has a standard dedicated to environmental performance monitoring (ISO14031). However, many companies find it difficult to generate data as per these standards. Ecosmart provides following services that help companies adapt to the prescribed environmental performance reporting norms:

• Preparation of Environmental Performance Indictor appropriate to the client’s nature and scale of business
• Assistance in monitoring data on the GRI or customized indicators
• Preparation of Annual Environmental Report conforming to GRI standards

3. Management of Client’s Sustainability Program: Many companies are going beyond environmental compliance and working with other stake holders such as suppliers, clients and public at large on environmental and social issues. Only action is not sufficient at times, one should also be seen in action. Environmental communication is important aspect of environmental program. Ecosmart provides following set of services in management of sustainability program:

• Generation of Ideas for Environmental Initiative: In order to take environmental program beyond compliance, best source of ideas is the employees of the organization. Ecosmart uses various communication tools to generate ideas for client’s environmental program
• Organization and Management of Events: World environment day, Cleanliness camps, Sponsorship of environmental drives are modes of external communication. Ecosmart provides services in planning of all the events and preparation of communication package
• Training of Volunteers: Ecosmart provides orientation training for volunteers to channelize their energy to the objectives of the program they volunteer for.
• Internal Communication: Ecosmart provides services in development of contents for internal communication through environmental magazine or a section on the client’s web site.

4. Environmental Management System (EMS) Facilitation: Ecosmart provides complete consulting services for preparing client organization for environmental management systems conforming to whatever standards they wish to adopt. Most commonly adopted standard is ISO14000.

5. Environmental Audit Services: What cannot be measured cannot be controlled. Environmental Audit is a management tool that helps organizations in making their operations resource efficient and reduces risk. Ecosmart provides services for different types of environmental audits as follows:

• Paper audit: Many organizations use different types of papers for inter and intra office communication, records keeping, advertisement, and packaging. Paper audit helps in understanding the wastage of paper and reduce the cost of paper and also cost of disposal of waste.
• ODS Inventory: Ozone Depleting Substances are used in various forms in organization’s activities. Since there is a legislation to phase out ODS, ODS inventory helps organization in reduction of compliance risk and operational risk.
• GHG Inventory: Green House Gas (GHG) inventory indicates energy consumption in various forms in the activities of organizations. Understanding various forms of GHG emissions, in many cases helps in reducing energy cost and in some cases helps in estimating possible benefits of Clean Development Mechanism funding for energy efficiency improvement.
• Environmental Compliance Audit: Different ministries of the Central and State Governments have made legislation that touch upon environmental issues. Ecosmart provides services in identifying regulations that are applicable to the clients operations and assists clients in complying with the legislations
  

• Screening, Bundling & PCN: Screening and if necessary bundling of projects as per capacity up to 15 MW and preparation of Project Idea Note (PIN) and Project Concept Note (PCN) as per guidelines issued by donor agencies/buyer
• Submission of PCN: Submission of PIN/PCN to short listed donor agencies/buyer, follow up and provision of technical assistance for securing consent for PCN
• Project Design Document: Preparation of Project Design Document (PDD), which shall include description of project, activity, project participants’ back ground and justification of the project, technology justification, project boundaries, base line identification, based on local/regional/national power scenario, project line identification, factors influencing base line and project line, Additionality criteria estimation of CERs, crediting period, monitoring and verification protocol, socio-economic benefits of the project etc.
• Submission of PDD: Project Design Document to MoEF, follow up and provision of Technical Assistance for securing consent
• Validation of PDD: Submission validation of PDD from the donor/agencies/buyer/CDM board, follow up and provision of technical assistance for securing consents
• Registration: Assistance in Registration - Formal acceptance of validated PDD by Executive Board of CDM.
• Verification of CER: Assistance in verification of Certified Emission Reduction by Independent authority called Designated Operating Entity (DOE). Ecosmart does do accreditation of CERs but facilitates liaisoning with the DOE on behalf of the project proponent.
• Verification Assistance: Assistance in verification of economic value of certified emission reduction, as well as crediting period
• Certification Assistance: Assistance in certification i.e obtaining written assurance on the actual GHGs reduction verification
• CER Certification Assistance: Assistance in obtaining issue of CER certificate based on DOE’s Certificates
• Draft Contract Document: Preparation of draft contract document between donor agencies/Buyer and the project proponent. Assistance in finalizing/signing of the Contract
• Monitoring and Verification of Protocol: Assistance for establishing monitoring and verification protocol at the project sites for continuous monitoring of the claimed CER
• Co-ordination: Coordination with authority/verifier appointed by donor agencies/buyers for projects till a defined period

Ecosmart Interventions in Industrial Clusters and Industrial Estates

Infrastructure in general and environmental infrastructure is important for sustainable growth of Indian industry, particularly in Small and Medium sector. Geographic conglomeration of SMEs in India has happened in two forms namely industrial clusters and industrial estates or parks. In the first form, the cluster contains industries manufacturing very similar product or intermediate products along the same supply chain of a group of products such as glassware, textiles garments or auto components. Thus SMEs in a cluster are in some sense homogenous. The other form of industrial estates, the mix of industries may be heterogeneous wherein, the industries settle for an infrastructure provided by the industrial estate promoted by the State Government Industrial Development Corporation.

In both the cases of clusters and industrial estates, development of new infrastructure and up-gradation of existing infrastructure is constrained by lack of budgetary support from the State Governments. Ecosmart India Limited with its promoter IL&FS Group has necessary skill base and expertise to carry out studies/ projects in the following areas essential for industrial growth in India.

• Pre-feasibility study for preparation of Master plan for infrastructure development in industrial SME clusters
• Development of infrastructure projects in Public Private Partnerships
• Capacity building of industrial associations for cleaner production, use of Information Technology (IT) for dissemination of information among Association members
• Development of Center of Excellence to explore resource efficient technologies and production processes along the supply chain (Greening of supply chain)
• Development of Sustainability Infrastructure such as Rain Water Harvesting structures that would ensure uninterrupted water supply to the industry depending on the groundwater as source of water
• Development of product quality testing facilities

Development of international market access by providing training on establishing contacts with the international retailers and merchandising, training on completion of Export – Import formalities in India and host countr

Environmental and Social Risk Management for Projects

Ecosmart team has widespread experience of providing comprehensive services in assessing and managing environmental and social risks in project finance. The services provided extend to entire project development cycle and fully address the environmental and social safeguards requirements of multilateral agencies such as the World Bank, IFC and the ADB. In this context, Ecosmart is geared to provide services to the lenders (Financial Institutions/Banks) as well as to the borrowers. The services offered to Financial Institutions and Banks include

- Screening of proposed projects for environmental and social risks and their categorization leading to determining level of environmental and social due diligence required before approval of credit/investments
- Preparation of Terms of Reference for Environmental and Social Assessment
- Review of Environmental Assessment (EA) Report, Environmental Management Plan (EMP) and - Resettlement Action Plan (RAP) for projects
- Supervision of RAP implementation for adequate and timely mitigation of adverse social impacts of involuntary resettlement
- Supervision of EMP implementation during the construction and operation phases of the projects
Annual Environmental and Social Audit to provide feedback to the management on effectiveness of implementation of environmental and social commitments

The services offered to borrowers include review of EA, EMP and RAP for projects, preparation of environmental and social sections of Project Information Memorandum (PIM) for raising resources for the project, supervision of EMP and RAP implementation and training of project staff.

Relevant ESRM Experience

Following are the representative assignments undertaken in the area of environmental and social risk management of projects by Ecosmart team:

Supervision of Environmental and Social Safeguards

Ecosmart provided full supervision of environmental and social safeguards to IL&FS on Delhi Noida Bridge Project, Vadodra Halol Road Project, Ahemadabad Mehsana Road Project, East Coast Road Project and Tirupur Water Supply Project during project development as well as during project implementation phase. Three of these projects were part funded through a World Bank line of credit and the Bank has rated the projects very high for compliance with environmental and social safeguards.

Advisory Support to Clients

In the recent past Ecosmart provided advisory support to following clients on environmental and social safeguards:

Thematic Review of Select World Bank Assisted Projects In Bangladesh for effectiveness of environmental and social safeguards for the World Bank
Independent Assessment of Implementation of Initial Resettlement for Rs. 4800 crore Mumbai Urban Transport Project (MUTP) for the World Bank
Development of Community Environmental Management Plan for Transit Resettlement Sites for MUTP for Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA)
Preparation of Initial Social Screening Report for two road projects in Andhra Pradesh for Industrial Development Bank Of India (IDBI)
Independent Evaluation of Environmental Impact Assessment and preparation of Project Information Memorandum (PIM) for JAS Toll Road Company
Training

In addition to being a faculty in a number of National and International seminars on Environmental and Social Risk Management, Ecosmart has conducted following prestigious training programmes in the field of resettlement and rehabilitation:

Four day residential training programme for National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) on Resettlement and Rehabilitation at Vadodra
Three day training programme for Development Financial Institutions on Resettlement and Rehabilitation on Social Development Policy of the ADB at Mumbai.
Section 3: EHS Compliance Audits and Training

Ecosmart team has experience of providing broad range of EHS compliance and assessment services to multinational clients nationally and internationally. Our team is experienced in planning and developing customized environmental compliance and EHS programs, completing baseline assessments of existing programs, conducting facility multi-media audits, completing permit assessments, and preparing and implementing training programs as described below.

Relevant EHS Experience

The following are representative compliance project experience summaries:

Environmental Compliance Audit

White Goods Manufacturing Units, US MNC
Ecosmart team evaluated the environmental compliance status of the above facility to ensure compliance with evolving Indian environmental regulations, global environmental standards, and to identify potential environmental risks and initiate corrective action. The work included identifying environmental concerns and developing recommendations for addressing each issue, as well as reviewing the client's environmental compliance program and providing technical assistance to enhance the program at each facility investigated. Using our environmental compliance audit expertise and understanding of various states' regulatory guidelines, Ecosmart helped the client initiate a full-scale environmental audit program to upgrade compliance at each facility.

EMS Facilitation for ISO14000

Hotel Industry
Ecosmart team was instrumental in conducting awareness program on the benefits of the Environment Management System (EMS) for senior management and orientation training program for the middle management at the Taj Group of Hotels. Subsequent to training programs, Ecosmart team facilitated three hotels of the Taj Group in their preparation of Aspect Impact register and documentation.

EMS Facilitation for ISO14000

Textile Industry
Ecosmart team is working with the textiles industry on EMS and ISO14000 at Tirupur. The team recently conducted three separate training programs on the Initial Environmental Review (IER), Clauses of ISO14000 and Identification of Aspects and Impacts for textiles wet processing industries at Tirupur in Tamil Nadu. Currently, work is in progress on preparation of Model Documentation for EMS in wet processing of knitted fabric. This model documentation would then be used in training of trainers for EMS in textiles wet processing industry.

Remediation Training

White Goods Manufacturing Units, US MNC
Ecosmart Team designed and conducted a Remediation Training program to train the Staff of this US MNC. The topics of the training included: (1) Environmental Site Assessment and investigation; (2) Fate and transport of petroleum hydrocarbons and volatile organic compounds; (3) QA/QC of Laboratory Data; (4) Soil Remediation Technologies; (4) Groundwater Remediation Technologies; and (5) Indian and International Environmental Regulatory Framework.

Merger, Acquisition and Divestiture Support

Ecosmart team has provided Merger, Acquisition and Divestiture Services to a wide range of multinational industrial clients in identifying financial liabilities that affect the transaction. Presented below is a typical approach and methodology for the Due Diligence (Phase I and Phase II Environmental Site Assessment [ESA]) process followed by Ecosmart India Limited during merger and acquisition (M&A) activities. This methodology is provided for information only; any methodology that may be developed pursuant to any subsequent request for proposal will of course be tailored to address Client's standards for conducting environmental due-diligence during M&A activities.

Typical Approach and Methodology for the Phase I and Phase II ESA

The Phase I ESA will consist of a site review conducted in general accordance with the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) Designation: E 1527-97 and relevant country regulations/ limitations. The Phase I ESA will involve visual observation of the property during a site inspection, and collection and review of readily available historical information concerning the site. No testing will be done.
The Phase I ESA will consist of the following tasks: records review, site inspection and interview(s), and reporting. These tasks are outlined below.

Task I - Records Review

Ecosmart will conduct a Records Review to identify past and present uses of the facility and adjoining properties. Available historical site maps and records will be used to provide current and historical information pertaining to uses of the site and adjoining properties.

The objective of the records review will be to discover significant environmental regulatory actions taken in regard to the site, major spills or incidents which may have occurred and/or potential sources of contamination on site and from adjoining properties. We will look for information pertaining to the following:

Task II - Site Inspection and Interviews

An Environmental Site Survey (ESS) will be completed at site for identification and assessment of potential and actual sources of pollution, and areas where activities may lead to adverse environmental consequences. A tour of the facility and adjoining areas will be completed, during which the presence of the following will be noted:

Potential areas of significant concern will be photographed and identified on a site map included in the report. Inaccessible or obscured areas, and exterior surfaces covered with paving will be noted.

Ecosmart will also review past and present uses of the site by interviewing key site personnel and relevant regulatory authorities, if any, about the property and its history. Information obtained during the interview(s) will be documented on an Environmental Site Questionnaire.

All project documentation generated during the interviews and records review will be maintained in the project files following standard report requirements. These items will be submitted, together with the photographic documentation as attachments to the final report.

Task III - Reporting

A Phase I ESA report will be prepared on completion of the site visit to highlight any major findings from the site visit. The final Phase I ESA report will include the following:

In the event, a Phase II ESA is required, the study will comprise of collecting select groundwater and soil samples from the Site. The collected samples will be tested in a Laboratory for identifying the potential chemicals of concern at the site. The certified analytical results submitted by the Laboratory will be compared with the Local (Drinking Water Standards), Dutch Standards, and/or US Environmental Protection Standards. These results will be summarized in a report along with the necessary recommendations.

Relevant Phase I and Phase II M&A Experience

The following are representative Phase I and Phase II project experience summaries.

Soil and Groundwater Investigation
White Goods Manufacturing Facility, US MNC

Ecosmart India Industrial Service Team provided project and program management support, meeting the guidelines and expectations of the US Multinational Corporation and local facility policies. The objective of this investigation was to identify the presence or absence of potentially significant environmental impacts based on existing knowledge of the site conditions and historical industrial activities. The scope of work for this investigation included the following activities: work plan preparation, subcontractor procurement, soil gas survey, soil boring drilling and laboratory sampling, installation of groundwater monitoring wells and sampling, aquifer testing, confidential receptor and potentially contributing source survey, fate and transport evaluation, risk screening, and reporting.

Phase II Environmental Site Assessment
Chemical Company, US MNC

A Phase II Environmental Site Assessment of a 16-acre green-field site was conducted prior to site acquisition for a US Chemical Company in Taloja, Maharashtra. The work included collection of baseline soil and groundwater data by installation of 13 shallow (< 15 m deep) and deep (< 26 m deep) groundwater monitoring wells and 5 shallow borings. In addition to soil boring and well installation drilling at the facility, the Ecosmart Team was responsible for work plan preparation, subcontractor procurement, laboratory selection, soil and groundwater sampling, project management and reporting.

Phase II Environmental Site Assessment
Ceramics Manufacturing Facility, French MNC

Ecosmart Team conducted a pre-divestiture Phase II ESA of a ceramics manufacturing facility in Gujarat for this French MNC. The site was a part of a proposed property transfer. The investigation was performed to comply with the MNC's corporate business policies for assessing the potential environmental liabilities that may arise from the property transfer. Under the Phase II activities, a soil-gas survey was performed to develop a preliminary understanding of soil contamination at shallow depths, simultaneously with soil and groundwater sampling and analyses. The sampling plan included collecting and analyzing the samples for volatile organic compounds, semi-volatile organic compounds, and priority pollutant metals.

Phase I Environmental Site Assessment
Computer Chip manufacturing US MNC, Bangalore, India

Ecosmart Team conducted a Phase I ESA relating to property acquisition of an independent 7-storey building being acquired by the client in Bangalore for proposed research and development activities. The ESA was completed in general accordance with the guidelines outlined in the Standard Practice for Environmental Site Assessments: Phase I Environmental Site Assessment Process (E 1527-97) developed by American Society for Testing Materials (ASTM).