Environmental Guidelines for Major Construction Sites

1 Best Practice Environmental ManagementEnvironmental Guidelines for MajorConstruction SitesEnvironmental Guidelines forMajor Construction SitesEnvironment Protection Authority477 Collins Street, MelbourneVictoria 3000 AUSTRALIAF ebruary and planning and Environmental Risk Risk management3 Environmental management Environment management Best practice Segment Environmental control plan4 Land Management of contaminated Designing erosion and sediment control De-watering work Dust Management of stockpiles and Working in waterways and floodplains5 Noise and Operating Vehicles and Noise Vibration6 Waste material and Solid inert Putrescible Low-level

2 Contaminated Prescribed wastes8 Other Environmental Emergency Air Storage of chemicals and Road Protecting Concrete batching plants9 Inspections, monitoring and AuditingAppendix: Check-list35 FOREWORDM ajor Construction projects, such as roads and freeways, are important to Victoria's economicdevelopment. During Construction , however, such projects pose a significant risk to the environment,which must be addressed by developers and practices that fail to control pollution can cause damage to waterways and wetlands, killfish, upset aquatic ecological systems and wildlife communities, and result in contamination of land andgroundwater.

3 The risk to the environment is particularly high when work is done near coastal areas,streams and creeks, or along a river valley. When Construction occurs near built-up areas, poorpractices may result in air and noise pollution which may cause annoyance and affect the health ofneighbouring document is designed to provide developers and contractors with Guidelines on how to implementsound practices that minimise Environmental impacts and eliminate health risks and nuisance toresidents near a Construction are also sound economic reasons for implementing good Environmental practices during majorconstruction projects.

4 Excessive sedimentation of waterways can cause flooding, require expensivedredging of navigation channels downstream or reduce the capacity of downstream water storage units,destroy valuable wetlands, and reduce commercial and recreational fishing. On-site, loss of topsoilmeans importation of replacement topsoil at substantial cost. Where Construction activities cause anuisance, this places a cost on the community through loss of Sites are constantly changing, and systems need to be in place to modify control measuresto maintain their effectiveness.

5 Therefore, frequent inspection and monitoring is required to continuallycheck the effectiveness of would encourage all companies involved in the design and Construction of Major roads anddevelopment projects to use these Practice Environmental Management publications are produced by Environment ProtectionAuthority (EPA) to encourage a pro-active approach to Environmental management by would be pleased to receive comments on these Guidelines from the Construction industry andother interested RobinsonChairmanEnvironment Protection AuthorityEnvironmental Guidelines for Major Construction SitesPage 111 PURPOSE AND APPLICATIONThe Environmental Guidelines for majorConstruction Sites provides a useful sourcedocument to help prepare and implement aenvironmental management plan for majorconstructions purpose of these

6 Guidelines is to providedevelopers, contractors and governmentagencies involved with commissioning orconstructing freeways, Major roads or majordevelopment projects with: information how to avoid and minimiseenvironmental impact, which is preferableto the less cost-effective option ofcontrolling or treating discharges to theenvironment, or undertaking remedialaction. information on the likely impact ofconstruction activities on the environmentand how this is to be assessed Guidelines for undertaking risk assessmentand management a clear statement of environmentalperformance objectives for each segment ofthe environment suggested best practice environmentalmeasures to meet the performanceobjectives based on available experienceThe Guidelines provide contractors anddevelopers with a framework within which duediligence obligations can be met andenvironmental damage can be

7 Guidelines are not prescriptive or will require tailoring them toparticular site conditions and makingadjustments if the measures listed areinappropriate to the of the measures proposed in theGuidelines are also applicable to smallerconstruction Sites (less than five hectares) andshould be used where appropriate to avoid andminimise impact from such Guidelines do not refer to State legislation,regulations or Environmental , contractors and subcontractor,when they are used, must make themselvesaware of their legal obligations because theyare responsible for requirements and standards areminimium standards.

8 And projects shouldendeavour to continually improve on Guidelines for Major Construction SitesPage 22 PRE- Construction PLANNING AND DESIGNI ntegrating environment protection at theproject planning stage ensures that measures toavoid and minimise pollution can be built intothe project design and work schedule. Thisapproach is more cost-effective thanestablishing controls once the a site has been selected, it is necessary toconduct an environment assessment thatidentifies which parts of the environment maybe vulnerable to damage from a risk assessment is a useful way inwhich to approach this aspect of sitemanagement.

9 Environmental risk deals with theprobability of an event causing an undesirableeffect. There are three elements to considerwhen defining risk1. They are: a time frame over which the risk or risksare being considered a probability of the occurrence of one ormore events a measure of the consequences of thoseeventsBased on the site assessment, project designinformation and the Construction workprogram, a risk assessment of all aspects of theproject can be executed. This assessment inturn leads to a strategy to manage all significantrisks to the Environmental assessmentUnderstanding which segments of theenvironment are vulnerable is a prerequisite toidentifying and managing Environmental risks.

10 1T. Beer & F. Ziolkowski, Environmentalrisk assessment: an Australian perspective,Supervising Scientist Report 102, assessment should not only consider theenvironmental impacts on a site, but whether ornot off-site effects are initial assessment of the site should beconducted to identify sensitive environmentalareas or uses that require protection. These mayinclude: sensitive or endangered flora and fauna aquatic plants and animals, if a naturalwaterway is affected groundwater recharge areasDepending on whether or not the constructionsite is near houses, schools or hospitals, theimpact of air discharges, noise and vibration onthe health and amenity of adjacent residents willneed to be included in the the project has been approved, but beforeconstruction commences.