AmbiPrime - Consultoria e Gestão Ambiental, Lda. services

A Environmental Diagnosis consists in a systematic identification of all environmental factors related with the activities of a given organization. The main goal is to verify the environmental performance of the organization. The organization’s existing conditions are compared with the applicable environmental legislation, with the specific requirements of its operating licenses and best available practices related to the economic sector of the organization.

The fulfillment of environmental legal requirements demands that a given organization has staff with specific training in Portuguese and EU´s environmental legislation. The existence of an internal department of environment its often difficult to bear financially. The External Environmental Department service is targeted especially to SME´s and aims to help organizations, easing the administration of all matters related to the environment. AmbiPrime may function as a department of environment outside the organization, where we guarantee the fulfillment of all technical and bureaucratic procedures, regular and sporadic, required by Portuguese environmental legislation.

We provide the service of national and european environmental and Health and Safety legislation dispatch. Depending on the needs of our customers, when new environmental or Health and Safety legislation enters into force at both Portuguese and EU’s level, we send the new legislation. Each statute, if the customer so desires, may be accompanied by a report prepared by AmbiPrime, which contains the scope of the law, its requirements, the associated fines, revocations and actions to be taken to achieve full compliance. Certification of an Environmental Management System, according to ISO 14001:2004 or EMAS II, implies the existence of a list of environmental legislation applicable to the activities of a given company. AmbiPrime provides lists of environmental legislation to companies implementing Environmental Management Systems.

The emission of greenhouse gases (particularly carbon dioxide CO2) as a result of human activities cause climate change namely global warming. Reducing carbon dioxide emissions and other greenhouse gases is one of the biggest challenges of mankind today. The production of electricity from fossil sources and fuel consumtion in the transport sector are the main sources of greenhouse gases. However activities such as materials and water consumption, waste production, may be reflected in terms of energy consumption and consequently emissions of greenhouse gases, so these emissions are an excellent indicator of the environmental performance of a organization.

An Strategic Environmental Assessment aims to integrate the environmental component in the broad guidelines of Plans (Land Use Planning, Municipal Master Plans, Detailed Plans, Urbanization plans, etc.) that by their scale have a substantial social, economic and environmental influence. It´s at the planning stage that potential adverse environmental effects can be more easily prevented and more effectively mitigated in the same way that positive environmental effects can be enhance more easily. Through a Strategic Environmental Assessment the effects of a given plan or program in the areas of population, human health, biodiversity, soil, water, atmosphere, climate, material goods, local dynamics, cultural heritage including architectural and archaeological heritage, landscape and their relationship to each other are analyzed.

Under Decree-Law No. 147/2008 of July 29, which establishes the legal framework of liability for environmental damage, economic activities are obliged to compensate environmental damage caused in the development of their activities. The activities stated in Annex III of the diploma are required to obtain a financial guarantee. The financial guarantee should allow to be taken over responsibilities in the possibility of environmental damage caused by the operator. The type and amount of the financial guarantee is defined according to the Environmental Risk Assessment. AmbiPrime conducts Environmental Risk Assessments where accident scenarios are defined, environmental damage is identified and its consequences are evaluated in an attempt to assess the associated costs.

Decree-Law No. 127/2013 of August 30, which approves the framework for Integrated Prevention and Pollution Control (IPPC), contains in its Annex I the categories of industrial activities that must obtain a Environmental License before the operation of the plant. New industrial facilities whose operations and production capacity fall in Annex I of the decree must implement the Best Available Techniques (BREF) in order to comply with the Associated Emission Levels of its activity. In the case of existing facilities where significant changes to the process make the facility framed under the activities listed in Annex I of the Environmental Licensing Law also need to obtain a Environmental License.

Those activities that perform waste management operations such as: storage, sorting, treatment, recovery and / or disposal are subject to waste management operations licensing by the Regional Commissions for Coordination and Development. The General Waste Management Law regulates the procedure whereby waste managment companys obtain their Waste Management Operating License. We accompany the process in its various phases until the waste managment operations license its obtained. We prepare the necessary documentation, we deliver the documentation to the coordinator of the process and dialogue with public authorities.

The activities of collecting water for human consumption, industry, irrigation, energy production as well as the discharge of urban or industrial waste water require licensing according to Law 58/2005 of 29 December and Decree-Law 226-A/2007 of 31 May.

An Environmental Audit intends to obtain tangible data that can help top management to know the environmental performance of a organization or activity. An audit to a Environmental Management System aims, among other aspects, to assess the adequacy of the policy, objectives and targets, program management and compliance procedures relatively to the requirements of the standard NP EN ISO 14001:2004. Environmental audits can also seek to: Verify compliance with national and EU legislation; dentify practices that entail risks, so that they can be minimized; Planning awareness and training sessions for the employees of the organization to the problems affecting their activities. The Environmental Audits conducted by AmbiPrime aim to provide an accurate and objective picture of the auditee.