ISO’s engagement
Who does what?
ISO/TC 207, Environmental management
ISO/TC 207 is a mature technical committee with a well-established structure and organization and a well-accepted roster of products. Its current focus is to
- Ensure that ISO TC 207 is aware of relevant international policy developments and trends within its scope
- Ensure that market needs are served
- Ensure global participation in the development, revision, acceptance and use of the ISO 14000 standards
- Ensure the continual relevance and quality of ISO/TC 207's standards
- Protect the brand and the integrity of the usage of the ISO 14000 series standards
- Ensure the compatibility of ISO 14001 with other management system standards (MSS).
TC Scope:
Standardization in the field of environmental management systems and tools in support of sustainable development.
Excluded:
- test methods of pollutants, setting limit values and levels of environmental performance, and standardization of products.
ISO/TC 146, Air quality
TC Scope:
Standardization of tools for air quality characterisation of emissions, workspace air, ambient air, indoor air, in particular measurement methods for air pollutants (particles, gases, odours, micro-organisms) and for meteorological parameters, measurement planning, procedures for Quality Assurance/Quality Control (QA/QC) and methods for the evaluation of results including the determination of uncertainty.
Excluded:
- the establishment of limit values for air pollutants;
- the air quality in clean rooms;
- radioactive substances.
ISO/TC 147, Water quality
TC Scope:
Standardization in the field of water quality, including definition of terms, sampling of waters, measurement and reporting of water characteristics.
Excluded:
- limits of acceptability for water quality.
ISO/TC 190, Soil quality
TC Scope:
Standardization in the field of soil quality
- Soils in situ;
- Soil materials intended for reuse in or on soils, including dredged sub-aquatic soil materials (= excavated sediments).
Excluded:
- Threshold or limit values for the assessment of soil quality;
- Civil engineering aspects (are dealt with by ISO/ TC 182 "Geotechnics");
- In situ sediments (are dealt with by ISO/TC 147 "Water quality").
The scope, as defined above, describes the point of focus in general terms only. Soil quality is not an absolute concept: the quality of a soil, in terms of fitness for use, is dependent upon the purpose the soil serves. Various soil functions that can be distinguished include: agricultural land, natural habitats, building and construction sites, industrial sites and a matrix for other resources (e.g. groundwater). The suitability of a soil to fulfil a specific purpose is determined by many different aspects that can be characterized by chemical, physical and biological parameters.
Within ISO/TC 190, soil quality is historically approached from an environmental point of view. The emphasis of the work of TC 190 has changed from the development of individual standards for determination of specific parameters back in 1985, to standards that provide guidance on the practical applicability of these standards currently.
More recently, other environmental aspects of soil quality are considered part of the focus of ISO/TC 190: local and diffuse contamination (including uncontaminated soils); erosion; organic matter; sealing; compaction; bio-diversity; salinization.
ISO/TC 224, Service activities relating to drinking water supply systems and wastewater systems - Quality criteria of the service and performance indicators
TC Scope:
Standardization of a framework for the definition and measurement of service activities relating to drinking water supply systems and wastewater systems.
The standardization includes the definition of a language common to the different stakeholders, the definition of the characteristics of the elements of the service according to the consumers expectations, a list of requirements to fulfil for the management of a drinking water supply system and a wastewater system, service quality criteria and a related system of performance indicators, without setting any target values or thresholds.
Excluded:
- design and construction of water supply and wastewater systems, or maintenance techniques;
- limits of acceptability for drinking water quality and wastewater discharted in the receiving body;
- analytical methods.
In addition to the above referred technical committees, other technical committees also integrate the matter of environment protection in their field of standardization, i.e.: ISO/TC 43, Acoustics, ISO/TC 234, Fisheries and aquaculture.
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