Ranking environmental aspects in environmental management systems: a new method tested on local authorities.

A new method is described to determine and to rank the significance of the environmental aspects of a local authority, as a basis for the implementation of an environmental management system (EMS). The method is especially important as for the requirements of the EU "Environmental Management and Audit Scheme" (EMAS), a standard open to all sectors including public authorities. The method has been applied to the Municipalities of Faenza (a large town with 54,000 inhabitants) and of the small towns of Riolo Terme, Brisighella, Casola Valsenio (RA, Italy), which obtained or are on the way to get the EMAS certification.