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This policy statement outlines the environmental objectives to which we are committed as part of a wider commitment to sustainability. Northern Ireland Water Management Board will develop and execute this policy and will make the necessary resources available to ensure its realisation, with the aim of continually improving our environmental performance. Our Environmental Advisory Group will ensure the implementation of this policy and its communication to all our employees and those working on our behalf.

In particular we will :

• Strive to achieve and maintain full compliance with all relevant environmental legislation, regulatory obligations and standards, and publish environmental performance statistics on these activities.
  
• Operate an Environmental Management System, integrated with our business activities, which endeavours to prevent environmental pollution and ensures that environmental awareness is part of our corporate culture. 
  
• Seek to maintain continual improvement in our environmental performance, and demonstrate this through the attainment of targets and objectives which require reductions in our environmental impacts. We will report annually on our progress in meeting these targets.
  
• Ensure that all our employees and those who work on our behalf receive appropriate training in the environmental aspects of our activities.
  
• Foster productive partnerships with key stakeholders to encourage a greater understanding of environmental issues and promote environmental stewardship.
  
• Ensure that environmental issues are taken into account at an early stage in the planning of new projects and require that an environmental impact assessment is prepared for all major projects. 
  
• Manage our landholdings and natural resources in a sustainable manner to protect and enhance water quality, permitting public access where practicable. 
  
• Take reasonable steps, consistent with the proper exercise of our functions, to further the conservation and enhancement of the biodiversity within our landholdings.
  
• Recognise the need to support sustainable development and, where possible, establish
  appropriate performance targets based on measurable sustainability indicators.
  
• Use resources efficiently, promoting the waste hierarchy and seeking to minimise our contribution to the causes of climate change by the efficient use of energy, including renewable energy sources.
  
• Plan to mitigate the effects of climate change on our water resources and drainage infrastructure, promoting water conservation and facilitating the use of sustainable drainage systems.
  
• Seek to use environmentally responsible suppliers of goods and services, working with them to secure delivery of our environmental objectives through the supply chain.

These commitments will be incorporated into our business practices and we will adopt appropriate environmental objectives and targets to progress their achievement. We will encourage companies throughout our supply chain to implement this, or an equivalent, policy. Northern Ireland Water will welcome views on this policy and suggestions for its improvement in the light of new knowledge and changing legislation.

Katharine Bryan Chief Executive Northern Ireland Water 20th March 2006