UMUC

Graduate School of Management and Technology

Course Descriptions - ENVM (Environmental and Waste Management)

ENVM 641 Environmental Auditing (3)

An examination of methods for attaining statutory, regulatory and permitting compliance. The protection of workers and other stakeholders is also examined in the context of organizational, budgetary and other constraints. Emphasis is on methods of defining auditing objectives to meet organizational goals and of designing auditing programs for effective compliance under each of the 12 major environmental statutes—including air, water, solid and hazardous waste management laws and pollution prevention initiatives.

ENVM 643 Environmental Communications and Reporting (3)

An overview of the range of communication practices required by environmental managers in the fulfillment of legal, regulatory, ethical and organizational responsibilities. The various populations with whom environmental managers must communicate and interact—including plant supervisors, corporate executives, regulators, the legal community, civic groups, labor unions and the media—are identified and examined. Discussion covers various types of communication, from decision memoranda to environmental impact statements, presentations of corporate environmental policies before affected communities and development/conveyance of technical evidence for obtaining permit variances.

ENVM 644 New Technologies in Environmental Management (3)

An overview of new waste management and waste minimization technologies, including treatment technologies such as physical and chemical treatment of hazardous wastes, bioreactors and bioremediation, and reverse osmosis and ultrafiltration. Review covers disposal technologies, such as landfill design and operation, incineration and encapsulation methods. Pollution prevention technologies, including process redesign and computer-aided process control, as well as the substitution of toxic materials, are also presented.

ENVM 646 Environmental/Energy Law and Policy Development (3)

An examination of U.S. environmental and energy law and policy, including its development, implementation and enforcement; legislative, executive and judicial perspectives; and the roles and impact government institutions have made on environmental and energy law and policy. Leading laws and their ensuing policies, such as the National Environmental Protection Act, the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act, the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, the 1992 National Energy Policy Act, the FDR-Era Federal Policy Act, the Public Utility Holding Company Act and the Carter-Era Public Utility Regulatory Policy Act, are examined.

ENVM 647 Environmental Risk Assessment (3)

An overview of the basic concepts of risk assessment. Topics include the four core parts of a risk assessment, as denoted by the National Academy of Sciences: hazard assessment, dose-response assessment, exposure assessment and risk characterization. Methods of measurement and modeling are discussed, along with key questions concerning uncertainty. Differences in the risk characterizations of substances under different use conditions and legal requirements are studied. Significant case studies serve to illustrate the assessment process.

ENVM 648 Fundamentals of Environmental Systems (3)

(For students lacking a strong science background or experience in the environmental field.) An introduction to the basic concepts of environmental chemistry, physics, geology and risk. Topics include the gaseous, liquid and solid effluents from various industrial activities, as well as management methods and the statutory and regulatory requirements of major federal environmental laws affecting this management. Discussion also covers fundamental principles relating to the transport and fate of contaminants and industrial wastes and the basic vocabulary of the field.

ENVM 649 Principles of Waste Management and Pollution Control (3)

An introduction to various methods of waste management, including waste collection, transportation, recycling, treatment and disposal and environmental monitoring. Focus is on hazardous and municipal solid waste, pollution prevention techniques and waste minimization. An introduction to the process of disposal, including facility site selection, design and operation is also provided.

ENVM 650 Land and Water Resource Management (3)

An introduction to the development of multiple-use resource management strategies and the role of public policy in land and water resource management. Topics include free markets, market failure and distributional equity issues; the public trust doctrine; Native American Trust responsibilities; land use regulations; and enforcement of land and water restrictions, expost-liability schemes and public purchase of private land and water rights.

ENVM 651 Watershed Planning Management (3)

An introduction to the concepts of watershed management and the development of watershed-related management planning documents. The physical characteristics of watersheds and their role in maintaining healthy environments and providing a natural resource to society are examined. Focus is on examining management techniques for the conservation and maintenance of watersheds.

ENVM 652 Principles of Air Quality Management (3)

An overview of management techniques for addressing air quality issues and managing air quality programs. Topics include air pollution law; air pollutants and their sources; effects of air pollution on health and welfare; sampling and analysis of air pollutants; standards, regulations and enforcement systems; and quality assurance principles.

ENVM 653 Land Use Management (3)

An introduction to the powers, process and practice of managing the patterns and land use implications of human settlement and the built environment. Topics include where to build, where not to build, how to build and when to build. Discussion also covers the settlement history of the United States, as well as the constitutional and legislative mandates for government, private-sector participants and institutions that shape land use policy. Emphasis is on the role of local government. Land use and environmental community planning, as well as best practices in land use management, are examined.

ENVM 670 Seminar in Environmental Management (3)

A capstone study of environmental management that integrates knowledge gained in previous study for the solution of environmental management problems encountered in industrial, commercial, institutional and military organizations. Focus is on management guidelines, such as ISO 14001, that provide an organizational framework for developing an environmental management system that can be integrated with other management requirements to help organizations support environmental protection in balance with socioeconomic goals. Case studies are used to illustrate applications of environmental management systems to various types of organizations. The capstone project requires assessment of the efficiency and effectiveness of an environmental management system at an organization and the development of recommendations for improvement.