We are committed to responsibly managing our environmental impacts. Our commitment to environmental stewardship is supported by our Health, Safety and Environmental (HSE) Policy and by our comprehensive environmental management system (EMS), which is aligned with the ISO 14001 EMS standard. Our commitment includes the proactive identification and management of environmental risks and opportunities across the life cycle of our operations, as well as appropriate engagement with internal and external stakeholders on environmental issues.
Environment
- Our responsibility
- Environment
Air quality
We actively work to limit our criteria emissions and impacts on local air quality. We also support local air quality monitoring and awareness programs.
Biodiversity
We are committed to minimizing our impact on biodiversity, recognizing that the construction of our LNG terminals and natural gas pipelines may affect ecosystems. Additionally, we voluntarily contribute to biodiversity protection projects near our operational areas.
Water management
Cheniere strives to avoid or minimize adverse environmental impacts associated with water use, including impacts related to water quality and quantity of water used.
Based on our Water Risk Assessment using the Aqueduct Water Analysis Tool from the World Resources Institute, we have determined our liquefaction assets are not in areas of high water-stress. We develop and regularly engage stakeholders, such as municipal water and utility districts, to assess and manage current and future allocations.
These efforts are guided by our Water Quality and Use standards and procedures and governed by our HSE Policy, EMS and CIMS. We manage wastewater by developing and implementing facility-specific effluent management plans. The Vice President of Operations for each liquefaction asset oversees water management strategy for our operations. Site environmental teams monitor water management operations and continuously track equipment use and flow values. Each asset maintains its own water quality management procedures that address water use, discharge and public water system requirements.
Waste management
All facilities must pre-plan waste management by identifying and categorizing potential waste streams before maintenance or construction. This involves leveraging process knowledge or accredited laboratory analyses. Any process changes trigger a re-evaluation of waste streams to ensure accurate categorization.
At SPL and CCL, waste minimization involves employing source reduction and environmentally sound recycling methods before energy recovery, treatment or disposal. Adhering to state and federal regulations, SPL and CCL have both implemented comprehensive Waste Minimization Plans (WMP) for hazardous waste. To develop a more comprehensive approach to waste minimization, SPL and CCL have also included solid waste streams in their respective WMP.
Both of our liquefaction facilities are actively exploring technologies and practices to reduce waste volume generated on-site. We monitor hazardous waste generated on-site with periodic sampling to assess the tank contents.
Spill prevention and response
We encounter minimal spill risks due to the properties of the products and materials we handle, especially with LNG, which dissipates if released and poses a low risk of surface contamination. However, we comply with legal requirements by maintaining site-specific spill prevention, control and countermeasure plans. Our spill management approach includes an enterprise-wide environmental and safety incident management system, which involves developing and monitoring corrective actions.
CCL and SPL maintain Oil Spill Prevention and Response Plans in accordance with federal and state requirements. Additionally, we implement Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plans to further protect against potential environmental impacts. See Incident Management and Emergency Response for more information.
As outlined in our HSE Policy, Cheniere is committed to conducting business in a safe and environmentally responsible manner. This commitment is operationalized into our daily work through environmental standards and an EMS, both of which are integrated into the Cheniere Integrated Management System (CIMS). As outlined in these standards, our executive leadership team oversees and has accountability for environmental issues. Our Board of Directors reviews these issues regularly and receives updates on a selection of environmental performance metrics quarterly. Our policies, standards, EMS and other expectations are communicated to employees internally through annual environmental training, orientations and regular operational management meetings.
Executive management and Board oversight
As outlined in these standards, our executive leadership team oversees and has accountability for environmental issues. Our Executive Vice President and Chief Legal Officer is accountable for internal compliance with this policy.
To maximize the rigor of our management approach, we have implemented a cross-functional and collaborative executive management team for environmental risk and performance oversight. The Vice President of Environmental and Regulatory Projects is responsible for overseeing our environmental performance and for the execution of our business strategy in a way that is consistent with our HSE Policy, as well as our vision and core values. The Vice President of Health, Safety and Environmental manages HSE compliance and risk across the business. Our Executive Vice President and Chief Legal Officer oversees HSE management, biodiversity and land impacts, air quality, effluents and waste.
Our Board of Directors reviews these issues regularly and receives updates on a selection of environmental performance metrics quarterly.
Environmental management system (EMS)
Our EMS, which is aligned with the ISO 14001 environmental management system standard, supports the implementation of our HSE Policy. The EMS outlines roles, responsibilities and accountability for environmental management; corporate- and site-level standards for managing environmental issues; our procedures for regular environmental risk and aspects assessments; processes for developing corrective actions to stimulate continuous improvement; and our internal training and communication requirements.
We conduct annual reviews of environmental impacts, risks and opportunities associated with our operations and we develop relevant follow-up actions to eliminate, avoid or mitigate impacts. This assessment feeds into larger enterprise-wide compliance and risk assessments. We follow protocols to include stakeholder views in our assessments and communicate with them on environmental issues, including through our site environmental impact assessments, community impact and risk assessments, and messaging systems designed to inform local residents about our operations.
We assess compliance with environmental management standards and processes through regular assurance assessments and audits. Assurance targets are determined annually using a risk-based approach and can include both internal and third-party assessments. We prioritize and track corrective actions through completion, and lessons learned are shared across the wider organization.
Our EMS applies to contractors, contingent and temporary workers, and consultants working on our sites, as well as our own employees. We also require suppliers to undergo a prequalification process that establishes our expectations for compliance with applicable labor and HSE laws and standards, including human-rights-related standards.
Looking forward, we plan to continue to enhance implementation of our EMS through the development of expanded key performance indicators and goals. We have also transitioned our EMS into the CIMS, an enterprise-wide system for coordinating the development and implementation of standards and procedures focused on improving consistency and effectiveness of our management approaches, improving accountability and fostering continuous improvement.