The Environmental, Health, and Safety (EHS) Guidelines are technical reference documents with general and ndustry pecific examples of Good International Industry Practice. When one or more members of the World Bank Group are involved in a project, these EHS Guidelines are applied as required by their respective policies and standards. These industry sector EHS guidelines are designed to be used together with the General EHS Guidelines document, which provides guidance to users on common EHS issues potentially applicable to all industry sectors. For complex projects, use of multiple industry-sector guidelines may be necessary. A complete list of industry-sector guidelines can be found at:
www.ifc.org/ifcext/enviro.nsf/Content/EnvironmentalGuidelines
The EHS Guidelines contain the performance levels and measures that are generally considered to be achievable in new facilities by existing technology at reasonable costs. Application of the EHS Guidelines to existing facilities may involve the
establishment of site-specific targets, with an appropriate timetable for achieving them.
The applicability of the EHS Guidelines should be tailored to the hazards and risks established for each project on the basis
of the results of an environmental assessment in which site-specific variables, such as host country context, assimilative
capacity of the environment, and other project factors, are taken into account. The applicability of specific technical
recommendations should be based on the professional opinion of qualified and experienced persons.
When host country regulations differ from the levels and measures presented in the EHS Guidelines, projects are expected to achieve whichever is more stringent. If less stringent levels or measures than those provided in these EHS Guidelines are appropriate, in view of specific project circumstances, a full and detailed justification for any proposed alternatives is needed as part of the site-specific environmental assessment. This justification should demonstrate that the choice for any alternate performance levels is protective of human health and the environment.

2007 IFC Environmental, Health, and Safety Guidelines for Nitrogenous Fertilizer