Manage sustainability within a project
Network Rail and our projects follow the Project Acceleration in a Controlled Environment (PACE) process. There are specific PACE products that are mandated for managing sustainability in projects. The requirements for these products are outlined in our standard NR/L2/ENV/015 Sustainability Minimum Requirements for Projects – Design and Construction. You can find the NR/L2/ENV/015 Guidance note on the Guidance notes and technical manuals page.
What are the requirements?
Within the PACE Digital Product Index, a project must complete an EN1 (Environment and Social Appraisal tool) and an EN3 (Review and Acceptance Form).
An Environment and Social Management Plan (ESMP) must be completed alongside these two PACE products.
PACE EN1: Environment and Social Appraisal (ESA) Tool
The ESA tool is designed to help identify and manage the sustainability risks and opportunities associated with a project. This should be completed during Phase 1 (Strategic Development and Project Selection) and needs to be kept up to date throughout the project. As the ESA tool contains macros we cannot upload the attachment to this website. You can request a copy by using the Contact Us button on the homepage.
There are some links on the ESA tool which are currently broken. Whilst we work to find a solution to this issue, we ask that users of the form leave any of these questions blank or state “N/A”.
PACE EN3: Review and Acceptance Form
EN3 provides a way for reviewing and accepting the ESMP. This should be completed in Phase 2 (Project Design). The template can be found attached to this page.
Environment and Social Management Plan
The ESMP template provides Network Rail teams and suppliers with a way to manage the risks and opportunities identified in the ESA. The template attached to the page has been produced to meet the minimum requirements of NR/L2/ENV/015.
Other useful documents:
Environment and Social Site Inspection Template (formerly EN4)
The Environment and Social Site Inspection template helps assess compliance with legislation and Network Rail standards and procedures. It also includes deep dive templates into key environmental and social topics. This template was previously EN4 within the PACE Product Index. The template is attached to the page.
Can’t access the link to a Network Rail standard?
If you’re an external contractor, please use the supplier portal to access Network Rail Standards. If you do not have an account you can request this using the Network Rail Standards Account Request form.