Why Companies Should Perform Environmental Audits and Disclose Violations

Don’t wait for the EPA to investigate your business. Learn how to fix environmental violations yourself

Companies can benefit from performing internal environmental audits in several different ways. Rather than waiting around the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to investigate, owners should take the initiative to perform their own internal audits. By which we mean checking for any and all environmental violations and issues. For example, non-compliance with environmental regulations for emissions or wastewater discharge.

By performing an internal environmental audit, a company can take necessary corrective actions. The goal of which is fixing any regulatory violations and help fast-track its way towards compliance. Of course, this is just one of the many reasons why a company should perform its own environmental audits…

What is an environmental compliance audit?

In short, environmental auditing is a systematic process that objectively assesses your organization’s environmental impact. The end result is an audit report that documents findings or issues in complying with environmental laws.

Along with ensuring regulatory compliance, these types of environmental audits are an important aspect of best management practices. Just like your business’s internal policies and procedures around risk management. Measuring your organization’s compliance status is just one of many due diligence activities to prevent any breaches of legal requirements.

EPA audit incentive to prevent environmental issues

The EPA actually has an incentive program in place to encourage in-house audits along with disclosing environmental violations. The EPA’s Audit Policy is a program which rewards companies for voluntarily identifying, disclosing and fixing violations and compliance issues. (Before 2011, it was formally known as “Incentives for Self-Policing: Discovery, Disclosure, Correction and Prevention of Violations“).

In order for a company to qualify for the EPA Audit Policy program, it must meet a total of nine specific conditions. Here is a brief overview of these conditions set forth by the EPA:

1. Discovery through the company’s own environmental audit or compliance management system (CMS).
2. The discovery was made voluntarily and not through a monitoring or legal auditing procedure.
3. Written disclosure of the violation was sent to the EPA within 21 days of discovery (some jurisdictions may require shorter times).
4. Independent discovery of the violation was made before EPA.
5. Remediation was made within 60 days of the violation’s discovery.
6. New practices enacted to prevent similar violations in the future.
7. This same violation can not occur within the next 3 years.
8. Violations which result in serious or life-threatening harm are not eligible for the EPA Audit Policy program.
9. The company or representative responsible for disclosing the violation must cooperate with the EPA.

How can an environmental audit report benefit your company?

If a company is able to meet the nine conditions above, it is eligible to receive incentives from the EPA. You can read the official PDF file for more information, but the incentives are based around penalty reductions. For instance, ‘gravity-based’ penalties are completely eliminated as long as the company meets all nine conditions. If the company met all conditions with the exception of systematic discovery, they will receive a 75% reduction of gravity-based penalties. This is a huge benefit that can yield a substantial financial savings for companies.

Companies that meet these nine conditions are also not recommended for criminal prosecution by the EPA.

[cta]Need help with environmental management systems or supplies for your business? Contact Travis Zdrazil at travis@absorbentsonline.com or (800) 869-9633.[/cta]