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WHY HAVE AN ENVIRONMENTAL AUDIT? By:
James K. O’Brien
An environmental audit determines how well your business complies
with environmental laws and regulations.
Audits have always been an important business tool, but now there
are even more incentives to perform an environmental audit, especially
in Michigan.
Free Pollution Prevention Audit. Michigan, like many states,
sponsors a program of free environmental audits aimed at reducing the
creation of hazardous waste, and the use of unnecessarily hazardous
chemicals and processes. RETAP (the Retired Engineers Technical Assistance Program)
will inspect your manufacturing facility, and provide pollution prevention
and waste minimization ideas that often pay for themselves, or increase profits.
A RETAP audit is free and confidential – no report is made
to state regulators.
Low Interest Loans.
If the RETAP audit, or your own audit, results in ideas to reduce waste
that require a capital expenditure, low-interest loans (state subsidized)
are available on favorable terms to implement your waste reduction plans.
Immunity/Reduced Fines for Environmental Violations. Businesses
in the past were hesitant to perform environmental audits for fear that
an inadvertent violation of environmental law would be discovered, and
the company would be placed in a dilemma:
illegally conceal the violation, or report it to the authorities
and face stiff fines and penalties.
In response, Michigan and federal authorities have reduced or
eliminated the penalties for a voluntarily reported violation of environmental
laws discovered during an environmental audit.
Recently, federal guidelines were relaxed to allow more time
for voluntary reporting following the discovery of an inadvertent violation.
Business Advantages.
Many automakers and other Fortune 500 companies are requiring
their suppliers to certify compliance with international environmental
standards (ISO 14001) as a condition of doing business.
Michigan offers numerous environmental advantages to companies
that comply with environmental standards through its "Clean Corporate
Citizen" program. A
preliminary environmental audit can give you an outline of any improvements
that should be made to your existing environmental practices to comply
with the ISO standard or state requirements. Both programs recommend periodic follow-up audits.
A well-designed environmental audit program contributes to better compliance with environmental laws, reduced risk and substantial cost savings. To get the maximum benefit, however, you must satisfy the requirements of environmental audit laws. |
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