Environmental Auditing: Management’s Key to Effective Environmental Compliance

Environmental auditing can be management’s key to effective environmental compliance by assessing ones status with a myriad of changing regulatory requirements. Since environmental auditing activities represent a relatively new technique for industry, the definition and methods of conducting an environmental audit may vary significantly. The generally accepted definition used by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) defines an environmental audit as a: “systematic. documented, periodic and objective review of facility operations and practices related to meeting environmental requirements”. This paper will present some of the reasons for performing an environmental audit, outline the basic procedure for performing an audit. and summarize problem areas-deficiencies frequently identified during audits of manufacturing facilities.