Strategic Environmental Performance

Obtaining and Sustaining Compliance

Frances Alston, Brian K. Perkins

• Publisher: CRC Press
• Year: 2020
• Print ISBN: 9780367471552
• eBook ISBN: 9781000223699
• Topic: Technology & Engineering
• Subtopic: Government & Business
• Index: Technology & Engineering

Protecting our environment has never been more important than it is today in the wake of climate change and the ever-increasing demand on natural resources due to the expanding world population. Environmental protection has been increasingly discussed by concerned citizen groups and politicians in the wake of unexpected environmental disasters that have occurred in recent years. The need to protect drinking water resources, control greenhouse gas emissions, and implement successful waste reduction practices will continue to gain visibility with growing social awareness. Environmental managers and leaders can all benefit from this comprehensive and strategic book which guides them through environmental regulatory requirements and methods that can be used to interpret the regulations, develop programs, and processes to ensure compliance. The book includes a Tool Kit containing resources that can assist a company in assessing and evaluating the strength of their environmental program, systems, and processes so that changes can be made before damages to the environment becomes a reality, and penalties are enforced.

1 Environmental Compliance and the Corporate Structure

1.1 Defining the Compliance Profile

No matter what industry or the type of business an organization is engaged in, establishment of a corporate compliance structure is a must. A compliance structure or profile simply refers to identifying the laws and regulations that must be adhered to and the road map for ensuring compliance with applicable laws. Compliance is becoming more synonymous with conducting business no matter the industry or market in which a company competes. Regulatory compliance can range from those that apply to people management, from the viewpoint of human resource management, safety and health of workers while performing work, to protection of the environment. Recognizing that compliance for each company can be different depending on the mission of that company, the question that is important for each organization to contemplate is, what is compliance for my company? Compliance, simply put, is a company’s ability to identify, conform to and follow the rules and regulations that apply to them as they conduct business. The applicable rules and regulations form the basis of a company’s compliance profile. However, for some companies, it is not always easy to identify all the regulations that govern the ways in which they conduct business. In such cases, some organizations discover through regulatory inspections that they are not in compliance with a law or regulation that they have not even considered as a part of their compliance profile for the business. The compliance profile of a company is dependent upon various variables such as:

• The number of workers that a company employs
• The types of hazards that an employee can be exposed to during the performance of their tasks
• The type of potential emissions and releases to the environment
• The type of products produced
• The types of chemical products utilized while conducting business
• The type of waste or by-products produced from conducting business
• The state in which business is being conducted and the regulatory requirements specific to business conducted within that state

In addition to paying attention to the variables that can impact the structure of compliance, corporate leaders must also focus on the prevailing top compliance issues as they unfold. Keeping abreast of these issues provide an opportunity for a company to examine or assess compliance and the mechanisms used to address any of the applicable prevailing issues. These issues may include:

• Complexities encountered when managing risks for the enterprise
• Understanding and reducing the potential of regulatory noncompliance (Managing environmental risks falls within this category.)
• Managing changes in the information technology arena to include reducing the potential of cyber infiltration and attacks
• Developing and managing an effective internal audit program

Total compliance for a company means that they are conforming to all of the environmental regulations and laws. These laws and regulations can also be documented in permits or agreements that the company may have with the regulatory agencies such as Consent Orders (CO). To facilitate compliance, many organizations make use of environmental checklists, solicit the assistance of workers having the most knowledge of the operations that they are responsible for supporting, and hire environmental engineers, specialists or professionals who have been trained in environmental regulations. Environmental laws are legally enforceable primarily through the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). However, the EPA does not typically respond to all environmental concerns as some environmental issues are handled by other federal, state or local agencies through delegated authorization agreements from the EPA. The EPA has in many cases provided enforcement responsibility to some state and local governmental agencies. When enforcement is delegated, these agencies have the authority to inspect and impose penalties for noncompliance that may include financial penalties or imprisonment for failure to comply with the laws and regulations. The cost of noncompliance for a company can also lead to increased inspections by regulatory agencies, tarnish a company reputation and instill the perception of being an organization that is willing to cut cost and quality and having little or no concern for workers and the environment.

1.2 Alignment with the Mission of the Company

When considering alignment of a company’s mission and compliance profile, two key questions come to mind. The answer to these questions can be important when it comes to gaining support from the leadership team and workers in supporting activities that will facilitate compliance even if they believe that some actions taken may not be viewed as significant in supporting business practices and perhaps even hindering...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half-Title
• Series
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• Authors
• Chapter 1 Environmental Compliance and the Corporate Structure
• Chapter 2 Corporate Culture
• Chapter 3 Identifying Applicable Requirements
• Chapter 4 Implementation Roles, Responsibilities and Accountability
• Chapter 5 Flow Down of Requirements
• Chapter 6 Requirements and Implementation Documents
• Chapter 7 Critical Implementation Elements and Attributes
• Chapter 8 Requirements Tracking
• Chapter 9 Assessing and Measuring Program Performance
• Chapter 10 Tracking and Trending Performance
• Chapter 11 Lessons Learned
• Chapter 12 Compliance and Implementation Toolkit
• Appendix A: Toolkit for Evaluating Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA)
• Appendix B: Toolkit for Evaluating NPDES
• Appendix C: Evaluating Air Emissions
• Appendix D: Toolkit for Evaluating EPCRA
• Appendix E: Toolkit for Evaluating SDWA
• Appendix F: Toolkit for Evaluating SPCC
• Appendix G: Toolkit for Evaluating FIFRA
• Appendix H: Toolkit for Evaluating TSCA
• Appendix I: Toolkit for Evaluating NEPA
• Appendix J: Toolkit for CERCLA
• Index