Environmental audit. defines an "environmental audit" as a voluntary and comprehensive evaluation of:
- A facility, or a facility activity, regulated under state environmental laws and regulations, federal laws, and any state or federal determination, permit, or order; or
- A management system related to a facility or an activity that is designed to identify and prevent noncompliance with laws and improve compliance with laws and is conducted by owners or operators of a facility or is an activity by their employee or an independent contractor.
- An audit report prepared by the auditor, including the scope of the audit, information gained in the audit, conclusions and recommendations, and exhibits and appendixes
- Memorandums and documents analyzing a portion or all of the audit report and discussing implementation issues
- An implementation plan that addresses correcting past noncompliance, improving current compliance, and preventing future noncompliance
- Due diligence. Due diligence encompasses the entity's systematic efforts, appropriate to the size and nature of its business, to prevent, detect, and correct violations through all of the following:
- Compliance policies, standards, and procedures that identify how employees and agents are to meet the requirements of laws, regulations, permits, and other sources of authority for environmental requirements
- Assignment of overall responsibility for overseeing compliance with policies, standards, and procedures, and assignment of specific responsibility for ensuring compliance at each facility or operation
- Mechanisms for systematically ensuring that compliance policies, standards, and procedures are being carried out, including monitoring and auditing systems reasonably designed to detect and correct violations, periodic evaluation of the overall performance of the compliance management system, and a means for employees or agents to report violations of environmental requirements without fear of retaliation
- Efforts to communicate effectively the entity's standards and procedures to all employees and other agents whose duties involve environmental management
- Appropriate incentives to managers and employees to perform in accordance with the compliance policies, standards, and procedures, including consistent enforcement through appropriate disciplinary mechanisms
- Procedures for the prompt and appropriate disclosure and correction of any violations, and for any necessary modifications to the entity's program for preventing future violations.