Environmental Audits:

EMS & EMTs

What does Auditing mean?.
Objectives & Relevance
Types of Common Environtl Audits
Link between Audit & EIA
Benefits of audit
Audit report
Envntal Mgt Tools include:
Environmental Impact Assessment
Environmental Policy
Environmental Legislation
Environmental Standards
Environmental Monitoring
Cleaner Production/Life Cycle Assessment
Environmental Managent Systems (EMSs)
Organisational-based Environmental Policy
Environmental Audits
Organisational Envntal Policy
should ensure that it:-
Is appropriate to nature, scale & and envntal
impacts of its activities, products or/and services
Includes a commitment to comply with relevant
envntal legislation; policies; stds; limits; regulations
and organisational mgt systems/procedures; etc.
Provides the framework for setting and reviewing
envntal objectives and targets
Is documented, communicated to all employees,
implemented and maintained
Is made available to the public
Defining Envntal Audit:
Environtal Auditing is simply viewed as
planned periodic checks to ensure compliance
and performance enhancement alongside
project implementation.
Audit is the term, taken from financial
accounting, to assume the notion of verification
of practice and certification of data. In terms of
environmental mgt.
It is part of EMS (ISO 14000) where as:
ISO 14010:- General Envntal auditing principles
ISO 14011:- Envntal audit procedures
ISO 14012:- Qualification criteria for Envntal Auditors
Objectives of Envntal Audits:-

to organise and interpret environmental
monitoring data
to verify that environmental monitoring
programme is in compliance with regulatory
requirements, internal policies and stds, and
environtal limits
to assess accuracy of predictions through
comparing impact predictions with actual impacts
to assess the effectiveness of the environmental
management systems, practices and procedures
to determine the level of any necessary
remedial/control measures in case of non-
compliance or the organization's environmental
objectives are not achieved.

Relevance of Environmental
Audits includes:
Improvement of environmental
performance of projects and businesses
Provision of corrective measures in
regard to organisational mgt systems
and/or strategic matters
Avoidance of challenges/problems
turning into liabilities.
Auditing can also result into:
improved image for the products as
environmentally sound
reduction in public opposition to the
project, operation(s)
avoidance of penalties which could result
from non-compliance with stricter
environmental controls
Environmental Auditing-
Whose Responsibility?
Developers have an overall responsibility for
planning and guiding envntal audits for the
benefit of both the envnt and their projects.
Most cases, it is the developer who bears all
costs (carrying out auditing & report review)
Costs for audits or regular checks executed
by any other actor(s) will be born by the
actor initiated that audit.
Linking Envntal Audit and EIA:
EIA provides excellent information (e.g.
baseline data, impacts, monitoring data, etc.)
to E/Auditing to verify.
EIA suggests requirements for policy/legal
changes, while E/Auditing goes beyond that
by giving limits and specifics
EIA adjusts projects' designs before they
commence, while E/Auditing adjusts
implementation/operation based on phases
or planned periods.
Common Types of E/Auditing:
Impact Audit:- to be done where an EIS is in
place; compares predicted impacts to actual ones;
evaluates effectiveness of MMs
Compliance Audit:- examines conformity to
policies, legislations, stds, regulations, licenses,
permits, etc.
Performance Audit:- examines nature, modes of
practices, systems, procedures, etc.; aims at
avoiding failure events, accidents and minimizing
risks.
Liability Audit:- Examines the level of envntal
liability and/or risks attached to properties/assets;
helps at determining investment policy.
Envntal Audit Reports Contents:
Executive summary
Projects current status information
Audit objectives and scope
Audit protocol, criteria and methodology used
Findings and Observations
Description of key issues including discovered
strengths and weaknesses
Recommended actions and adjustments
Conclusions
List of cited references
Appendices (photos, future plan of actions, etc).