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An environmental audit, a mechanism for assessing the impact of an
existing industrial or commercial operation on the environment, appeared
first in the 1970s and has been widely used by industry in developed
countries since the late 1980s.
In
New South Wales, Chapter 6 - Part 6.3 of the Protection of the
Environment Operations Act 1997 provides for very useful
and convenient Voluntary
Environmental Audits.
Under this Act, results of
Voluntary Environmental
Audits, unlike results of
Mandatory
Environmental Audits,
are "protected documents" that:
-
are not admissible in
any proceedings connected with
the administration or enforcement of the
environment protection legislation; and
- may not be inspected
and used by
any regulatory authority for any purpose connected with the administration
or enforcement of the environment protection legislation.
Consequently,
Voluntary Environmental
Audits are carried out in New South Wales by independent environmental consultants, such as Pollution Control Consultancy
and Design (PCCD), engaged by the current or future occupier and/or owner of
industrial premises, in order to:
-
reveal existing
and/or potential environmental threats, and if required;
-
define measures to
eliminate these threats;
without a risk of being
legally liable for any findings resulting from the audit process.
Benefits from Voluntary Environmental
Audits include:
-
identification
of the environmental risk;
-
development
of pollution reduction programs;
-
prevention
of financial loss caused by plant closure, clean-ups or restrictions imposed
by government bodies
as a result of environmentally unsafe practices;
-
avoidance
of environmental legal actions against
a company, its directors, managers
and/or staff;
-
reduction
of insurance premiums and potential compensation payouts;
-
demonstration
of "due diligence" to a court of law; and
-
cost
saving from conservation of resources, minimizing waste and maximizing reuse
and recycling.
An environmental audit
report may strengthen the company's position with finance institutions and
shareholders.
Our experience clearly
shows that the majority of Sydney industrial operations have both unrecognized and
latent environmental hazards.
All too often these hazards surface only when
environmental damage has occurred and legal action starts, because people with
limited environmental engineering experience failed to discover or perceive
potential problems.
Voluntary Environmental
Audit carried out by
competent consultants, such as
Pollution
Control
Consultancy
and Design
(PCCD), is a cost-effective,
proactive and safe procedure to
point out and eliminate dormant environmental threats.
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It makes sense that
at least once voluntary (confidential)
environmental audits
are carried out on industrial sites
by
external experts (experienced environmental consultants). |
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