Avoiding criminal liabilities
- Thompson, Hine and Flory, Dayton, OH (United States)
- Environmental Science and Engineering, Inc., Miamisburg, OH (United States)
Armed with more than 120 investigative agents, the US Environmental Protection Agency, through its attorneys at the Dept. of Justice, charges 5 to 10 engineers and business people with criminal violations of the nation's environmental regulations in any given week. There are some 10,000 pages of federal (let alone state) environmental regulations. The rules apply to large and small companies alike. As a practical matter, the sheer scope and complexity of environmental regulatory programs make 100% compliance virtually unattainable for most industrial enterprises. Where it is no longer a defense to claim lack of knowledge of one's regulatory obligations, and where courts allow the inference of criminal knowledge based on what the defendant should have known, what is a company to do The environmental audit provides a solution to this problem. Progressive audit programs are established with three goals in mind: to ensure that programs and practices at facilities are in compliance with applicable rules and regulations; to affirm that management systems are in place at the facilities to support ongoing compliance; and to identify needs or opportunities where it may be desirable to go beyond compliance to protect human health and the environment. This paper discusses the implementation of an audit program.
- OSTI ID:
- 7109833
- Journal Information:
- Chemical Engineering (New York); (United States), Vol. 101:6; ISSN 0009-2460
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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