Audits

EPA provides Audit Protocols to assist the regulated community in developing programs at individual facilities to evaluate their compliance with environmental requirements under federal law. The protocols are intended solely as guidance in this effort. The regulated community's legal obligations are determined by the terms of applicable environmental facility-specific permits, underlying statutes and applicable state and local law.

KPA can help you with a third party EPA audit including discovery, disclosure, correction, and prevention of EPA, health, and other environmental violations. EPA offers several major incentives for companies to voluntarily come into compliance with federal environmental laws and regulations, and KPA can help you to take advantage of these incentives by implementing audits, programs, and providing training.

Compliance Incentives and Auditing:

Significant penalty reductions. Civil penalties under the environmental laws generally have two components, an amount assessed based upon the severity or “gravity” of the violation, and the amount of economic benefit a violator received from failing to comply with the law.
No gravity-based penalties if all nine of the Policy’s conditions are met. EPA retains its discretion to collect any economic benefit that may have been realized as a result of noncompliance.
Reduction of gravity-based penalties by 75% where the disclosing entity meets all of the Policy’s conditions except detection of the violation through a systematic discovery process.

No recommendation for criminal prosecution for entities that disclose criminal violations if all of the applicable conditions under the Policy are met. “Systematic discovery” is not a requirement for eligibility for this incentive, although the entity must be acting in good faith and adopt a systematic approach to preventing recurring violations. Refer to the Audit Policy for a complete discussion of issues relating to disclosure of criminal violations.

KPA’s professional staff can conduct an expert audit of your facility. Our employees have extensive training in identifying regulatory violations, high risk practices, and environmental concerns. Using handheld devices and online software, our experts will identify, classify and photograph facility and employee issues to ensure timely hazard correction. KPA’s audits can be conducted to: provide peace of mind, meet insurance company requirements or address a regulatory requirement. As part of our comprehensive environmental compliance services, KPA Registered Environmental Assessors can conduct Phase I Environmental Site Assessments (ESA’s) or create a photo-essay of your facility conditions to meet financing requirements during a real estate transaction. The review can also include identification and documentation of Safety and Loss Prevention concerns as needed.

Audits

Compliance Incentives and Auditing:

EHS Solutions