环境会计方面的外文文献.docx

环境会计方面的外文文献.docx

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环境会计方面的外文文献

EVOLUTIONOFANENVIRONMENTAL

AUDITPROGRAM

J.H.Maday

T.L.Kuusinen

October1991

Presentedatthe

EnvironmentalAuditingConference

October22-23,1991

Seattle,Washington

Worksupportedby

theU.S.DepartmentofEnergy

underContractDE-ACO6-76RLO1830

PacificNorthwestLaboratory

Richland,Washington99352

DISCLAIMER

ThisreportwaspreparedasanaccountofworksponsoredbyanagencyoftheUnitedStates。

Government.NeithertheUnitedStatesGovernmentnoranyagencythereof,noranyoftheiremployees,makesanywarranty,expressorimplied,orassumesanylegalliabilityorresponsibilityfortheaccuracy,completeness,orusefulnessofanyinformation,apparatus,product,orprocessdisclosed,orrepresentsthatitsusewouldnotinfringeprivatelyownedrights.Referencehereintoanyspecificcommercialproduct,process,orservicebytradename,trademark,manufacturer,orotherwisedoesnotnecessarilyconstituteorimplyitsendorsement,recommendation,orfavoringbytheUnitedStatesGovernmentoranyagencythereof.TheviewsandopinionsofauthorsexpressedhereindonotnecessarilystateorreflectthoseoftheUnitedStatesGovernmentoranyagencythereof.

EvolutionofanEnvironmentalAuditProgram

JosephH.Maday,Jr.（ASQC-CQA）

TechnicalGroupLeader-QualityVerificationDepartment

and

TapioKuusinen

SeniorResearchScientist

EnvironmentalPolicyandComplianceGroup

PacificNorthwestLaboratory

Richland,Washington99352

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

ThisdocumentwaspreparedunderthedirectionoftheU.S.EnvironmentProtectionAgency’s（EPA）

SmallBusinessDivision.Therewerenumerousreviewersfromgovernmentandprivateorganizations.

Additionally,thefollowingprovidedimportantadviceand/orreferencematerials:

*SmallBusinessOmbudsman,MaineDepartmentofEnvironmentalProtection

*TennesseeSmallBusinessAssistanceProgram

*NewJerseyDepartmentofEnvironmentalProtection

*MassachusettsOfficeofTechnicalAssistanceforToxicsUseReduction（OTA）

*IowaWasteReductionCenter,UniversityofNorthernIowa

*FloridaSmallBusinessAssistanceProgram

Theproductsandservicesincludedinthisdocumentwerecontributedforreviewbycommercialand

governmentsources.Theprojectteamisthankfulfortheirtimelycooperation.

ABSTRACT

Internationalandnationalstandards,andinsomecasescorporatepoliciesrequirethatplannedandscheduledauditsbeperformedtoverifyallaspectsofenvironmentalcomplianceandtodetermineeffectiveimplementationoftheenvironmentalmanagementprogram.AnexampleofthiscanbefoundinthedefinitionofauditingasprovidedbyU.S.EnvironmentalProtectionAgency（EPA）PolicyStatementonEnvironmentalAuditing.Itdefinesenvironmentalauditingasfollows:

"Environmentalauditingisasystematic,documented,periodicandobjectivereview

byregulatedentitiesoffacilityoperationsandpracticesrelatedtomeeting

environmentalrequirements.Auditscanbedesignedtoaccomplishanyorallof

thefollowing:

verifycompliancewithenvironmentalrequirements,evaluatethe

effectivenessofenvironmentalmanagementsystemsalreadyinplace,orassessrisks

fromregulatedandunregulatedmaterialsandpractices.

Auditingservesasaqualityassurancechecktohelpimprovetheeffectivenessof

basicenvironmentalmanagementbyverifyingthatmanagementpracticesarein

place,functioningandadequate.''

Manyspecificationsfurtheremphasizethattheauditbeperformedtowrittenproceduresorchecklists（toprovidelaterdocumentation）bypersonnelwhodonothavedirectresponsibilityforperformingtheactivitiesbeingaudited.Theresultsofsuchauditsaregenerallyrequiredtobedocumented,reportedto,andreviewedby,responsiblemanagement.Follow-upactionwillbetakenwhereindicated.Theresponsibleorganizationcanthentakefollow-upactionasneeded.

Aneffectiveauditingprogramisausefultoolforimprovingenvironmentalcompliance.Ifdevelopedproperly,theprogramwillpointoutareasofweaknessandareasofpotentialproblems.Anauditingprogramwillalsoidentifyenvironmentalcomplianceactivitiesthatmeetorexceedexpectations.

AtthePacificNorthwestLaboratory（PNL）,EnvironmentalAuditsusedtoconsistofnontechnicalauditorsauditingtofindingspublishedinGeneralAccountingOfficereports.Today'spracticeofdeployingacompositeteamoftechnicalspecialistsandnontechncialauditorstoaudittospecificenvironmentalprogrammaticrequirementsprovides,webelieve,asignificantimprovement.

CREATINGANAUDITPROGRAM:

WHYAUDIT

Inthe"EnvironmentalAuditProgramDesignGuidelinesforFederalAgencies,”（EPA/130/4-S9/001）theauditobjectivesaregiven:

"Thegoalofenvironmentalmanagementistoreduceenvironmentalpollutionand

minimizerisksassociatedwithafacility’sproduction,operationsandmaintenance.

Anenvironmentalmanagementprogramoverseestheenvironmentalfunctions

withinanagency,generallyprovidingguidanceandtechnicalsupportthroughout

theentireorganization.Anenvironmentalauditprogramisacriticalcomponentof

nnagency'songoingenvironmentalmanagementprogram.Auditingincreasingly,is

beingusedasasystematicmethodforverifyingcompliancewithapplicablestatutes

andregulation,evaluatingtheeffectivenessofenvironmentalmanagementsystems

alreadyinplace,andidentifyingunregulatedriskspresentatafacility.Inessence,

environmentalauditingprovidesthedataforafacility,oragencytopreparea

"reportcard"toensurethatthegoalsandobjectivesoftheirongoingenvironmental

programareachieved.

TheEnvironmentalProtectionAgency（EPA）definesenvironmentalauditingasa

systematic,documented,periodicandobjectivereviewoffacilityoperationsand

practicesrelatedtomeetingenvironmentalrequirements.''

TheMay1984guidancedocument,ForPreparationofCombinedWork/QualityAssuranceProjectPlansforEnvironmentalMonitoring（OWRSQA-1）,preparedbytheEPA'sOfficeofWaterRegulationsandStandards,requiresinSectionIIthatthePlanincludeasectionaddressing"PerformanceandSystemAudits."Itstatesinpart."Totheextentpossible,theseauditsshouldbeconductedbyindividualswhoarenotdirectlyinvolvedinthemeasurementprocess....AWork/QAProjectPlanshouldspecifywhowillconducttheaudit.whatprotocolwillbeused,whattheacceptancecriteriawillbeandtowhomtheauditreportswillgo."

ThisiselaborateduponintheAppendixtotheEPA’s"ElementsofEffectiveEnvironmentalAuditingPrograms,"asfollows:

•Explicittopmanagementsupportforenvironmentalauditingandcommitmenttofollow-uponauditfindings.

•Anenvironmentalauditteamseparatefromandindependentofthepersonsandactivitiestobeaudited.

•Adequateteamstaffingandtraining.

•Explicitauditprogramobjectives,scope,resourcesandfrequency.

•Aprocesswhichcollects,analyzes,interpretsanddocumentsinformationsufficienttoachieveauditobjectives.

•Aprocesswhichincludesspecificprocedurestopromptlypreparecandid,clearandappropriatewrittenreportsonauditfindings,correctiveactions,andschedulesforimplementation.

•Aprocesswhichincludesqualityassuranceprocedurestoensuretheaccuracyandthoroughnessofenvironmentalaudits.

Generally,thedocumentauthorizingwork（i.e.,aStatementofWork,orContract）willspecify,whetheranauditprogrammustbeeffectedbytheresponsibleorganization.Assumingthistobethecase,whydoweaudit?

Hereagain,theguidancedocumentidentifiesthreepurposesforperformingaudits:

•todetermineifaparticulargrouphasthecapabilitytoconductthemonitoringbeforetheprojectisinitiated

•toverifythattheQAProjectPlanandassociated"SOPs"arebeingimplemented

•todetectanddefineproblemssothatimmediatecorrectiveactioncanbegin.Perhapsonalesspositivealthoughvalidnoteareadditionalreasonsforperformingaudits:

•the1986decisionbythe.EPAtoincludeEnvironmentalAuditingprovisionsinenforcementsettlements

•thelitigiousnatureofoursociety.

Theprevalentthemeofthepurposestatementsaboveisoneofcontinuousimprovementandrecurrenceprevention.Auditsareamanagementtoolforimprovementoftheprogram.

AUDITSTANDARDSANDGUIDANCE

Thischapterpresentsprocessorqualificationstandardsforconductingaudits.Thesedocumentsarerelativelyshortandprovidetheuserwithessentialinformationfordesigninganauditprogram,preparingforanaudit,orevaluatingauditors.Thestrengthofthesedocumentsisthattheyprovideinformationthatisbriefandeasy-to-use.Thesedocumentscanbeusedasplanningchecklists.Thelimitationofthesedocumentsisthattheydonotprovideextensivebackgroundinformationorlearningtools.Becausetheyfocusontheauditprocessorauditorqualifications,theyalsodonotprovideinformationonenvironmentalrequirements（e.g.,regulations）.Whilethesedocumentsmaybeessentialforstartingupanauditprogram,orunderstandingthecomponentsofanauditprogram,thoselookingformorein-depthunderstandingofauditingmayneedtoseekadditionalmaterialsortrainingtosupplementthisinformation.

ThisdocumentprovidestherequiredqualificationsforanaircomplianceauditorforsmallbusinessesinNewJersey.Qualificationsincludeprofessionalexperience,education,andspecializedseminarsrelatedtoaircomplianceauditing.Thesequalificationscanbeusedtoevaluatebusinessesthatareconsideringhiringanoutsideauditortoreviewtheiroperationswithrespecttoaircompliance.Thedocumentalsoprovidesguidanceforsmallbusinessesinselectinganauditor,developingandnegotiatingcontracts,andbuildingarelationshipwiththeaudi