scope:

General

This Standard establishes the principles and practices of an environmental compliance audit. It is intended to provide a consistent framework and minimum requirements for conducting ECAs in order to ensure that the ECAs address regulatory and liability requirements, as well as site-specific requirements.

Application

This Standard can be applied to any organization, its sites or operations, or processes or parts thereof, regardless of size or sector. The Standard can be applied to ECAs conducted by internal personnel or by external auditors.

Limitations

This Standard does not include a specific audit protocol. This Standard does not attempt to provide direction for the decision-making that can follow an ECA. These business decisions are based on casespecific details that cannot be generalized for the purposes of this Standard. Decisions of this nature are best addressed on a case-by-case basis, in consultation with the appropriate environmental, legal, and business counsel.