iSi's Top 8 Gaps Found in Environmental Audits
Environmental regulations are enforced by federal, state and local governments. How do you make sure you have your bases covered?
Environmental regulations are enforced by federal, state and local governments. How do you make sure you have your bases covered? An environmental audit can determine your current status and what your vulnerabilities are. iSi’s environmental audits cover air, wastewater, stormwater, waste, spill prevention, tanks, DOT and emergency planning (EPCRA) requirements.
⚡ TL;DR: Environmental compliance failures cluster around permit management, missing inspections, inadequate records, and poor documentation. These gaps expose facilities to EPA enforcement, significant penalties, and operational disruptions. A comprehensive environmental audit identifies gaps before regulators do.
The following are our top 8 areas of compliance we see issues with when we do our audits.
- Inaccurate Permits, Registrations and Notifications
- Inaccurate or Incomplete Facility Plans
- Missing or Incomplete Facility Inspections
- Missing or Incomplete Facility Tracking
- Inaccurate or Incomplete Reporting
- Inaccurate or Undocumented Training
- Incomplete or Inaccurate Records
- Poor Day-to-Day Facility Management
⚠️ What’s at stake: Environmental compliance gaps can trigger EPA inspections, civil penalties up to $50,000+ per day per violation, facility shutdowns, remediation costs, and regulatory enforcement actions. Poor recordkeeping alone can result in penalties even when underlying operations appear compliant.
Are your environmental permits, inspections, and records audit-ready? iSi’s environmental compliance team helps manufacturing, chemical, and industrial facilities conduct comprehensive audits across air, wastewater, stormwater, hazardous waste, SPCC, DOT, and EPCRA regulations. Get started →
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: What are the most common environmental compliance gaps found in facility audits?
Common environmental compliance gaps include inaccurate or outdated permits and registrations, incomplete or missing facility inspections and tracking procedures, inaccurate facility plans, inadequate training documentation, incomplete environmental records, and poor day-to-day facility management. These deficiencies expose facilities to EPA enforcement action and penalties.
Q: What environmental regulations does a comprehensive audit typically cover?
A comprehensive environmental audit covers air emissions permits, wastewater discharge compliance, stormwater pollution prevention plans, hazardous waste management, spill prevention control and countermeasures (SPCC) plans, underground and aboveground storage tank compliance, DOT hazardous materials regulations, and emergency planning (EPCRA) requirements.
Q: What does EPCRA compliance require?
The Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA) requires facilities to report hazardous chemical storage to EPA, state emergency response commissions, and local fire departments. EPCRA compliance involves proper inventory reporting, facility notification, and emergency response coordination to prepare communities for potential chemical incidents.
Q: How important is proper facility recordkeeping for environmental compliance?
Accurate recordkeeping is critical for environmental compliance because EPA audits and inspections rely on documented evidence of your facility’s compliance efforts, training, inspections, and corrective actions. Incomplete or inaccurate records expose facilities to significant EPA penalties and citations even when the underlying operations are compliant.
💰 The cost of non-compliance: EPA penalties for environmental violations range from $25,000-$50,000+ per day per violation. Facilities with inadequate permits, missing inspections, or poor records face escalated enforcement, facility shutdowns, and remediation costs that can reach hundreds of thousands or millions of dollars.
Every satisfactory environmental compliance program starts with knowing where the gaps are. iSi Environmental helps industrial and manufacturing facilities conduct comprehensive environmental audits covering air, wastewater, stormwater, hazardous waste, SPCC plans, DOT compliance, and EPCRA requirements. Schedule a compliance review →
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