Audit programs are typically designed to meet one or more of the following objectives Except:

An audit program is first and foremost a verification program. It is not meant to replace existing environmental management systems at the corporate (e.g., regulatory updating), division (e.g., capital planning for pollution control expenditures) or plant (e.g., NPDES discharge monitoring) levels. Indeed, the program should be designed to verify that these environmental management systems do, in fact, exist and are in use. However, these benefits of audit can be offset by some real and potential costs including:

An auditing program is also one of many tools needed to develop and maintain an effective environmental management program. But identification of the deficiencies in compliance and management is only the first step. An organization must be willing to correct violations and other deficiencies and root causes in order to achieve improved results. If an organization is unwilling to act upon the discovered deficiencies, the audits may become:

An audit program is first and foremost a verification program. It is not meant to replace existing environmental management systems at the corporate (e.g., regulatory updating), division (e.g., capital planning for pollution control expenditures) or plant (e.g., NPDES discharge monitoring) levels. Indeed, the program should be designed to verify that these environmental management systems do, in fact, exist and are in use. On the positive side, audits can result in a number of significant benefits, including:

Environmental auditing has been developed for sound business reasons, particularly as a means: