david 20 robinson

8/18/2019 David 20 Robinson

1/27

Evaluating Legal Compliance

David Robinson

BSI EMS Specialist / Lead EMAS & Lead GHG Verifier

[email protected]


2/27

Agenda

• Introduction

– What is compliance?

– What are the drivers for compliance?

– What are the consequences of poor compliance?

• Methods of Compliance Evaluation

– Passive

– Reactive

– Pro-Active

• Methods of compliance review and reporting

• Summary / Conclusions


3/27

What is compliance?

Impel Definition (1992)*:

Full Implementation of Environmental Requirements.

Compliance occurs when requirements are met and desiredchanges are achieved

Compliance with what?

• Internal requirements

• External requirements and legislation

*Impel – Implementation and enforcement of environmental Law (EU Network)


4/27

What is compliance? IEMA Guidance for EMAS

Where an incident occurs at an organisation registered for EMAS,whether in respect of activities by the organisation or contracted

activities under its control, relevant factors in considering whetherthe incident is a breach under EMAS would be:

environmental effect of the incident forseeability of the incident or the circumstances leading to it

intent of the incident, individually or corporately

history of incidents

attitude of the organisation responsible for the incident

deterrent effect of refusal/ suspension, on the organisation andothers

specific circumstances of the organisation


5/27

What are the drivers for compliance?

• To be operating within the confines of Law – thereforecompliance is not an option it is mandatory!

• Other Drivers:

– Financial (fine, mitigation cost, loss of business) – although it is difficult to quantify impact of non-compliance (unless you get caught)!

– A matter of reputation

– Increasing stakeholder pressure

– External Pressure Groups / NGO’s

– Corporate Governance


6/27

What are the consequences of poor compliance?

• Organisation may be unaware it is breaking the law

• Direct or indirect effects of unforeseen enforcement

action

– Loss of business

– Workforce concerns and industrial relations issues

– Damage to customer and/or corporate perceptions

– Site contamination and/or pollution incidents taking

unplanned management time

– Individual prosecution and/or dismissal

– Fines and increased insurance premiums


7/27

Methods of compliance evaluation

• Passive

• Reactive approach

• Pro-Active approach


8/27


• Passive Approach

– Rely solely on feedback from regulators, employees,members of the public

• Reactive Approach

– Internal and external evaluation and auditing


9/27


• Pro-Active Approach

– System based – integrates compliance into the work

programme

– Management Systems - the way you run your business

• Internal bespoke Compliance Management System

• Environmental Management System (is the management of a

company’s activities that have an impact on the environment)

• Third party registered Environmental Management System

– ISO 14001:2004

– EMAS

– STEMS – BS8555


10/27

Pro-Active Approach

Why use a management system for compliance

evaluation?

• A system will enable an organisation to:

– Make a commitment to compliance

– Identify legal and other requirements specific to theorganisation

– Identify compliance criteria

– Establishes a framework to address and control the identifiedcompliance requirements

– Provides a mechanism for the on-going review, evaluation andreporting of compliance performance

– Identification of future legislation and subsequent advancedplanning to minimise impact


11/27

Pro-Active Approach – Identification of Legislation

Identification of Legal Requirements:

• Legal register

Typical legal register would include:

– This is NOT sufficient to enable an effective evaluation of compliance – HOWEVER - Well laid out detailed legal registers can help in

identifying where and how compliance is managed

Requirements for

obtaining a licence

for disposal of

waste

Waste Management

Licensing

Regulations

E.G – Waste

Description oflegislation

Name ofLegislation

Company Activity


12/27

Pro-Active Approach – Identification of Compliance Criteria

• Identification of Compliance Criteria

• Having identified relevant legislation:

– Evaluate the legislation to determine which components areapplicable

– Identify which activities are completed on site that fall withinthe scope of the legislation

– Identify what actions are required to meet compliancerequirements

Compliance

requirements

Applicability to

organisation

Legislative

Requirements


13/27

Methods of compliance review and reporting


14/27

Pro-Active Approach

• Topics that can be covered by a legal register:

– Installation Activity

– Regulation

– Regulator

– Description of Regulation

– Relevance to organisation – compliance criteria

– Responsible Persons – Reference to other parts of EMS (eg, aspects,

objectives, targets)

– Reference to licence, permit, authorisation or notification

– Further information (e.g., codes of practice)

– Control Procedures


15/27

Methods of compliance review and reporting (1)

• Compliance Performance Evaluation

– Monitor against performance indicators and emissions limits –

trend analysis to predict and prevent non-compliance

– Undertaking physical inspections

– Undertaking management Systems audits

– Compliance verification against procedural and legal

requirements

– Reporting on findings to policy makers and decision takers

= Compliance Assurance


16/27


• Compliance Review more than just monitoring

– Routine monitoring may not check compliance with ALL

requirements and limits of a permit or consent

– Monitoring of an indicator to demonstrate improvement(such as quantity of monthly hazardous waste arisings)

will not check compliance with all applicable waste

legislation (such as whether hazardous waste

documentation identifies waste streams correctly)

– BUT - results of monitoring can be an input into the

review


17/27


• Compliance Review more than just systems auditing

– Too small a sample

– Too infrequent

– Not specifically focussed on legal compliance

– Will not review where compliance is not procedural but

physical (eg, bund conditions or stock levels of

dangerous materials)

– BUT – results of audits can be an input into the review


18/27


• So Compliance Verifications also necessary

– Use compliance detail for legal register to create a

comprehensive checklist

– Verify compliance with these requirements

– Verifications can be targeted, frequent and risk-based


19/27


• Reporting

– Systematic activity using information from monitoring,

system auditing, verification, identification of future

legislative trends, and feedback from interested parties(such as regulators)

– Reports outcome to top management (policy and

decision makers)

– Undertaken at a frequency appropriate to the risks

– Seeks to answer the question posed by top

management: “How compliant have we been, are we

now, and will we be, with environmental legal and otherrequirements?”


20/27

Cleveland Potash Ltd., Boulby Mine


21/27


• Operates a potash mine and refinery in the North York Moors National

Park (NYMNP).

• Salt is also mined from a seam approximately 8 to 10 m below thepotash seam.

• Processed materials despatched from the site mostly by rail.

• Woodland adjacent to the surface mine facilities has been designateda conservation area in the NYMNP Local Plan.

• Part of the coastline in the mining area and within Redcar & Clevelandhas been designated as a Site of Nature Conservation Interest.

• Natural England has designated various sections of surrounding

woodlands as Ancient Woodlands and part of the mining area isscheduled as a wetland SSSI.

• The National Park Authority has identified a number of designatedconservation areas, including moorland, woods and coastal habitatswithin the mining area.

• The coastline lies within the North Yorkshire and Cleveland HeritageCoast. Designated bathing beaches include Staithes, Sandsend andRobin Hood's Bay. Also, the coastline including the nearby historicalBoulby Alum works has been designated an SSSI for geologicalreasons.


22/27


• Due to the significance of the activities there arenumerous interested parties & numerous

environmental licences

• To assist with the management of their legal & otherrequirements company made a commitment to the

regulators to manage itself into a state of legal

compliance via the implementation of a certified EMS

& compliance with the EMAS Regulation (have now

produced their 6th Environmental Statement)

• This obviously brings challenges to the certification

body (show the register of legal & other requirements )


23/27

Cleveland Potash Ltd., Boulby Mine - Licences

• Discharges to the sea via the outfall pipe must comply with the requirementsspecified in the Consent to Discharge issued under the Water Resources Act 1991.

• Stack emissions and certain operations must comply with the Local AuthorityProcess Authorisation (Part B) issued under the Environmental Protection Act1990.

• Abstraction of surface water must comply with the requirements of the abstractionlicence issued under the Water Resources Act 1991.

• Site operations must comply with planning conditions specified by the North YorkMoors National Park Authority under the Town and Country Planning Act 1990.

• On a voluntary basis, CPL also undertakes to comply with waste managementlegislation.

• CPL is also committed to agreements with the North York Moors National ParkAuthority, for example relating to the transport of products by road.

• The Combined Heat and Power plant must comply with the Environment Agencyauthorisation (A1) issued under the Pollution Prevention and Control Act 1999 andthe Greenhouse Gas Permit issued under The Greenhouse Gas Emissions TradingScheme Regulations 2005.

• Dredging operations must comply with conditions in the Food and EnvironmentProtections Act 1985 (As Amended), Licence No. 32862/05/0.


24/27


CPL evaluates compl ianceto legislation by:-

Employees

M a n a g e m e n tSystems

Audits

Dai ly MeterR o u n d

Envi ronmentMeetings

Env i ronmentAgencyreview

Rev iews byE X C O &

M a n a g e m e n t

Env i ronmentR o u n d

Inspection byRegulatorsi .e . NYMNP

Audi t

program

Dai ly

W h e nrequired

Month ly

Annua l

Month ly

Month ly

All thet ime


25/27

Summary

• Different methods of evaluating compliance

• Identify legal duties and responsibilities

• Determine the tasks needed to comply and their

frequency, optimised within the resources available

• Implement system for delegation, supervision and

review of compliance with the legal duties and

responsibilities

• Keep abreast of and plan for legislative changes


26/27

Conclusion

• Review of compliance is a key component of effectivesystems to deliver continued legal compliance

• Pro-active approach is recommended

• Legal Register can be an effective tool to help evaluate andverify compliance

• Frequency of review and reporting should be systematic

and risk-based

• Uses a number of information-gathering activities to ensure

reliable information

• Reports to top management for decisions on future policy

and objectives, and for corporate assurance

• EA-7-04 is a “must” reference document


27/27

THANK YOU!

David Robinson

[email protected]

Tel: 07770 645685

david 20 robinson

Documents