Environmental Compliance and Enforcement Audit

What is an Environment  Compliance Audit?

Environmental compliance audit” means a mandatory environmental audit carried out to determine the compliance status of a project with environmental and health regulatory requirements and relevant permits, licences and approval conditions;

Why undertake Environment Compliance Audits?

• Verify compliance with legal requirements such as ensuring that restoration is undertaken, and compensation made for damages and liabilities caused by the activity.
• EA provides for the development of an Environment.
• Management & Monitoring Plan (EMMP).
• Ensuring observance of proper environmental safeguards in development strategies, projects, and policies.
• Increasing self-monitoring and auditing by permit holders.
• Reducing public complaints.
• Reducing water, air, and land pollution.
• Increasing Environmental Auditing and permit applications.
• Increasing regulated community participation in compliance monitoring.
• Reinforcing credibility of environmental protection efforts.
• Enhancing compliance monitoring, enforcement, and reporting.
• Strengthening compliance assistance for increased impact.
• Ensuring timely review and processing of Environmental Audits and permit applications.
• Enhancing data collection, processing, and analysis for decision making.
• Reviewing Audits, permitting and auditing facilities/projects, pollution control, compliance assistance, and environmental quality monitoring.
• Checking performance of environmental monitoring equipment.
• Checking corporate compliance with environmental legislation and checking the accuracy of environmental impact predications.
• Verifying or confirming compliance with environment regulations such as emission limits, effluent standards, waste management practices, and EIA Regulations.
• Liaising with the Legal Section in developing environmental audit guidelines and regulations.
• Carrying out inspection of sites threatened by degradation.
• Maintaining a register (database) on auditors practitioners and audits done.
• Reviewing audits and EIA reportsEnsuring restoration and compensation of damages or liabilities caused
• Ensuring compliance with audit and inspection requirementsIdentifying areas of weakness and problems and in so doing ensure solutions.
• Collecting and analyzing relevant and sufficient audit evidence to determine audit findings and reach audit conclusions.

Who is supposed to undertake environment audit?

• The developer of a project or activity listed in Schedule 3 of the National Environment (Audit) Regulations, S.I 47/2020 shall carry out an environmental compliance audit. The regulations specify the projects or activities for which environmental compliance audits are mandatory.
• However, NEMA may also require a developer of a project not included in the audit regulations to undertake an environmental compliance audit.

When is an Environment Audit undertaken?

An Environment Audit is undertaken one year after the issuance of an Environment and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) certificate irrespective of whether the project has been completed and commissioned or not.

Categories of Environment Audits;

Environmental compliance audit; - is a mandatory environmental audit carried out to determine the compliance status of a project with environmental and health regulatory requirements and relevant permits, licences and approval conditions;

Environmental enforcement audit: - is an environmental audit undertaken by the Authority or lead agency to enforce compliance with environmental and health regulatory requirements and relevant permits, licences and approval conditions;

What is the relationship between Environment Audit (EA) and Environment and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA)?

ESIA assesses potential future environment and social impacts of a proposed project while EA assesses the actual impact of the project.

ESIA predicts the likely environmental and social impacts and proposes mitigation measures of a project to be undertaken while EA assesses the compliance of a project to the ESIA conditions of approval including other relevant environmental and social requirements.

What responses does NEMA provide after one has undertaken and submitted an Environmental Audits to the Authority? 

NEMA will issue an Environment Audit Certificate showing whether the entity is Compliant, Moderately Compliant or Non-compliant to environmental standards.

Depending on the level of compliance, in addition to the environment audit certificate, NEMA may further issue either;

• A Compliance Agreement when an entity is moderately compliant.
• An Improvement Notice when an entity is non-compliant iii. A Stop Order when there is gross and continuous breach of environment requirements.
• Other Administrative Responses stipulated in the law.

Fees Payable for Environmental Compliance Audits.

Schedule 3 of the National Environment (Audit) Regulations S.I 47/2020 set out the fees payable for Environment Compliance Audits while taking into account the following;

• the nature and category of the project or activity; 
• potential environmental and social impacts or risks;
• the complexity of the project that necessitates additional effort for review of the environmental compliance audit report;
• the possible involvement of specialized skills and external expertise in the review process; and
• the polluter pays principle and precautionary principle.

Click to apply for Environmental Compliance Audit on ELMIS