Environmental auditing

[1] "Environmental auditing is a systematic and documented verification process, conducted to objectively obtain and evaluate audit evidence to determine whether specified environmental activities, events, management systems and conditions, or information related to these are in accordance with the audit criteria, and to communicate the results of this process to the customer. "(Definition of ISO 1410) Environmental audits consist of facilitating the management of environmental practices as well as assessing the conformities of the politically correct of the companies meeting the requirements of the competent bodies. In the audit, criteria are used that correspond to practices and requirements that will be used as tools by companies or auditors, such as parameters to evaluate the operational practices of the company that will be audited, the documentation and activities that will be evaluated in the audit process. [2] [3] Internationally, environmental auditing on a standard basis began to be discussed in 1991 with the creation of the Strategic Advisory Group on Environment - Sage under ISO. The discussion widens globally, in 1994, with the dissemination of standard projects within the ISO14000 series. In 1996, these draft standards were raised to the category of international standards, being adopted by ISO participating countries. In Brazil, the Brazilian Association of Technical Standards - ABNT presented, in December 1996, the NBR ISO 14010, 14011 and 14012, regarding the environmental audit. It is understood that the environmental audit process is an extremely important instrument, characterizing the existing relationship between the economy and the environment, assisting companies to verify environmental performance through the creation of mechanisms to enforce pertinent legislation, and making information public linked to natural resources used in enterprises. Introduction to modular coordination of construction in Brazil: an updated approach Helios Adão Greven eAlexandra Staudt Follmann Baldauf Habitare Collection, manual de auditoria ambiental volume 9 ANTAC Porto Alegre, 2007 72 p. Illustrated

ISBN 978-85-89478-23-6

A management tool, such as the Environmental Audit, should allow this assessment to be made not only in management systems but also, as Valle (1995) indicates, on the performance of equipment installed in an establishment of a company, to control and limit the impact of its activities on the Environment.

For the European Commission, the Environmental Audit, in addition to contributing to save the environment, evaluates compliance with company guidelines, which would include compliance with regulatory requirements and applicable standards.

As regards its periodicity, Malheiros (1996) reminds us, audit procedures can also be occasional, especially when related to the environmental activities of a company, being considered as instruments to improve its environmental performance and actions related to this issue.

These procedures, as noted by the Environmental Protection Agency - EPA, should be used primarily by regulated entities related to meeting environmental requirements.



Environmental auditing in Brazil [edit | edit source-code]
In Brazil, the standards for Environmental Audit were published by ABNT (1997) and define Environmental Management System (EMS) Audit as a systematic and documented verification process, performed to objectively obtain and evaluate evidence to determine if the system management of an organization complies with the auditing criteria of the environmental management system established by the organization and to communicate the results of that process to management.

According to NBR ISO 14001: 1996 (ABNT, 1997), an organization shall establish and maintain procedures to identify the environmental aspects (products or services) of its activities in order to determine those that may have an impact on ISO standards 14000.

Environmental Audit, for the Federal Audit Court (TCU), is the set of procedures applied to the examination and evaluation of the environmental aspects involved in policies, programs, projects and activities carried out by the bodies and entities subject to its control (Environmental Audit Manual. Brasília, TCU: 2001). The Audit Courts also exercise external control over the actions of the Federal Government, as well as the application of federal resources in activities related to the protection of the environment.