When Environmental Regulatory Compliance Fails

Environmental regulations set the absolute minimum standards for compliance. Yet, for many organizations, performance targets rarely go beyond the environmental regulatory compliance that is legally required.

This scenario leaves little to no room for error on the part of the company. Thus, organizations must consider the potential consequences of non-compliance should their regulatory compliance programs fail.

Increased Negative Impact on the Environment

Society has environmental laws and regulations to protect public health and our ecosystem. When organizations violate legal standards, they may put people and nature at risk.

For instance, exceeding an air permit limit puts more pollutants into the atmosphere. This increased contamination may affect the respiratory systems of persons living in the neighborhood or could add to smog in the area.

We only have one planet, and every company relies on our environment to make products and people to purchase those products. It makes for lousy business to harm either nature or the health of consumers.

Increased Fines and Penalties from Not Fulfilling Environmental Regulatory Compliance Obligations

Regulators have the power to impose monetary fines and penalties on companies that fail to meet legal requirements. These fines may range from a few hundred dollars to tens of thousands of dollars per violation.

Every time a company pays an environmental fine, it subtracts profits from its bottom line. These become lost monies to owners and shareholders when profitability seems like an obsession in the business world.

Furthermore, paying the same penalties, again and again, could be construed as resource mismanagement. Merely throwing money at regulatory agencies through penalty payments does not help solve the organization's environmental regulatory compliance challenges.

Loss or Inability to Obtain Permits

When non-compliance turns egregious, organizations may find themselves without a necessary operating permit or lacking the ability to obtain one. Companies do have a right to conduct business. However, they do not possess the freedom to be in business and disregard the rules.

Businesses with a long history of environmental violations tend to receive more attention than others in the same industry. Interest of this kind often means environmental groups, community associations, and individual citizens may keep a close eye on regulators' permitting actions associated with that particular business.

Ultimately, opposition to permits and even lawsuits over permitting actions could leave a non-compliant company with the inability to operate legally. Nevertheless, these types of scenarios are preventable.

Loss of Business Reputation

Our instant information society prompts customers to research before making purchasing decisions. The climate change threat has helped shift consumer attitudes to buy from and support companies with positive environmental impacts.

If an organization fails at environmental regulatory compliance, it does not impact the environment safely. So, having non-compliant environmental performance can easily detract from a business's reputation.

Moreover, you know how quickly a bad reputation can spread given the advent of social media. Just think of the devastation one viral post on your organization's lack of environmental compliance could do to the company's reputation and bottom line.

The Strain on Community Relationship

Poor environmental regulatory compliance can also test even the healthiest business relationships with the community. Most people live with the NIMBY, or 'Not In My Backyard', philosophy. So, those sites that pollute more than allowed often face stiff opposition from their neighbors.

So, what does this mean to a business? The company may not be able to find adequate staffing from the surrounding area. It may receive an increased number of complaints from the community, focusing regulators' attention on the business.

Moreover, the organization may find it harder to get zoning requests or new building permits approved in a hostile community climate. These conditions pose obstacles that may be quite cumbersome to overcome.

Strategies to Improve Likelihood of Environmental Regulatory Compliance Success

Organizations should be convinced of the virtue and importance of maintaining compliance with environmental regulations. Subsequently, companies must explore avenues to ensure minimal non-compliance is just the way they do business.

As such, the listing below provides several tips to help businesses stay on the path the environmental compliance path to success:

• Know your regulatory requirements
• Stay abreast of hot topics and

environmental compliance trends

• Outline strategies to maintain compliance in standard operating procedures (SOPs), compliance plans, work instructions, etc.
• Execute the required activities specified in permits, SOPs, compliance plans, etc.
• Train the workforce on applicable environmental awareness topics
• Inspect and audit operations regularly to uncover potential non-compliance items
• Correct any potential violations in a timely matter

Concluding Thoughts

Environmental compliance regulatory failures can negatively impact a business's operations. Furthermore, environmental non-compliance also affects nature and individuals outside a company's fence line.

Compliance with environmental regulations cannot be taken lightly by organizations. Doing so invites the opportunity for loss of natural resources, profits, rights to operate, business reputation, and even possibly life.

K-M. Denyse Jones, REM, CESM is a seasoned EHS professional who has worked across various industries throughout her career and is the Owner & Principal Consultant for Prorsa Consulting. Twitter - https://twitter.com/ProrsaConsultng