HB 1854 -- Environmental Audits

Sponsor:  Bivins

This bill allows companies to conduct voluntary environmental
audits in order to discover and correct noncompliance with
environmental regulations.  If a company complies with the
voluntary audit requirements, it will be exempt from certain
types of criminal and administrative penalties and may keep its
voluntary audit reports confidential.  Companies will not be
exempt from any tort actions by private parties.  In order to
comply with the voluntary audit requirements, a company must:

(1)  Discover noncompliance during a voluntary environmental
audit or through a compliance management system;

(2)  Disclose its noncompliance to the Department of Natural
Resources within 21 days;

(3)  Make the disclosure prior to any legal actions or regulatory
investigations concerning the audit;

(4)  Correct any noncompliance within 60 days or as determined by
the department;

(5)  Agree to take steps to prevent future noncompliance with
environmental regulations;

(6)  Document that the reported noncompliance was not part of a
pattern and that a similar noncompliance did not occur in the
previous three years or within the past five years at another
facility owned by the company;

(7)  Prove that the noncompliance did not cause actual harm or
violate an administrative order or agreement; and

(8)  Provide certain specified information to the department.

The department cannot disclose any audit report information
relating to scientific and technological innovations in which the
owner has a proprietary interest that is protected from
disclosure by law.

Missouri House of Representatives
94th General Assembly, 2nd Regular Session
Last Updated October 15, 2008 at 3:11 pm