The Texas Environmental Audit Act provides a way for corporations to identify and correct areas of non-compliance within their own company without facing administrative and civil penalties for the violations. ESE Partners can show you exactly how you can benefit from the Environmental Audit Act in Texas.
How it Works
The Texas Environmental Audit Act, passed by the Texas Legislature in 1995, provided incentives – namely, immunity from administrative and civil penalties – for corporations to conduct voluntary self-audits of their facilities and/or operations and implement prompt corrective action where violations are identified. But in order for your company to be eligible for the immunity provisions of the Environmental Audit Act in Texas, you’ll need to follow the exact processes described in the Audit. Our team of professionals at ESE have the experience to help you do just that.
Th Environmental Audit Act in Texas involves many steps. Here’s a brief look at how it works.
- Submitting the Notice of Audit (NOA) – To be eligible for the Audit Act, you’re first required to notify the agency by submission of an NOA prior to beginning the audit process. The NOA must include a general scope of the audit to be conducted, and only violations discovered within this scope are eligible for immunity, therefore, it is critical that this notice is sufficiently prepared.
- Submitting the Discovery of Violation (DOV) – As soon as a violation is discovered as part of the self-audit, a DOV must be submitted to the agency. The DOV must include, among other items, a description of the violation discovered, the date on which the violation was discovered, the duration of the violation and the status and schedule of correction action to be taken in response to the violation.
The above is only a broad overview of the complex steps needed to be eligible for immunity through the Texas Environmental Audit Act. Other actions may be necessary if timeline extensions are needed or special cases apply. If you would like more information on how we can help with your self-audit, please call the nearest ESE Partners office.
