Environmental Peer Self-Audit
WAICU to help keep Lakeland safe and fine free
Jinlong Biao
Issue date: 10/29/09 Section: News
Lakeland College underwent the long-anticipated fact finding phase of the Wisconsin Association of Independent Colleges and Universities (WAICU) Environmental Peer Self-Audit Program from Sept. 29 through Oct. 1. As many of you may have noticed, there was a group of people inspecting the facilities both on the campus and in the science labs in order to reduce and limit the liability of violations. Committing to this program nearly three years ago, our college was the eighth participating WAICU School out of sixteen to undergo an on-campus compliance audit.
The WAICU Peer Self-Audit team was led by a senior auditor from Turning Bird Consulting, Ltd. of Pennsylvania, the consultant retained by the WAICU consortium to manage the program. Other members of the audit team consisted of staff and faculty from other members of the WAICU consortium who had been extensively trained as environmental compliance auditors prior to their arrival.
"Environmental Audit," according to Vice President for International Programs and General Counsel, is a systematic, documented, periodic, and objective review by regulated entities of facility operations and practices related to meeting environmental requirements. "The purpose of this policy is to enhance protection of human health and the environment by encouraging regulated entities to voluntarily discover, promptly disclose and expeditiously correct violations of Federal environmental requirements." (Promulgated in 1996, reaffirmed in 2000).
As it is shown in the graph, which is sent from Fessler, without a peer auditor, the fines from Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to Boston University were $771,000.00, Brown University was fined $500,000 and Colorado State University and Central Connecticut State University were fined $395,000 by violating the rules of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) and $156,250 by breaking the rule of the RCRA and Clean Water Act (CWA).
Although there are some minor disadvantages of having a peer auditor, including the fact that peer auditors are not professionals (i.e. they may miss something) and not subject matter experts (i.e. may not have an immediate answer), there are so many advantages we can gain from it. First of all, it is significant cost savings having a peer auditor rather than being fined by the EPA. Secondly, the collaborative nature of institutions enhances networking programs, and policies can be "begged, borrowed and stolen." It also can nurture a "proactive environment," keep the EPA at bay, and the college can control audit inspection times and plan (business interruption). It also enhances the institution's community image, and electronic audit protocols ensure accuracy and repeatability.
The WAICU Peer Self-Audit team was led by a senior auditor from Turning Bird Consulting, Ltd. of Pennsylvania, the consultant retained by the WAICU consortium to manage the program. Other members of the audit team consisted of staff and faculty from other members of the WAICU consortium who had been extensively trained as environmental compliance auditors prior to their arrival.
"Environmental Audit," according to Vice President for International Programs and General Counsel, is a systematic, documented, periodic, and objective review by regulated entities of facility operations and practices related to meeting environmental requirements. "The purpose of this policy is to enhance protection of human health and the environment by encouraging regulated entities to voluntarily discover, promptly disclose and expeditiously correct violations of Federal environmental requirements." (Promulgated in 1996, reaffirmed in 2000).
As it is shown in the graph, which is sent from Fessler, without a peer auditor, the fines from Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to Boston University were $771,000.00, Brown University was fined $500,000 and Colorado State University and Central Connecticut State University were fined $395,000 by violating the rules of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) and $156,250 by breaking the rule of the RCRA and Clean Water Act (CWA).
Although there are some minor disadvantages of having a peer auditor, including the fact that peer auditors are not professionals (i.e. they may miss something) and not subject matter experts (i.e. may not have an immediate answer), there are so many advantages we can gain from it. First of all, it is significant cost savings having a peer auditor rather than being fined by the EPA. Secondly, the collaborative nature of institutions enhances networking programs, and policies can be "begged, borrowed and stolen." It also can nurture a "proactive environment," keep the EPA at bay, and the college can control audit inspection times and plan (business interruption). It also enhances the institution's community image, and electronic audit protocols ensure accuracy and repeatability.
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