United States                     Office of                                 EPA 300-B-96-011 
                                    Environmental Protection          Enforcement                               Spring 1997 
                                    Agency                            and Compliance Assurance 
                                                                     (2261A) 
                                  Environmental Audit 
                                  Program Design Guidelines 
                                  For Federal Agencies 
                             NOTICE 
          The Environmental Audit Program Design Guidelines for Federal Agencies on-line 
          document does not contain any appendices.  These are available in the hard copies 
          only.  For more information about this document, please contact Andrew Cherry at 
          202/564-5011.  To obtain a hard copy, call, fax, or write Priscilla Harrington at: 
                      U.S. Environmental Protection Agency 
                       401 M Street, S.W., MC: 2261A 
                         Washington, D.C. 20460 
                          Phone: 202/564-2461 
                          Fax: 202/501-0069 
          1  
                        ACKNOWLEDGMENT 
        This guidance was prepared by the Federal Facilities Enforcement Office (FFEO), U.S. 
        Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for federal facilities to use as guidance in 
        establishing and implementing environmental audit programs.  Much of the work of 
        creating the publication was performed under Contract No. 68-W4-0005. 
                               i 
                            TABLE OF CONTENTS  
         CHAPTER 1:  INTRODUCTION........................................... 1­1  
             1.1 Overview................................................ 1­1  
             1.2  How to Use This Document................................ 1­2  
             1.3  EPA’s 1986 and 1995 Environmental Audit Policies........ 1­2  
             1.4  History of Environmental Auditing....................... 1­6  
             1.5  Federal Facilities and Environmental Auditing........... 1­7  
             1.6  Trends in Environmental Auditing........................ 1­8  
                  1.6.1 Management Audits ................................. 1­8  
                  1.6.2 Pollution Prevention Opportunity Assessments ..... 1­10  
                  1.6.3 Auditing Standards ............................... 1­10  
                  1.6.4 Professional Recognition ......................... 1­11  
             1.7  Relationship of Auditing to Effective Environmental Program  
                  Management............................................. 1­11  
         PART I.  AUDIT PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT AND MANAGEMENT  
         CHAPTER 2:  UNIQUE ASPECTS OF FEDERAL FACILITY AUDITING............ 2­1  
             2.1 Overview................................................ 2­1  
             2.2  Agency Mission vs. Environmental Compliance............. 2­2  
             2.3  National Security Concerns.............................. 2­4  
             2.4  The Federal Budget Cycle................................ 2­5  
             2.5  Federal Agency Budget Process........................... 2­6  
             2.6  Contractor and Tenant Activities........................ 2­8  
             2.7  Waiver of Sovereign Immunity........................... 2­10  
                  2.7.1 Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) .... 2­11  
                  2.7.2 Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and  
                      Liability Act (CERCLA) ........................... 2­11  
                  2.7.3 Emergency Planning and Community Right­to­Know Act  
                      (EPCRA) .......................................... 2­12  
                  2.7.4 Pollution Prevention Act of 1992 (PPA) ........... 2­12  
                  2.7.5 Clean Air Act (CAA) .............................. 2­13  
                  2.7.6 Clean Water Act (CWA) ............................ 2­13  
             2.8  Freedom of Information Act Requests.................... 2­14  
             2.9  Status of Environmental Auditing at Federal Facilities. 2­15  
                  2.9.1 GAO Report 1995 .................................. 2­16  
             2.10 Status of Environmental Management at Federal Facilities  
         (Benchmark  
                  Report)................................................ 2­17  
             2.11 The Role of EPA’s Federal Facility Office.............. 2­18