(Download) "Environmental Health, Pollution and Industries: The Association of Audit Privilege and Immunity Laws (Regulatory ISSUES)" by Ethical and Regulatory Issues Journal of Legal * Book PDF Kindle ePub Free
eBook details
- Title: Environmental Health, Pollution and Industries: The Association of Audit Privilege and Immunity Laws (Regulatory ISSUES)
- Author : Ethical and Regulatory Issues Journal of Legal
- Release Date : January 01, 2002
- Genre: Law,Books,Professional & Technical,
- Pages : * pages
- Size : 297 KB
Description
ABSTRACT Research of major U.S. corporations indicate that a large number of companies' real environmental, health and safety costs are 300 to 400 percent higher than recorded in their plant accounting records. An investigation of environmental, health issues and compliance initiatives should be valuable to both impacted companies and the general public. Notably, in December 1995, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a policy intended to motivate companies to take an active role in monitoring their own pollution abatement processes by encouraging these regulated entities to self-audit, disclose, and correct any discovered violations. States further passed environmental audit privilege laws that in essence protect the information contained in environmental audits of firms. There exists little empirical evidence to support constituents' beliefs about the effects of state environmental audit privilege on pollution levels, the economy and pollution-related health problems. The objective of this exploratory study was to investigate whether emission levels of five criteria air pollutants and specific sectors of State's economies are affected by the passage of state environmental audit privilege and immunity laws. The results indicate that most of the sample States increased emission of the pollutants after enacting audit statutes, particularly the pollutants Carbon Monoxide (CO), Nitrogen Oxide (N[O.sub.x]) and Sulfur Dioxide (S[O.sub.2]). The study also finds that after the enactment of environmental audit privilege and immunity laws, States' chemical and allied products industries significantly increased output, on average, as measured in real GSP dollars. The study findings indicate that more research is needed that incorporates non-financial variables in order to develop a more comprehensive profile of environmental regulatory costs.
 "Environmental Health, Pollution and Industries: The Association of Audit Privilege and Immunity Laws (Regulatory ISSUES)" by Ethical and Regulatory Issues Journal of Legal * Book PDF Kindle ePub Free){kind=link}