Legal regulation of environmental audit

General Provisions

The legal regulation of environmental audit represents a system of norms and principles aimed at assessing compliance by subjects of economic and other activities with requirements in the field of environmental protection. Environmental audit goes beyond traditional financial control, combining economic, legal, and ecological aspects of an organization's activities to enhance environmental safety.

In accordance with the Federal Law "On Environmental Protection", an environmental audit is defined as an independent, comprehensive, and documented assessment of compliance by a subject's activities with legal requirements and international standards, followed by the preparation of recommendations for improving environmental practices. This approach allows for identifying risks and violations at an early stage and contributes to rational use of natural resources.

The main problem of legal regulation of environmental audit is the absence of detailed legislative framework. At the federal level, only general definitions are provided, whereas the procedure for conducting audits, authorities' powers, and mandatory procedures are practically unregulated. This gap limits the effectiveness of auditing activities and hampers the implementation of unified standards in Russian practice.

The key principles of an environmental audit include independence, comprehensiveness, documentation, confidentiality, and accountability. Adherence to these principles ensures the objectivity of the audit, protects the interests of stakeholders, and contributes to establishing a transparent system for monitoring the impact of economic activities on the environment.

In literature, various classifications of environmental audits are distinguished: by subject (internal and external), by motivation (voluntary and mandatory), by type of production activity (managerial, industrial, waste audit, and environmental protection measures audit), and by legally significant actions (during privatization, change of ownership, bankruptcy, insurance, and investments). Such systematization allows adapting the audit to specific conditions and objectives of the organization's activities.

Audit is understood as an independent examination of the financial (accounting) statements of the audited entity for the purpose of expressing an opinion on the reliability of such statements (paragraph 3 of Article 1 of Federal Law No. 307-FZ of December 30, 2008 "On Audit Activities"¹). However, as noted by M.M. Brinchuk, the content of an ecological audit is not limited solely to checking accounting records and financial (accounting) statements regarding the interaction between society and nature. It is broader². A similar position is held by E.V. Maryin, who believes that an ecological audit, as a specific system of economic assurance,

rational use of natural resources and environmental protection goes beyond the usual understanding of «audit» and represents a special, globally recognized tool for regulating business activities³.

According to Article 1 of the Federal Law "On Environmental Protection," an environmental audit is an independent, comprehensive, documented assessment of compliance by an entity engaged in economic and other activities with requirements, including standards and regulatory documents, in the field of environmental protection, requirements of international standards, and preparation of recommendations for improving such activities.

As noted by I.G. Iutin, today the problem of the absence of a legal basis for environmental audit is highlighted by almost all scientists and practitioners dealing with issues of environmental audit. At the federal level, issues related to environmental audit are hardly regulated. For example, Article 1 of the Federal Law "On Environmental Protection" provides only the definition of an environmental audit. The Federal Law "On the Protection of Atmospheric Air" includes among the rights of a state inspector for environmental protection the right to "submit proposals in established procedures for conducting an environmental audit of objects of economic and other activities"

(Article 27). However, neither laws nor subordinate acts «established order» do not define. As follows from the definition of an ecological audit given in the Federal Law «On Environmental Protection», the main principles of an ecological audit should include the principles of independence, comprehensiveness, and documentedness. In addition, important for eco-audit activities are the principles of confidentiality and responsibility[^4].

As noted by E.V. Maryin, environmental audit is legislatively provided for, but the procedure for its implementation is not established, although such attempts are being made with Russia's accession to the WTO. This refers to introducing into the legislative base of the Russian Federation the ISO 19011-2003 series standards «Guidelines for auditing quality management systems and (or) environmental management systems»[^5].

The literature proposes the following classifications of environmental audit:

1. Depending on the subject conducting the audit and the object of the audit examination, environmental audit is divided into internal and external.
2. Depending on the motivation for conducting it, environmental audit is divided into voluntary and mandatory.
3. Depending on the production activities of the business entity, environmental audit is divided into managerial environmental audit, or audit within an ecological management system, environmental audit during the assessment of ecological safety of industrial production and economic systems, environmental audit of the waste handling cycle in production and