Legal regulation of environmental audit

General Provisions

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

In accordance with the Federal Law "On Environmental Protection," an environmental audit is defined as an independent, comprehensive, and documented assessment of the compliance of an entity's activities with legislative 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 lack of detailed legislative framework. At the federal level, only general definitions are provided, while the procedure for conducting audits, the authority of agencies and the mandatory nature of procedures are practically unregulated. This gap limits the effectiveness of auditing activities and complicates the implementation of uniform standards in Russian practice.

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

In literature, various classifications of environmental audit are distinguished: by the subject conducting it (internal and external), by motivation (voluntary and mandatory), by type of production activity (managerial, industrial, audit of waste and nature conservation measures), 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.

Audit is understood as an independent examination of the financial (accounting) statements of the audited entity with a view to expressing an opinion on the reliability of such statements (paragraph 3 of Article 1 of Federal Law No. 307-FZ dated December 30, 2008 "On Audit Activities"¹). However, as noted by M.M. Brinchuk, the content of environmental audit is not limited to checking accounting records and financial (accounting) statements concerning the interaction between society and nature. It is broader². A similar position is held by E.V. Maryin, who believes that environmental audit, as a specific system of economic support for rational use of natural resources and protection of the environment, goes beyond the usual understanding of "audit" and represents a special tool recognized worldwide 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 a subject's compliance with requirements, including standards and normative documents, in the field of environmental protection, as well as requirements of international standards, and the preparation of recommendations for improving such activities.

As noted by I.G. Yutin, today the problem of the absence of a legal basis for environmental auditing is highlighted by almost all scientists and practitioners dealing with issues of environmental auditing. At the federal level, issues related to environmental auditing are hardly regulated. For example, Article 1 of the Federal Law "On Environmental Protection" provides only the definition of environmental auditing. The Federal Law "On Protection of Atmospheric Air" includes among the rights of a state inspector for environmental protection the right to "submit proposals in the established order for conducting an environmental audit of objects of economic and other activities" (Article 27). However, neither laws nor subordinate acts define "the established order."

As follows from the definition of an environmental audit provided in the Federal Law "On Environmental Protection," the basic principles of an environmental audit should include the principles of independence, comprehensiveness, and documentation. In addition, important for eco-audit activities are the principles of confidentiality and responsibility⁴.

As noted by E.V. Maryin, environmental audit is legislatively provided for, although there is no legal regulation of its implementation, though attempts are being made with Russia's accession to the WTO. This refers to introducing into the legislative base of the Russian Federation standards of the ISO 19011-2003 series "Guidelines for auditing quality management systems and (or) environmental management systems"⁵.

In the literature, the following classifications of environmental audit are proposed:

1. Depending on the subject conducting the audit and the object of the audit, 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 economic entity, environmental audit is divided into managerial environmental audit, or audit in the system of environmental management, environmental audit during assessment of ecological safety of industrial productions and economic systems, environmental audit of waste management cycle from production and consumption, environmental audit of nature protection measures, payments and technologies.
4. Depending on legally significant actions, environmental audit is divided into environmental audit during privatization, environmental audit during change of ownership rights, environmental audit during bankruptcy proceedings, insurance and investment environmental audit.
5. Depending on the type of natural objects, an environmental audit is divided into territorial environmental audit, subsoil use audit, and water management environmental audit⁶.