On the legal regulation of environmental audit

Gumarova Rezeda PhD in Biology Associate professor, Neftekamsk branch, Ufa University of Science and Technology 452680, Russia, Republic of Bashkortostan, Neftekamsk, Traktovaya str., 1 regum.eco@gmail.com

In today's world, where environmental problems are becoming more acute, companies must actively take care of their impact on nature and take steps to reduce negative consequences. In this context, conducting an environmental audit becomes an indispensable component of enterprise management and its activities. Many works have been devoted to the study of the legal regulation of environmental audit and its methodology. Among them are dissertations by T.V. Gaponenkova, S.Y. Daiman, I.G. Iutin and others. Environmental audit was also given considerable attention by such prominent experts in the field of environmental law as M.M. Brinchuk, S.A. Bogolyubov and others. In this article, on the basis of dialectical, logical, formal and legal research methods, an analysis of regulatory legal acts regulating environmental audit is carried out.

Environmental audit is one of the elements of the legal mechanism for the protection of natural objects and the environment ^[1], which is expressed in the procedure for an independent assessment of the company's impact on the environment, as well as determining its environmental safety and sustainability. This process includes an analysis of all aspects of production, resource consumption, emissions and discharges of pollutants, as well as an assessment of compliance with legislation and standards in the field of environmental protection.

It seems that among the main goals and objectives of environmental audit are the following:

- assessment of the current negative impact of the enterprise on the environment;

- identification of environmental risks;

- development of action plans to reduce the negative impact on the environment, reduce the environmental costs of the enterprise;

- determination of the company's compliance with legislative requirements and international standards in the field of ecology;

- increasing the investment attractiveness of the enterprise by demonstrating its environmental responsibility and reliability.

Based on the above tasks, it can be concluded that environmental audit should be considered as one of the types of preventive regulation of environmental protection. The results of an independent assessment should help business entities reduce payments for negative environmental impacts and the use of natural resources, identify all possible violations of mandatory environmental requirements in time and take organizational and technical measures.

Thus, conducting an environmental audit, as a voluntary independent procedure, helps to eliminate the conditions and causes of environmental violations, and reduce external costs for production. As noted by K.A. Chistyakov and other authors, "a system of high-quality environmental audit would help identify shortcomings in ensuring environmental safety at an early stage, which would contribute to their early elimination" ^[2]

Currently, it is very difficult to talk about the legal regulation of environmental audit, since such regulation is very limited. Federal Law No. 7-FZ of 10.01.2002 "On Environmental Protection" in Article 1 "Basic Concepts" defines environmental audit as "an independent, comprehensive, documented assessment of compliance by a legal entity or individual entrepreneur with requirements, including standards and regulatory documents, federal norms and rules in the field of environmental protection, the requirements of international standards and the preparation of recommendations to improve such activities." But further, this law does not provide for any rules concerning its implementation.

Two more decrees of the President of the Russian Federation mention the development of environmental audit mechanisms as methods for implementing environmental safety and environmental policy of the state. The first of them, Decree of the President of the Russian Federation dated 04/19/2017 No. 176 "On the Strategy of Environmental Safety of the Russian Federation for the period up to 2025", is a strategic planning document in the field of ensuring national security of the Russian Federation, defining the main challenges and threats to environmental safety, goals, objectives and mechanisms for the implementation of state policy in the field of environmental safety. In paragraph (o) of paragraph 27 of section IV, the creation of an environmental audit system is indicated as one of the main mechanisms for the implementation of state policy in the field of environmental safety. Another document, "Fundamentals of state policy in the field of environmental development of the Russian Federation for the period up to 2030" (approved by the President of the Russian Federation on 30.04.2012), also mentions the "phased introduction of a system for declaring compliance with environmental requirements and conducting environmental audits" as a mechanism for solving the problem of preserving the natural environment, including natural ecological systems, animal and of the plant world. However, both of these acts do not specify how the development of the environmental audit system should be carried out.

Moreover, the Action Plan developed in pursuance of the Decree of the President of the Russian Federation of 2017, approved by the Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation dated 05/29/2019 No. 1124-r ("On approval of the action plan for the implementation of the Environmental Safety Strategy of the Russian Federation for the period up to 2025") established the event: the development of amendments to the legislation on audit, responsible state bodies were identified the authorities ^[3], however, since 10/19/2021, this item on environmental audit has been excluded from the plan.

In 2022, Decree No. 723 of the President of the Russian Federation dated October 7, 2022 "On the application of additional special economic measures in the fuel and energy sector in connection with the unfriendly actions of some foreign states and international organizations" was adopted. In this decree, among the measures, an environmental audit was designated in relation to the activities of foreign legal entities; the Government of the Russian Federation was indicated as the authorized person to conduct the audit. To implement this decree, the Government established the rules for conducting an audit (Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation dated 11/16/2022 No. 2073 (ed. dated 08/19/2023) "On Approval of the Rules for conducting an Audit in the framework of implementing the provisions of Decree of the President of the Russian Federation dated October 7, 2022 No. 723"). The Rules specify that the responsible executive authority for conducting an environmental audit is the Federal Service for Supervision of Natural Resources Management, which carries out this activity with the involvement of interested bodies and organizations, the timing of the audit is set, and it is also clarified that the activities carried out within the framework of the audit are not control (supervisory) measures. Judging by the composition of the audit report materials, it can be judged that an assessment of the amount of damage caused can be established during the audit. These Rules do not contain any other requirements for the content of an environmental audit.

Special mention should be made of the Order of the State Committee of Ecology of the Russian Federation dated 07/16/1998 No. 436 "On carrying out practical work on the introduction of environmental auditing in the Russian Federation" (together with the "Temporary procedure for certification of environmental auditors"). This document has not been canceled or changed, but according to the essence of the norms included in it, this document cannot be applied, since the state authorities specified in this document no longer exist, and there is no activity in the powers of specially authorized executive authorities in the field of environmental protection (Ministry of Natural Resources of the Russian Federation, Rosprirodnazor, etc.) in the field of environmental audit regulation or management.

Thus, the legal norms on environmental audit conducted by both business entities and state executive authorities remain declarative in legislation to this day.

Currently, the requirements for environmental audit are set out in only a few standards, including international ones. In accordance with Federal Law No. 184-FZ of 12/27/2002 "On Technical Regulation", standardization documents are applied on a voluntary basis.

The development of international standardization in the field of environmental protection has predetermined the development of international standards governing environmental auditing. Among them, ISO 14000 series can be distinguished. As part of the ISO 14000 series of standards, environmental audit requirements have been included in the following standards: "ISO 14010-98. Guidelines for environmental audit. General principles"; "ISO 14011-98. Guidelines for environmental audit. Audit procedures. Conducting an audit of environmental quality management systems"; "ISO 14012-98. Guidelines for environmental audit. Qualification criteria for environmental auditors". However, subsequently, special standards in the field of environmental audit (ISO 14000 series) were abolished, and the requirements for environmental audit were included in the general provisions on the audit of management organizations (ISO 19011:2011 "Guidelines for the audit of management systems").

The abolition of international standards has also affected changes in the system of Russian standards in the field of environmental audit. Thus, the following standards were abolished:

– GOST R ISO 14010-98 "Guidelines for environmental audit. Basic principles".

– GOST R ISO 14011-98 "Guidelines for environmental audit. Audit procedures. Conducting an audit of environmental management systems."

– GOST R ISO 14012-98 "Guidelines for environmental audit. Qualification criteria for environmental auditors".

Instead of these documents, in 2012 a new standard GOST R ISO 19011-2012 "Guidelines for the audit of management systems" was adopted, which was a synthesis of the above-mentioned standards of the 12000 series and the 9000 series (on the audit of quality management systems), subsequently in 2021 the standard was revised, GOST R ISO 19011-2021 is currently in force. It should be pointed out that the audit of management systems does not mean an environmental audit, moreover, the descriptions of the audit of enterprise management systems in the standards do not distinguish the environmental management of the organization in any way.

As V.V. Kvanina points out, "since 2012, attempts have been made to adopt the Federal Law "On Environmental Audit and Environmental Auditing Activities." To this end, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Ecology of the Russian Federation has repeatedly submitted draft laws to the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation, but the law has not been adopted ^[4]. And as it was shown above, even the accepted norms in the field of environmental law have been abolished today. We believe that this may be largely due to the current policy of reducing the number of mandatory requirements for business entities.

In the literature, there is mention of mandatory environmental audit conducted "by decision of state environmental control and expertise bodies, courts, arbitration, law enforcement, environmental protection and other bodies when developing safety declarations for industrial enterprises, carrying out activities affecting the interests of environmental safety of the territory, as well as environmental impact assessment, insurance and licensing" (see for example, Kalacheva O.A. ^[5]). However, it must be recognized that in accordance with the legal definition of environmental audit, the lack of regulatory regulation of the procedure for conducting and mandatory requirements for the composition of such work, there are currently no requirements for conducting a mandatory environmental audit in Russia.

Despite the lack of legislative requirements and methodological guidelines, some companies conduct environmental audits voluntarily, realizing its importance for their development and reputation. For example, in news reports there was information about the environmental audit at the Pe Terburgh Oil Terminal JSC, Magnitogorsk Iron and Steel Works, Gazprom Dobycha Yamburg LLC and many others whose activities are associated with great environmental risks. Internal verification of compliance with environmental legislation can also help to avoid violations and, consequently, penalties during inspections. Also, recommendations based on the results of an environmental audit can help reduce possible production costs associated with environmental costs associated with paying for negative environmental impacts and environmental management.

One of the possible conditions for conducting an environmental audit is proof of reducing the negative impact on the environment by business entities. The audit results could be an evidence base for citizens' appeals, public discussions and environmental statements by civil society institutions. Environmental issues are often the subject of such discussions, and they are not always based on reliable facts of the actual impact on the environment. One of the principles of legal environmental protection is the principle of potential environmental hazard of any economic or other activity, in accordance with this principle, when planning any activity, the customer of the facility is obliged to prove the permissibility of environmental impact during the implementation of this facility. This principle underlies the legislation on environmental expertise – the Institute for Preventive Regulation of Environmental Protection. However, environmental expertise cannot be carried out for already introduced facilities, since in accordance with Federal Law No. 174-FZ dated 11/23/1995 "On Environmental Expertise", this procedure is necessarily carried out only before a decision is made on the implementation of an eco-expertise facility. And in such cases, if questions arise about the negative impact on nature, on the life and health of citizens, an environmental audit, as an independent assessment of such an impact, could serve as an effective legal tool.

The lack of regulatory regulation hinders the implementation of the measures indicated by the above-mentioned decrees of the President of the Russian Federation. Valentik M.S. and Yusipova I.V. ^[6] propose to revise the Federal Law "On Auditing Activities" and highlight in it a general part containing basic prescriptions for all types of auditing activities, as well as special parts related to financial and environmental auditing. While agreeing with the authors on this, I would still like to note that in the Federal Law "On Auditing" this activity is understood only within the framework of checking accounting documentation. If we proceed from the provision on audit as an independent audit, then completely different areas in the field of safety (industrial, fire, information, etc.), as well as quality management systems, may be subject to such verification.

Environmental audit is not the only area of relations where declarative norms are not confirmed by an appropriate system of acts or norms defining the rules for their implementation (see, for example, Sadretdinov S.N., Mardieva E.R. ^[7]; Sagitova I.F. ^[8], Kayumova N.A. ^[9]). This provision – the lack of regulations, methodologies, procedures - not only creates difficulties for the implementation of such norms, but is also one of the corruption-causing factors ^{[10, 11]}.

Currently, the lack of methodologies and uniform standards in the field of environmental audit creates certain difficulties for enterprises wishing to receive recognition, including international recognition, of their results. The development of regulatory regulation of environmental audit will allow enterprises to be confident in the quality and reliability of audits conducted.

It should also be borne in mind that environmental audits should be mandatory for certain categories of enterprises, such as those that have a significant impact on the environment or produce goods and services associated with environmental risks. In accordance with the Federal Law "On Environmental Protection", enterprises of the I category of danger in relation to the environment can be classified as such. This will help ensure that all enterprises operating in the country are responsible for their environmental impacts and strive for sustainable development.

The development of environmental audit legislation is of great importance for environmental protection and sustainable development. It ensures effective management of environmental risks, increases the environmental responsibility of enterprises and promotes the development of innovative technologies and practices in the field of ecology.

Thus, it is necessary to actively work on the creation and improvement of standards and norms in the field of environmental audit, the development of educational programs and ensuring that audits are mandatory for certain categories of industrial enterprises. This is the only way we can guarantee the ecological safety of our planet and ensure sustainable development in the long term.