Compliance Obligations
ISO 14001 defines Compliance obligations as "legal requirements that an organization has to comply with and other requirements that an organization has to or chooses to comply with". The Compliance Obligations Procedure describes how the organization gathers information, analyzed it, and identifies the requirements that apply to operations. Like other EMS procedures, it describes the who, what, where, when, why, and how for an activity.
Your company may be regulated primarily under the:
You may also identify other requirements that your company voluntarily implements. For example, you may be required to adhere to the company's policy to implement pollution prevention, improve environmental performance through objectives and targets, and communicate with the public on your environmental management progress.
ISO 14001 does not contain a specific clause that requires unconditional compliance with all applicable laws and regulations. What is required is as follows:
- identify applicable laws and regulations,
- decide whether it is in compliance or noncompliance,
- for those areas where noncompliance exists, develop an action plan to correct noncompliance, and
- establish a system to maintain compliance.
A continued pattern of noncompliance may lead to nonconformance with ISO 14001 due to a lack of an adequate "system to maintain compliance". If the organization subscribes to any codes of practice or voluntary guidelines the Environmental Policy statement will also need to include these agreements.
Knowledge Check Choose the best answer for the question.
2-6. Which of the following is defined as "legal requirements that an organization has to comply with and other requirements that an organization has to or chooses to comply with?"
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