Are you ready for your environmental compliance evaluation, or are you feeling unprepared? Not sure if your business even has to conduct an evaluation?
Regardless of where you fall on the preparedness spectrum, there’s still time to get your affairs in order. However, no one likes scrambling to meet tight deadlines.
With that in mind, RSB Environmental has created this guide to preparing for your annual environmental compliance evaluation. We cover key information such as:
- Which types of companies need to conduct an evaluation
- Why annual evaluations are important
- Who needs to be involved in the process
- How you can make next year’s evaluation process simpler than ever
We also shed some light on our monthly CHESS program, which makes compliance easy, affordable, and painless.
What Companies Have to Perform an Annual Evaluation?
First, does your business even need to perform an annual compliance evaluation?
To find out, determine whether your company holds a Texas Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (TPDES) permit. If so, you’ll have to conduct an annual evaluation.
Why? The TPDES system oversees the discharge of contaminants to surface water in Texas. Any company that discharges treated wastewater into state waters needs a TPDES permit.
Why Must Companies Schedule an Annual Compliance Evaluation?
Scheduling an annual compliance evaluation is part of TPDES permitting requirements. If you fail to book your evaluation, your company could lose its TPDES permit. This means you would have to cease operations until you obtain a new permit. Even a brief shutdown could be quite costly.
During the evaluation, your company must audit environmental compliance, and the audit protocols should reveal any issues at the facility and detail how those issues will be fixed.
Failing to book an audit can have major repercussions for your company. The most obvious is that it would cause you to fall out of compliance. In Texas, your business can face hefty fines for non-compliance with TPDES.
The TPDES penalty policy breaks violations into minor and major incidents:
- Minor violations can lead to a fine of $5,000 per day.
- You could be charged up to $25,000 per day for major violations.
Another issue with skipping the evaluation is that it could lead to major environmental contamination. Cleanup could cost your business tens of thousands of dollars and lead to long-term reputational damage.
Which Team Members Should Be Involved in the Process?
Scheduling your annual evaluation is only half the battle. It’s also vital that the right team members are included in the process. Specifically, you should involve:
- The SWPPP team
- Select supervisors
- Several line-level workers
- Safety managers
- Operations personnel
Each group will be able to provide a unique perspective. The SWPPP team might notice issues that the operations personnel wouldn’t observe, and vice versa.
After the evaluation, each participant should provide feedback. This information needs to be compiled in the evaluation report, then the report must then be submitted to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ), which will update your compliance status.
How RSB Environmental Can Help Businesses Prepare?
Conducting your annual environmental compliance evaluation can be quite a hassle. The good news is that it doesn’t have to be, thanks to RSB Environmental. Our team can work with your SWPPP team to perform an audit:
- We can conduct the entire compliance evaluation.
- We will identify any existing issues.
- We will provide recommendations about how to resolve issues.
- We can help prepare and submit your evaluation results to TCEQ.
If you really want to make your evaluation process seamless, take advantage of our CHESS program. This program allows you to spread your compliance expenses into affordable monthly installments.
Once you enroll in the CHESS program, our team will create a custom schedule for your company and perform designated compliance tasks during each visit. Your annual environmental compliance evaluation is included as part of your CHESS program fees as well, making compliance easy and affordable.
Need help preparing for your upcoming annual evaluation and want to work with an experienced partner that can meet your needs? If so, it’s time to connect with RSB Environmental. Contact us today to book a consultation.
