外文翻译--压力下的环境审计变化和内部审计人员作用

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1、2015 单词 ,12350 英文字符， 3630 汉字 出处： Robert R.Tucker， Janet Kasper.Pressures for Change in Environmental Auditing and in the Role of the Internal AuditorJ. Journal of Managerial Issues， 2004， 10（ 3）：340-354. 原文 ： Pressures for Change in Environmental Auditing and in the Role of the Internal Auditor As t

2、he risks of financial loss and image damage from catastrophic environmental problems increase, many companies are designing systems for prevention rather than mere regulatory compliance. In the past, audit teams were typically composed of engineers and scientists considered best able to achieve comp

3、liance with governmental regulation. However, as companies turn their focus toward designing and monitoring environmental management systems, the role of internal auditors is likely to increase because of their greater expertise in auditing systems. Early environmental legislation focused on punishi

4、ng the polluter and stopping thepollution with restraining orders and abatement procedures (Rittenberg et al., 1992). As a response, companies primary objective in performing the first environmental audits was compliance with regulations and the avoidance of regulatory sanctions. The U.S. Environmen

5、tal Protection Agency (EPA) is rethinking its approach to compliance and enforcement and the role of environmental auditing. Rather than the prescriptive command and control approach, the EPA is allowing more flexibility in the way in which corporations manage environmental risks as long as environm

6、ental goals are achieved. This more collaborative approach provides management with an incentive to design environmental systems, which are cost effective, emphasize prevention, and continuously improve. The initial emphasis on assessing technical compliance led management to staff environmental aud

7、it teams with technical personnel such as scientists and engineers. The new emphasis on evaluating systems suggests a greater role for internal auditors who possess the necessary training and experience. Several other changes have also motivated companies to reevaluate their approach toenvironmental

8、 auditing. One change is the consistent trend toward more stringent andcomprehensive environmental legislation. For example, the EPA recently recommended tighter national standards for air quality (Cushman, 1996). Due to several highly publicized environmental disasters and the continual enactment o

9、f new and more comprehensive laws, an increasingly aware and skeptical public are prompting corporate management to reassess what it means to be environmentally responsible. Investors, observing the massive cleanup costs, litigation, and reputational damage resulting from environmental accidents suc

10、h as Three MileIsland, Love Canal, the Exxon Valdez or the Bhopal chemical disaster, may favor companies that take preventative measures to minimize these downside risks. Interest in an effective environmental management system, which includes environmental auditing, is also motivated by the more st

11、ringent environmental standards in other countries. Corporations may soon find that developing such a system and meeting these more stringent standards are requirements of conducting international business. The EPA is currently participating in the development of the most comprehensive environmental

12、 quality standards ever undertaken, ISO 14000. These standards, developed by the International Standards Organization (ISO), resulted in part from theGATT talks which sought to promote free trade while establishing a global commitment to a clean environment. To obtain ISO 14000 certification, corpor

13、ations must maintain environmental management systems and monitor these systems with environmental auditing. The EPA and other governmental agencies will consider a companys certification and compliance with these standards in enforcement actions. Furthermore, these uniform international environment

14、al standards, and an organizations response to them, could potentially provide a basis for society to compare firms sensitivity to environmental issues. In light of these new risks and opportunities, management needs to reevaluate how it approaches environmental auditing. The purpose of this article

15、 is threefold. First, we identify and discuss changes in the risks companies face in managing environmental issues. Specifically, the discussion focuses on the new environmental standard ISO 14000 and changes in direction at the EPA. Second, we envision the implications of these changes on managemen

16、ts approach to monitoring these risks, and third, we suggest steps useful in adapting to these changes and encourage a reexamination of the internal auditors role. Changes in Pressures Affecting Environmental Auditing Historical Background The Environmental Protection Agency was established in 1970

17、and several pieces ofenvironmental legislation ensued in that decade, including The Clean Air Act of 1970, The Clean Water Act of 1972, and The Resource Conservation and Recovery Act of 1976. This legislation focused on punishing the violator and using administrative and court orders to achieve comp

18、liance. On the other hand, the Superfund legislation, namely the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA) of 1980 and the Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act (SARA) of 1986, made companies potentially liable for cleaning up existing or future damage to t

19、he environment where existing damage might have been caused by a prior owner of the land. Numerous other federal, state and local environmental and worker safety laws have increased the complexity and extensiveness of regulatory compliance. As the resulting costs of complying with these laws, paying

20、 for violations, and cleaning up environmental damage have increased, so has the demand for environmental audits. Although fear of regulatory enforcement was the primary force spurring the demand for environmental auditing, it alone is insufficient to explain why companies are choosing to go beyond

21、compliance. For example, 1,300 companies voluntarily accepted EPAs challenge to reduce discharges of 17 toxic pollutants by 50 percent (EPA, 1996a). A report published by the Institute of Internal Auditors Research Foundation, definedenvironmental auditing as “an integral part of an environmental ma

22、nagement system whereby management determines whether the organizations environmental control systems are adequate to ensure compliance with regulatory requirements and internal policies.” In practice, the nature of environmental audits is defined and implemented differently. Some corporations outsource this function to a third-party consultant； others rely on technical staff while still others employ internal auditors.