Trent Lott: “this week the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Administrative Oversight and the Courts held a hearing on voluntary…”

“this week the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Administrative Oversight and the Courts held a hearing on voluntary environmental self-auditing. The hearing was held to explore the State experience with laws to encourage self-audits and why it is necessary to enact Federal legislation to complement these State laws. I want to take this opportunity today to share with you the importance of what was said at this hearing. First, an explanation of what voluntary environmental self-auditing is; why companies do it; and what the problems are. In the past 10 years, the number of environmental statutes and regulations that impose compliance obligations, and the corresponding increase in civil and criminal penalties and sanctions for violations of those obligations, have dramatically increased. Furthermore, thanks in part to these laws, social mores that value environmentally responsible business practices also compel environmental awareness by businesses. In response to these developments, more and more companies use environmental self-audit programs as a tool to ensure compliance with this complex and litigious system.”