What are the compliance challenges facing chemical manufacturer?
For executives in the US chemical industry, their responsibilities include compliance with the regulations, and life is like a bowl of acronyms. After all, they spend most of their time thinking about such as TSCA (toxic substances control act), EPCRA (emergency planning and community right to know act), CERCLA (integrated environmental response, compensation and Liability Act), FIFRA (Federal Insecticide), fungicide and Rodenticide Act, and resource protection and Recovery Act.
Of course, it's just the beginning, because there are many other federal, state and local regulations and institutions (totally another set of abbreviations) that need to be considered.
1. compliance with the provisions of the law - even those subsidiary rules
When it comes to the five corporate compliance challenges faced by chemical manufacturer, the first challenge is to stay at the top of formal requirements - layers after layer - in this intricate regulation.
Of course, smart companies will be very closely following the overall objectives of these Regulations (we can call it spirit), and the specific way that this abbreviation soup may affect the company's operations (letters). Ironically, however, companies that do do well in protecting workers or reducing toxic gas emissions often pay a high price for making compliance mistakes that seem to be unrelated. For example, they may insist on the right emission permits, but they do not read the rules on the licensing obligations. Even simple things, such as not filling in the forms required for waste disposal, can put a company that is already compliant into regulatory difficulties.
2. follow your own rules
Formal compliance with state, local and federal regulations must be translated into corporate policy. However, drafting clear policies is only the first step. For chemical manufacturers, ensuring that employees at all levels are in compliance with these regulations can be a huge challenge. After all, the regulations themselves are often technically complex and very specific and have little room for deviation. In addition, the high risk of non-compliance with chemical regulations - polluted waterways, sick or burned employees, etc. - creates a relentless regulatory atmosphere in which employees' behavior is more likely to be scrutinized.
Therefore, the second major compliance challenge for chemical companies is to ensure that they truly comply with their own rules and procedures. From a liability perspective, it is huge: the most popular and conclusive evidence of any plaintiff's lawyer is evidence of dramatic failure of a company to comply with its stated policies.
3. forecast trends related to compliance
When there is a significant change in the federal administration - including a new environmental protection agency director - there is a lot of discussion about the arrival of the new sheriff in the chemical industry, which can be said to be a new and active law enforcement environment. In many ways, these predictions are correct. However, radical initiatives that have led to widespread discussion on regulation have not been formed in the way many observers expect.
4. understand the history of the company and the risks related to it
A more interesting compliance challenge for chemical manufacturers is the trend of the government to put forward broad cleaning requirements for polluted urban rivers and other water bodies in the industrial age. (at the federal level, the widely publicized urban river restoration initiative by the EPA is a good example of the high attention paid to these efforts. ）Suddenly, companies that believe they are no longer in a certain water area, or that all their waterfront assets have been sold, are being held accountable for pollution caused by their predecessors decades ago.
5. avoid compliance myopia
Given the compliance related "soup of words", chemical manufacturers cannot be blamed for focusing narrowly on the specific challenges facing this particular industry (and its seed industries). However, in many other areas, compliance related changes are also in progress, and in some cases, the impact of these changes on chemical companies may be no less than the revision of specific federal acts.
