Environmental Consulting
Auditing and Verification
In a world where EHS risks can impact business success, Trinity offers comprehensive Auditing & Verification services. Trinity's EHS Performance & Risk Management team assists clients in addressing EHS challenges from various perspectives - strategic planning, program evaluation, and systems development.
Trinity's expertise provides value to clients in characterizing enterprise-wide EHS impacts, addressing stakeholder expectations, managing EHS-related risks and opportunities, and improving EHS performance. Our team specializes in regulatory compliance auditing, ensuring adherence to EPA, OSHA, and other relevant standards across various programs, including air quality, waste management, water conservation, emergency preparedness, and occupational safety.
Trinity's auditing team assists organizations with auditing for compliance with regulatory requirements as well as conformance with management systems. With a detailed approach that encompasses site visits, data review, and regulatory applicability analysis, we offer corrective action recommendations and management practices to maintain compliance. Additionally, we conduct corporate EHS and management system assessments, including gap analyses and readiness audits for ISO and OHSAS certifications. Trinity's tailored protocols, whether developed anew or integrated into existing frameworks, aim to bolster your organization's EHS performance, mitigate risks, and ensure sustainable business operations.
The Experienced Auditor's Guide to Virtual & Remote Auditing
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EHS and Sustainability Reporting
Streamline your EHS reporting with Trinity's regulatory compliance and sustainability reporting expertise for accuracy, efficiency, and reduced compliance risks.
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Ensure EPA compliance and minimize environmental impact with Trinity's expert TRI reporting, advanced chemical management, and pollution prevention services.
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Ensure TSCA compliance efficiently with Trinity's expert services, including PMN, audits, risk evaluation, and active status management to meet EPA requirements.
Third-Party Verification Services
Trinity offers accredited GHG & offset verification services utilizing an expert team with sector-specific accreditations, ensuring compliance & operational flexibility.Our Results
Featured Projects
Trinity Brings Calm Vigilance to Packaging Giant’s Multisite Environmental Reporting Requirements
A very large packaging company in Illinois partnered with Trinity Consultants to evaluate and improve their environmental program.
Government Steam Plant Streamlines Environmental Permitting and Compliance
The plant has engaged Trinity since 2008 for a wide variety of continual compliance activities that span air, oil pollution, waste, and water programs.
Power Company Partners with Trinity to Modernize Compliance using Enablon Platform
Starting in 2017, a leading international power generating company tasked Trinity Consultants’ Digital Solutions team with spearheading an Environment, Health, and Safety (EHS) compliance management system modernization program.
Trinity's In-Depth Insights Help Lime Manufacturer
In 2022, a leading North American lime manufacturer asked Trinity to take over its quarterly board of directors’ regulatory and policy reports.Regulatory Background
Scope of Auditing and Verification Services
Regulatory Compliance Auditing
Trinity's audit team conducts regulatory compliance audits for the following programs (among others):
Environmental
- Air quality permitting and regulatory compliance, including Continuous Emissions Monitoring System (CEMS)
- Solid waste (including generator, transporter, TSDF, and waste receptor)
- Water (wastewater discharges, water reclamation and reuse, water appropriation, stormwater)
- Emergency preparedness (SPCC, FRP, and FSP)
- Risk Management Plans and Accidental Release Prevention (Program Levels 2 and 3)
- Hazardous Materials Reporting (Tier 2, TRI)
Occupational Safety and Health
- Process safety management (PSM)
- OSHA general industry standards
- OSHA shipbreaking standards
- Permit-required confined space programs
- Lockout/tagout programs
Other
- Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards (CFATS)
- Due Diligence Support
During a compliance audit, Trinity reviews all relevant data, including applications, permits, plot plans, construction history, emissions calculations, monitoring information, regulatory reports, process flow diagrams, and operational data. We typically visit the site to ensure that all emissions sources have been identified.
Our next step is to perform a regulatory applicability analysis to identify all federal, state, and local requirements for each emissions source. Based on this information, we determine unit-by-unit compliance and suggest corrective actions, classifying non-compliance findings based on severity and recommending best management practices. This allows our clients to make informed decisions on how to address compliance issues. The result is a complete picture of all regulatory requirements, a plan to attain and maintain compliance, and a basis for establishing an annual compliance audit plan.
Corporate EH&S Audits
Internal Audits are structured to assess a company's performance against its own standards. These standards may exceed regulatory requirements and encompass industry best practices. Trinity can either develop a protocol or use an existing corporate protocol, and the audit can be performed by a Trinity team or a team that combines Trinity and client personnel.
Management Systems Assessments
Trinity's auditing professionals frequently evaluate organizations' conformance with standards such as ISO 14001, RC 14001, OHSAS 18001, and other EHS management systems, often in preparation for the certification process. The process includes elements such as the following:
- Gap analysis - A gap analysis compares an organization's existing system with the requirements of an EHS standard in order to identify areas of nonconformance, or gaps. The work plan that results is a roadmap for implementation.
- Pre-registration readiness audits - A readiness assessment helps assure that all systems are implemented and that there is sufficient evidence available to move forward with certification. This process increases the likelihood of a successful registration experience, potentially reducing total cost. Additionally, Trinity provides a variety of customized services that include training and on-site assistance during the registration audit.
- Internal audits - Trinity can audit internal EHS systems to evaluate performance against standard requirements and corporate objectives. When problems are found, we advise on system improvements and maintenance.
- Enterprise-wide assessments - Trinity supports corporate staff in the unique challenge they face when planning and implementing an enterprise-wide EHS assessment process. This includes developing customized EHS standards, a best-in-class system rollout, communication procedures, and training. We also create implementation toolkits and guidance materials.
Who May Need Fuel Regulatory Support and Why?
The management of any facility requires a watchful eye to ensure regulations and procedures are followed and the intent of management is met. By conducting audits, companies can be assured that prescribed environmental and safety procedures are properly performed. It is an approach that makes good business sense. The lack of proper oversight can adversely impact not only local communities but also the health and well-being of employees. In addition, regulatory fines, increased costs, a poor reputation, and low employee morale can result.
- Prevention - Trinity can help you evaluate environmental and safety systems to find issues of concern before they become problems. With our extensive auditing resources, skills, and experience, we will help you maintain and improve compliance management systems so your company can achieve economic, employee, and community success.
- Staffing - Increased regulations for monitoring, recordkeeping, and reporting make it difficult to ensure proper oversight of operations, especially if an EHS department is operating with minimal resources. Trinity's professional staff provides the additional resources needed to perform EHS audits. We provide objective assessments of your compliance status, recommend changes to correct problems, and provide guidance on correcting the system to ensure improved performance in the future.
- The Process Approach - The most effective method of auditing a management system is to employ the Process Approach. It is a key to examining systems such as ISO 14001, RC 14001, OHSAS 18001, and EPA's Performance Track Program. Following the Process Approach, we analyze the actions that precede each operation and the actions that follow. We determine which inputs are necessary for proper completion and which outputs are necessary for the next step to be successful. Originally applied to quality in manufacturing, the Process Approach is fundamental in evaluating environmental and safety performance.
Perspectives
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Read MoreMeet the Team
Jose Orsini
Director, Sustainability & Assurance