Regulatory Compliance: Tools
Environmental Compliance Risk Assessment Protocol (ECORAP®)
First Environment, Inc. and Mele Associates have developed an Environmental Compliance Risk Assessment Protocol (ECORAP®) (patent-pending) to assist the Air Force Materiel Command (AFMC) in evaluating opportunities for pollution prevention (P2).
generating operations. When used together, the two can maximize the reduction of risk of non-compliance per dollar spent on pollution prevention. The protocol, which was developed using an industrial approach, has broad applicability and is appropriate to both the private and public sector.
We have designed the protocol to be used in conjunction with the Process Specific Opportunity Assessment procedure that evaluates the comparative risk and costs associated with reduction or elimination of regulated or pollution
The protocol addresses factors of current compliance requirements, future compliance requirements, level of toxicity of chemicals, mobility of chemicals within the environment, proximity to public receptors, type of releases, worker exposure, operational complexity, containers involved, and release containment. Factors can be added or deleted based on the particulars of specific operations, existing metrics, etc.
The procedure involves a series of questions targeted to objectively determine the individual parameters of the algorithm. The results are then entered into the worksheet, which automatically calculates the comparative risk and stores the data for future use.
