About the Course
Introduction
This CLE course will guide counsel on leveraging environmental audits to enhance compliance and on mitigating risks associated with audit discoveries. The panel will discuss privilege, voluntary disclosure, and best practices for responding to violations.
Description
Environmental audits allow companies to proactively identify and address environmental problems before civil litigation or enforcement actions arise. The EPA and many states offer companies incentives to encourage compliance, including self-reporting identified issues in order to be eligible for potential reduced or eliminated penalties.
Whether a newly acquired or long-standing business, companies and their counsel must take measures to ensure ongoing environmental compliance and environmental audits provide an avenue for detecting and correcting potential problems. Regular self-auditing can help improve overall environmental compliance and, if instances of noncompliance are identified and the decision is made to voluntarily disclose that information to regulatory agencies, can eliminate or reduce governmental penalties and limit injunctive relief faced in enforcement actions.
There are potential risks associated with voluntarily uncovering and documenting violations, as well as with the disclosure of violations. Audit findings can be evidence of compliance gaps and a company's knowledge of those deficiencies. And audit disclosures may not always lead to a clean resolution of disclosed violations with the regulatory agency. Disclosed information could still lead to enforcement action and also may provide ammunition in private actions against the disclosing party.
Listen as our panel of environmental attorneys examines environmental enforcement policies and environmental auditing programs. The panel will discuss privilege and its exceptions, as well as the pros and cons of voluntary disclosures. The panel will also offer strategies for responding to enforcement actions.
Presented By
Mr. Linsin is an experienced criminal litigator concentrating his practice in the areas of white collar criminal law, environmental criminal litigation, environmental compliance, and internal corporate compliance investigations. Prior to joining Blank Rome, he served for more than 25 years with the United States Department of Justice where he managed and prosecuted complex criminal cases in federal courts throughout the country. During his last 17 years with the Justice Department, Mr. Linsin served as Assistant Chief and Special Litigation Counsel for the Environmental Crimes Section where he handled environmental prosecutions of national significance.
Mr. Sach's practice focuses on the wide range of regulatory issues the global agriculture, consumer product, and biotechnology industries face. He advises numerous Forbes Global 2000 companies on the legal and regulatory requirements associated with both domestic and foreign production, and the import, export, and distribution of pesticides, industrial biocides, and treated commodities and products. Mr. Sach's practice includes all aspects of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) regulation of pesticides, including the manufacture, import, distribution, labeling, registration, and use of all types of consumer and agricultural pesticide products under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA), with a special focus on antimicrobial pesticides and devices. As part of his FIFRA legal practice, he frequently supports the data rights objectives of Beveridge & Diamond’s pesticide clients; advises clients on EPA enforcement, audit, and voluntary self-disclosure matters; and prepares data licensing agreements, product distribution agreements, and other related contracts.
Mr. Sheldon has extensive experience in the field of environmental law, including counseling, litigation, and risk management issues for business and local government entities. He also handles business and real estate related risks related to environmental liability questions in transactions and negotiations for clients. Mr. Sheldon has represented private clients ranging from individuals and entrepreneurial companies to Fortune 100 corporations and major financial institutions. He has appeared in both federal and state trial courts and in courts of appeals in environmental and other matters, civil and criminal. Mr. Sheldon has a Martindale AV, preeminent rating. He also has an Alternative Dispute Resolution practice in which he has mediated complex multi-party environmental litigation matters nationally. Mr. Sheldon is a certified circuit court mediator in Florida, and court registered in Illinois.
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This 90-minute webinar is eligible in most states for 1.5 CLE credits.
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Date + Time
- event
Tuesday, January 6, 2026
- schedule
1:00 p.m. ET./10:00 a.m. PT
I. Environmental compliance auditing
II. Privileges available to protect audit-derived information
III. Factors in determining whether to make a voluntary audit disclosure under federal and state programs
IV. Audit opportunities for new owners
V. Complications for auditing and disclosure arising from recent enforcement trends
The panel will review these and other key issues:
- How can companies and their counsel use environmental audits to improve compliance and soften the impact of a government enforcement action?
- What are the best practices for counsel to advise clients who are considering utilizing environmental compliance audits?
- What are the expected costs and risks of environmental self-audits from a legal standpoint?
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