A Simpler Way for "Legal and Other Requirements"

Why not take a very simple approach to Legal and Other Requirements? In particular, why not have forests simply point to a reference of Legal and Other Requirements, stratifying them perhaps by environmental aspects. Region 8 is working on this as I write, building on works from other Regions. Each Region could easily add Best Management Practices as determined state by state via Fed/State agreements for Clean Air and Clean Water Act compliance. A few other things, as deemed appropriate by the Forest Service, OGC, and perhaps others would round out the lists.

Then for the Forest Service as a whole, find a simple means to evaluate how the organization is doing with compliance. For example, the FS might ask OGC for an annual appraisal of performance relative to the law. OGC and the USFS might agree on some schedule to periodically evaluate all the various laws, say, when something changes in case law or via some other priority scheme.

Beyond that all that we would need to do is set up some means, organizationally, to better train FS folks on the connection between Legal and Other Requirements and FS Manuals, Handbooks, various state Best Management Practices developed specifically to aid in legal compliance, etc. Such training could be done by means other than through EMS, but be linked to EMS to help show a path to betterment.

Could it be as simple as this? ISO 14001 at "Annex A" says:

A.3.2 Legal and other requirements

… The determination of how legal and other requirements apply to an organization's environmental aspects is usually accomplished in the process of identifying these requirements. It may not be necessary, therefore, to have a separate or additional procedure in order to make this determination. ... {emphasis added)

ISO 14001 says,

... 4.3.2 Legal and other requirements

The organization shall establish, implement and maintain a procedure(s)

a) to identify and have access to the applicable legal requirements and other requirements to which the organization subscribes related to its environmental aspects, and

b) to determine how these requirements apply to its environmental aspects.

The organization shall ensure that these applicable legal requirements and other requirements to which the organization subscribes are taken into account in establishing, implementing and maintaining its environmental management system. ...

... 4.5.2 Evaluation of compliance

4.5.2.1 Consistent with its commitment to compliance, the organization shall establish, implement and maintain a procedure(s) for periodically evaluation compliance with applicable legal requirements.

The organization shall keep records of the results of the periodic evaluations. ...

So why not look for A Simpler Way for Legal and Other Requirements compliance? Arguably, there is nothing in the ISO standards that require organizations to over-complexify their compliance. Arguably, there is nothing in the ISO standards that require organizations to commit to things that are impossible or near-impossible to comply with. The whole point of EMS is quality improvement over a reasonable time frame. Legal requirements frequently prove tricky. Legal compliance is seldom a simple concrete "go/no-go" endeavor. But there are many means to help navigate through the legal maze.

We ought to be very careful not to seek simplicity this side of complexity, either in our ecosystem framing or our social (including legal) framing. Simplicity on the other side of complexity remains a very worthy goal.