Alaska's New "Environmental Audits" Law

In May 1997, the Alaska Legislature passed Senate Bill 41, a new law that may adversely affect private sector-whistleblowers. The law regards as "privileged" any violations of environmental laws discovered during a company initiated "self-audit" and then voluntarily disclosed to government oversight agencies. This "privilege" provision allows a company to keep the details of the violation secret -- the company can withhold any and all information contained in its audit report from government regulators and the public. The "privilege" provision also means that the audit report may not be obtained through the discovery process of an administrative or civil proceeding.

The new law may create several problems for whistleblowers in Alaska. The vast majority of whistleblowers first disclose their concerns about environmental violations to their employers through internal reporting mechanisms, which often generate in-house investigations that could be deemed "self-audits" under SB 41. A whistleblower who is fired or otherwise suffers retaliation for raising concerns about environmental violations could be denied access to important documentation demonstrating that s/he raised these concerns and tracking the company's subsequent reaction. This internal documentation is often essential to prove an employer unfairly and illegally retaliated against an employee.