Our Approach
The Areas Environmental Audit program and CFEMS plan was originally developed by Straughan Environmental for Areas USA in 2017. The program was designed to summarize the progress Areas USA made in the previous fiscal year in all areas of environmental management required by contract or local, state, and/or federal regulations. Straughan was retained again in 2025 to audit the environmental management performance of Areas USA and its subsidiary, Sunoco LP at the Maryland House and Chesapeake House travels plazas on I-95. The project required extensive coordination with Areas and MDTA to collect documentation, conduct site visits, evaluate CFEMS and regulatory environmental compliance, and consolidate that information into the final Third-Party Environmental Compliance Audit reports for FY 2025.
Straughan reviewed updates to the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) and Code of Maryland Regulations (COMAR), updated the regulatory and CFEMS audit checklists accordingly, performed the environmental audit, and assembled final audit reports to submit to Areas. These reports summarized the audit results, identified noncompliances, and any procedural changes required to ensure continued environmental compliance. Straughan also completed a site visit to both travel plazas to gather photo documentation of current conditions, licenses and permits, and stormwater management practices.
