Templates and records · ISO 14001 · Clause 6.1.3

ISO 14001 environmental legal requirements register

Which laws, permits and voluntary commitments affect the company, what specific obligation each one imposes and which environmental aspect it relates to.

In one sentence

The environmental legal requirements register lists the applicable regulations and other commitments, translated into specific obligations —permits, controls, declarations, deadlines— and linked to the environmental aspects they govern, because ISO 14001 requires them to be determined and accessible and the compliance obligations to be maintained as documented information (6.1.3).

Content reviewed on 17 October 2026

Where the standard requires it: ISO 14001 · Clause 6.1.3 Clauses are cited with the ISO 14001:2015 numbering, the same one the Academy uses. The 2026 edition was published on 15 April 2026 and 2015 certificates must transition to it before 30 April 2029.
Type of information: Mandatory document Documented information to be maintained (6.1.3)
Who fills it in: Environmental manager May rely on an external legal update service, but the applicability analysis belongs to the company
When: When the system is introduced and on an ongoing basis Every new regulation, new permit or change in the facilities calls for a review
How long it is kept: Current version plus history Repealed regulations are marked as such; the history allows past evaluations to be justified

What the standard requires

What ISO 14001 demands and what it leaves to your judgement

The standard uses «compliance obligations» for both laws and permits and what the company takes on voluntarily: agreements with customers, commitments to neighbours, industry programmes. All of them must be identified in relation to the environmental aspects and taken into account when planning the system.

It also asks you to determine how they apply to the organisation. A register that merely lists law titles does not show that: the specific obligation, who meets it and when is what turns the list into a working tool.

This register is the basis for the compliance evaluation (9.1.2): what has not been identified here cannot be evaluated later.

Read it in context: Planning, in the ISO 14001 Academy

Structure

Fields the template should include

Regulation or commitment, level (European, national, regional, local, voluntary) and date
Specific article or condition that applies
Obligation summarised in one verifiable sentence
Environmental aspect, facility or process affected
Person responsible for compliance
Frequency or deadline of the obligation
Evidence that demonstrates compliance
Date identified and status (in force, repealed, in progress)

Example

Example: three lines from an industrial plant’s register (fictitious company)

Company, people and figures are fictitious: the example only shows what a properly completed record looks like.

Field	Content
Regulation	Law 7/2022 on waste and contaminated soils, article 64
Obligation	Keep an electronic chronological record of the waste generated and retain it for at least five years
Aspect and owner	Waste generation · maintenance manager
Evidence	Chronological record updated with every collection
Regulation	Environmental permit for the plant (fictitious file AA-2019-114)
Obligation	Annual perimeter noise measurement by an accredited body
Aspect and owner	External noise · environmental manager · every June
Voluntary commitment	Agreement with the residents’ association not to load lorries before 7:00
Status	Register reviewed on 2 October 2026 · 46 requirements in force

At the audit

Mistakes auditors commonly flag

The register is a list of law titles without the specific obligation each one imposes.
The conditions of the company’s own permits, usually the most demanding, are missing.
Local by-laws and regional legislation are overlooked in favour of national law.
Voluntary commitments to customers or neighbours are not recorded.
Repealed regulations still shown as in force.

In Kimobox

How this record is kept in Kimobox

1The legal requirements register carries validity alerts and a scheduled periodic review.
2Each requirement is linked to the environmental aspect and the process on the map it affects.
3Each obligation has an owner and a date, and the system sends a reminder before it falls due.
4The same register feeds the compliance evaluation without copying the data again.

Frequently asked questions

What people ask us before getting started

Should voluntary commitments be included?

Yes, if the organisation has decided to adopt them. The standard treats them just like legal ones: they must be identified, applied and their fulfilment evaluated.

Is subscribing to a legislation service enough?

It helps you not to miss new developments, but it does not replace the analysis of which specific obligation applies to each facility. Auditors will ask to see that analysis and how it relates to the environmental aspects.

How does it differ from the compliance evaluation?

The register says what must be complied with; the evaluation checks whether it is. They are two separate records, one maintained and the other retained as a result.

Keep your ISO 14001 records without loose templates

We'll show you the module running with data similar to yours.

Request a demo

Keep exploring

Sources

Where each figure comes from

References to the official text in force. If a standard is revised, this page is updated and the review date says so.

ISO 14001:2015 — Environmental management systems. Requirements with guidance for use ISO · 2015 edition, with Amd 1:2024; superseded by the 2026 edition
ISO 14001:2026 — Environmental management systems. Requirements with guidance for use ISO · 2026 edition, published on 15 April 2026
Law 7/2022 of 8 April on waste and contaminated soils for a circular economy BOE-A-2022-5809 · 9 April 2022, consolidated text