In the United States, the Environmental Protection Agency has published pollution control regulations for smelters.
* Air pollution standards under the Clean Air Act
* Water pollution standards (effluent guidelines) under the Clean Water Act.
The RMI Conformant Smelter Program
As conflict mineral use grows, numerous initiatives have been launched to counteract the problem. They encourage responsible mineral sourcing practices in regions under circumstances of conflict, human rights abuse, or labour exploitation.
The Responsible Mineral Initiative, RMI, has developed a set of ideals and guidelines for smelter, including the Conformant Smelter Program. The program is a third-party audit and certification program that assesses the performance of smelters in the responsible sourcing of minerals. This program adheres to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, OECD, guidelines. Published in the OECD Due Diligence Guidance for Responsible Supply Chains of Minerals from Conflict-Affected and High-Risk Areas. The OECD is a body focused on policies for bettering global practices.
The focus of the program is evaluating smelters on:
*Sourcing practices: Demonstrating sourced minerals do not contribute to active conflict, human rights issues, or environmental damage
*Due Diligence: Establishing a due diligence process to mitigate risks in the supply chain
*Transparency: Information being transparent about their sourcing
*Environmental and social performance: Minimizing the environmental impact and respecting workers' rights
Smelters that meet the RMI standards gain recognition on the RMI Conformant Smelter & Refiner Lists.
This is not the only program regulating the smelting industry, additional auditing programs include:
*The London Bullion Market Association, LBMA, focuses on gold, silver, platinum, and palladium. With successful smelters gaining recognition on the Good Suppliers List.
*Responsible Jewellery Council, RJC, promotes responsible practices in the jewellery supply chain. Successful smelters gaining recognition on the RJC members registry.
Similarly, to the RMI Conformant Smelter Program these entities comply with OECD guidelines and promote ethical and environmental supply chain management. However, the named organizations have varying additional guidelines therefore the only cross recognized audits with the RMI are:
*LBMA Responsible Gold Guidance
*RMI Responsible Minerals Assurance Process Gold Standard
*RJC Chain-of-Custody (CoC) Standard (provision 1 only)
*RJC Code of Practices (COP) Standard (provision 7 only)