环境会计相关信息披露(英文版).doc

Environmental accountingIssues，reporting and disclosure Abstract With cleanup costs of hazardous wastes expected to run as high as $500 billion to $1 trillion over the next 50 years, environmental reporting and disclosure by firms in the United States during the 2000s will become more prolific. This manuscript seeks to provide an understanding of the magnitude of environmental issues, a brief history of the EPA, discussion of environmental regulatory acts and enforcement, and reporting and disclosure requirements by the SEC and FASB. IntroductionOne of the biggest concerns that firms will face in the 2000s will be reporting and disclosing of environmental issues. By early 1996, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) had identified over 36,000 hazardous waste sites in the United States, and the identification of additional sites continues. The EPA estimates that total cleanup costs of all identified hazardous waste sites could run as high as $500 billion to $1 trillion over the next 50 years (Jensen and Unger 1991). Interestingly, some of the largest public corporations in the United States have been identified by the EPA as responsible parties. The 1,405 most seriously contaminated properties have been placed on the National Priorities List (NPL), and are commonly referred to as Superfund sites. From these Superfund sites alone, the EPA has identified more than 15,000 Potentially Responsible Parties (PRPs) (Jensen and Unger 1991). (A PRP is a person or entity designated by the EPA as potentially responsible for the costs incurred in cleaning up the site(s).) The average cost to clean up a Superfund site is estimated to be $35 million (Dixon, Drezner, and Hammitt 1993); more troublesome sites could run as high as $1 billion each (Jensen and Unger 1991). To date, only about 498 of these Superfund sites have been cleaned up totally. In light of time and resource commitment costs to clean up these hazardous waste sites, the potential impact on some specific entities could be enormous. Accordingly, it is logical that the public would want to know about the existence of any environmental issues for which a reporting entity might be held responsible. With this in mind, the underlying purpose for this manuscript is to provide an understanding of the magnitude of environmental issues in the United States, a brief history of the Environmental Protection Agency, environmental regulatory acts and methods of enforcement by the EPA, and current disclosure requirements for corporations by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB). Magnitude of Environmental PollutionEnvironmental pollution in the United States is a major issue. In assessing environmental pollution, specifically hazardous wastes, in this country, the EPA made the following statements: There are approximately 240, 000, 000 people in the United States. Try to imagine a ton of hazardous waste piled next to each of them, with another ton added each and every year. Hazardous waste is produced in this country at the rate of 700,000 tons per day. Thats 250 million tons per year-enough to fill the Superdome in New Orleans 1,500 times over. (Environmental Protection Agency 1987, p. 14) Although it is true that the amount of hazardous waste is large, most of this waste is not dumped directly into the environment. Given sufficient incentives, most of the hazardous waste produced probably could be recycled as energy sources or be chemically stabilized. However, in the past, public corporations were not as knowledgeable about the impact of these hazardous wastes on humans as they are now. Additionally, they lacked sufficient incentives to, and were not required to, properly dispose of hazardous materials. Today, these companies are being forced to address their lack of foresight by acceptance of responsibility and, therefore, liability for past wastes. This liability ultimately leads to disclosure by public corporations. The EPA is the principal federal agency responsible for identifying the companies to be held responsible for these past wastes. History of the Environmental Protection AgencyPresident Richard M. Nixon created the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as an independent agency of the United States government by an Executive Order entitled Reorganization Plan 3 of 1970. While most federal agencies have been created by Congress, the creation of an agency by executive order was unique and implied lack of legislative support. Designed to ensure the protection of national environmental health, the EPA has not always received meaningful support from Congress. Early budgets were meager, and the agencys main headquarters in Washington, D.C. was located in an old condominium。 (once owned by Vice-President Spiro Agnew, who had trouble selling it through regular real estate channels). Although it received minimal support originally, since its creation two decades ago, the EPA has witnessed a gradual and steady growth in public concern for the environment. During the 1970s, in its first decade of existence, the EPA focused its attention primarily on the implementation of major environmental legislation enacted by Congress. During the next decade, the 1980s, the agency began to turn its attention toward the problem of enforcing its many statutes. Today, environmental concerns have never been higher in the countrys social, economic, and political agendas (Vincoli 1993). In addition, there have been several laws passed that are directly concerned with environmental issues. Environmental Regulatory ActsSome of the more significant environmental federal regulations in the United States include: Clean Air Act (CAA) - 1963 (revised and amended in 1967, 1970, 1972, 1977, and 1990); Clean Water Act (CWA) - 1972 (amended in 1977 and 1987); Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) - 1949 (amended in 1972 and 1978); Hazardous Material Transportation Act (HMTA) - 1975; Toxic Substances Act (TSCA) - 1976; Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) - 1976 (amended in 1980 and 1984); Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA) (Superfund) - 1980; Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act (SARA) - 1986 (amended 1991); Hazardous Waste Operations and Emergency Response (HAZWOPER) - 1990; Pollution Prevention Act (PPA) - 1990. Each of these federal acts gives the EPA and other federal agencies the ability to enforce cleanup of abandoned and existing hazardous waste sites and to impose liability on responsible parties to pay for the cleanup. As the enactment dates of these federal acts indicate, prior to 1970 environmental regulation was limited. Since the creation of the EPA, there has been a substantial increase in environmental awareness by the public that has led directly to a large number of governmental regulations. Each of these environmental acts has contributed directly to our countrys overall intent to control hazardous wastes. One of the most significant acts related to environmental issues is the Superfund Act (CERCLA). Financial Reporting and Disclosure This manuscript will now review disclosure requirements of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Financial Accounting Standards Board. The similarities and differences of these requirements and how they interface with EPA requirements is emphasized. These topics contribute The SEC disclosure requirements for environmental liabilities have evolved differently from those of the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB). The SEC mandates that corporations file a report if pollution expenditures have a material effect on their earnings. SEC regulation S-K requires that certain types of environmental information be disclosed: The material effects that compliance with federal, state, and local environmental laws may have upon capital expenditures, earnings, and competitive position.Litigation pending or known to be contemplated by a government authority pursuant to federal, state, and local environmental regulations. Any other environmental information of which a prudent investor ought to be informed. (Williams and Phillips 1994, p. 31) For sustainable progress of a company, constructive information disclosure is required as the social responsibility of the company, particularly for the information that has important social meaning. At the same time, such an approach establishes the social evaluation of the company. High expectations are imposed on environmental accounting as one of the environmental information systems involved with companies and introduction of the system in as many companies as possible and accumulation of announcements are strongly requested.This guideline clarifies the significance of environmental accounting in Chapter 1, indicates environmental costs, environmental effects, and economical effects associated with environmental measures in Chapters 2 and 3 as the elements that form the environmental accounting system. The guideline has discussed the concept of measuring each element. Companies try to install the environmental accounting system and use the systems for various cases using the information.Enterprises using their databases, which are developed using an environmental accounting system, can use them for their internal environmental management or administration management and for announcing the implementation status of environmental conservation externally as a part of information disclosure. In the internal use, since the independence and uniqueness of the company can be demonstrated, this guideline simply indicates the basic concepts described in Chapters 1 to 3.When disclosing information externally, companies must consider integrity and commonality that enable the system to be a social system for distribution of correct information to users. While recommending positive announcement of environmental accounting information, this guideline also discusses as required the concept for the framework of environmental accounting required for announcing information associated with summarized environmental accounting, concept regarding the framework of environmental accounting, the items to be measured and the concept. This guideline also assumes users of environmental reports, that is, consumers, investors, and local residents as the main receivers of environmental accounting information.When an environmental accounting system is summarized based on the concept that has been described in this guideline, the formats shown below can be used for announcing environmental accounting information. Of course, the idea is to use the method that can most appropriately express individual information and the method is not restricted. This guideline suggests three announcement formats to enable selection of a format according to the policy for summarizing environmental accounting information and the degree of implementation progress. The contents announced by environmental accounting and the descriptions in environmental reports must be appropriately linked according to the framework of the environmental accounting applied by the company.(1) Environmental cost oriented type: Announcement format A This format was prepared for announcement of information based on environmental costs. It is desirable to describe the summary of the contents and effects of environmental measures as well as supplementing the information by entering applicable pages of the environmental report containing the details. Announcement format A-2 is also attached as the format for announcing information in more concrete categories.(2) Environmental effect correlation type: Announcement format BThis format was prepared for clarifying cost effects of environmental measures taken by companies by mainly correlating environmental effects with environmental costs. Certain quantification applies to the effects and the effects must also be linked with the description in the environmental report to actually back up the information.(3) Comprehensive effect correlation type: Announcement format CThis format was prepared for clarifying cost effects of environmental measures by correlating environmental costs with economical effects that are associated with environmental effects and environmental measures and measuring the comprehensive effects. Although abundant information is made available, in terms of effects, appropriate measures are necessary for the presentation method since numeric values of different units are simply listed.This guideline provides examples of simple announcement formats as summarized above. Announcement of more detailed environment accounting is required according to the attitude of information disclosure by companies. Economical effects in a wide range may be correlated with environmental costs, without restricting to the economical results calculated based of the credible basis only. In this case, it is mandatory to consider cost effects of the environmental measures by linking with environmental performance indexes in the environmental report.ConclusionToday, many firms are encountering environmental issues and seeking guidance on reporting and disclosing this information to the public. This manuscript reviewed the magnitude of environmental pollution in the United States, a brief history of the EPA, environmental regulatory acts including the Superfund Act, and reporting and disclosure requirements by the SEC and the FASB. By gaining a better understanding of the state of environmental issues in the United States, firms may be proactive in reporting and disclosing environmental information in the future. Suggestion For Future Research There are several future research studies that should be undertaken in the area of financial reporting for environmental disclosures by publicly held corporations. Studies could be conducted to assess whether the stock market impounds information when a firm receives a General Notice Letter or a Special Notice Letter. Another study could examine the state of environmental disclosures by publicly-held corporations today and in the past. Research could also be conducted to compare reporting and disclosure of environmental issues in the United States with other countries around the world. Finally, an assessment could be made to determine firm motivations in regards to disclosure of environmental information to the public. 环境会计的问题、报告和披露摘要随着未来50年清理危险废物的费用将高达五千亿美元到一万亿美元，所以21世纪美国公司在环境披露和报告方面将进一步完善。这篇文章的写作目的主要是对美国证券交易委员和财务会计准则委员会的环境管理行为和执法措施，以及信息披露的要求和报告，环保署的历史和环境问题有个简单的了解前言部分21世纪对企业关注的焦点之一就是，将面临环境问题的披露和报告。早在1996年，美国环境保护局就确定了36000多个在美国存在的危险废物的工厂，并且这项工作继续进行着.1991年时，美国环保署就顾及所有已经查明了的存在危险废物的工厂的清理费用在为未来50年内将达到五千亿美元到一万亿美元。有趣的是，在美国一些最大的公共企业已经被环保署确定为责任方。1405种污染最严重的产业已经被视为不良土地放到污染名单。仅从这些超级场所上，美国环保署又确定了15000多家潜在的责任方。每清理一个不良地点需要3500万美元，而有些更麻烦的地点的清理费会高达10亿美元。到目前为止，仅有498个地方被完全清理干净。由于清理这些存在危险废物的场所需要很多的人力和物力，因此产生的一些实质性的影响可能是巨大的。因此市民想了解一些可能被追究责任的报告实体是否存在任何的环境问题。考虑到这一点，这篇文章的根本目的就是为了对美国的环境问题、环境署的发展历史、环境管理行为和执行情况，以及美国证券交易委员会和财务会计准则委员会的披露要求。环境污染的规模环境污染在美国是一个重要的问题。美国环保局在进行环境污染评估时，特别是对危险废物的污染评估，提出了一下声明：美国大约有2亿4千万居民，试着想象每个人身边堆一吨的危险废物，并且以每年增加一吨的速度增长。危险垃圾在美国每年以700000吨的速度增长，到了每年2.5吨的时候，就足以天不新奥尔良超级穹顶体育场1500次。虽然这些数额巨大的危险垃圾的大部分并不直接进入环境是事实。如果给与足够的经费，大部分的危险垃圾也坑带来巨大的再生能源，或使其化学性质稳定。在过去那些公共企业不了解危险垃圾对人类的影响。此外，在妥善处理有害物质方面他们缺乏足够的奖励，和强制性的要求。现在，这些企业也被迫接受由于他们缺乏远见而导致对过去的废物处理的责任。这种责任最终导致公共企业的信息的披露。环保署是确定那些过去的废物由谁处理的主要的联邦机构。环保署的发展史尼克松总统在任期间发布一个行政命令将环保署作为一个独立的机构，题为“1970年重组计划”。大部分联邦机构的建立都是由国会批准的，通过行政命令来建立一个机构是独一无二的，这也暗示了这个机构的设置缺乏立法的支持。美国环保署在确保国家的环境健康时，并不是一直都会得到国会的支持。由于早期微薄的预算，因此这个机构的总部早期是设在华盛顿特区的旧公寓内的。虽然在早期对这个机构的支持度很低，但在其成立20年以来，大家目睹了美国环保局对公共环境关注的渐进和稳步增长的过程。在20世纪70年代，就是环保局成立的第一个十年，其把注意力只要放在环境法的执行情况。在接下去的十年，即20世纪80年代，该机构将注意力转向执行法规所产生的问题上来。现在环境问题在美国的社会，经济和政治议程上有了前所未有的高度。此外，还有一些与环境问题直接有关的法律也已经通过。环保法规美国一些较为重大的环境联邦法规包括：清洁空气法案；清洁水法；联邦杀虫剂，杀真菌剂和灭鼠剂法案；危险品运输法；有毒物质法案；资源保护和恢复法；综合环境反应、补偿和责任法；超级修订和重新授权法案；危险废物的行动和应急法案；污染防治法案。以上的这些法案是联邦环保局和其他联邦机构要求责任方支付清理过去和现在的危险废物场址的清理费的依据。这些联邦法规的颁布，表明在1970年以前环境法规是有限的。自从环保局成立以后，市民的环保意识大幅度的提高，也直接导致大量的政府规章的出台。所有的这些环境行为对国家控制