2023年-环境会计信息披露.docx

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1、Environmental accounting Issues, reporting and disclosureAbstractWith 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 2000*s will become more prolific. Thi

2、s 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

3、 in the 2000*s 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

4、 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 contamina

5、ted 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

6、 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

7、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

8、of 异同处以及他们如何符合美国环保署的要求是重要的。这个主题有助于对这个国 家的公开的环境报告的了解。美国证券交易委员会对环境负债的披露要求不同于 美国财务会计准则委员会的要求。美国证券交易委员会规定，企业要对他们的收 入有实质性影响的污染进行披露报告。美国证券交易委员会要求进行环境信息披 露的类型：对资本的收入、支出以及企业的竞争地位有影响的材料要进行披露; 根据联邦法规和地方法规要求披露的；谨慎性投资者应该知情的其他任何环境信 息。对于一个要持续发展的公司，建设性的信息披露就要求有社会责任的公司, 特别是信息方面要具有重要的社会意义。同时，这种方法也建立了公司的社会评 价。对环境会计的高

9、期望，作为一个环境信息系统参与公司并且在尽可能多的公 司采用该系统，公告要求有很多的积累。环境会计在第一章明确了这一方针的意义，在第二章和第三章表明了环境成 本，环境影响，以及与环境措施相关的经济影响，这些形成了环境会计制度的基 本要素。该方针已经讨论了衡量每个要素的概念。公司尝试实行环境会计制度, 并利用该系统对各种情况下使用资料信息。企业可以利用发达国家正在使用的环境会计系统数据库来进行内部环境管 理、行政管理以及公布外部的环境保护的执行情况来作为信息披露的一部分。由 于公司的独立性和独特性可以被证明，在准则的第一章到第三章简单的介绍了在 内部使用的基本概念。当企业进行对外信息披露的时候，

10、必须考虑其完整性和共性，使该系统可以 作为能给用户提供正确信息的一种社会系统。同时建议积极公布环境会计信息, 这个准则同时也讨论与环境会计概念相关的信息时要求的框架内的环境会计的 内容，关于环境会计框架的概念，以及这些项目和内容将被计量。这一准则也假 定了环境报告的使用者，把消费者，投资者和当地居民作为环境会计信息的主要 接收者。当一个环境会计系统的描述以准则描述的内容为基础进行描述时，格式如下 所示可被用于报告环境会计信息。当然，这种方法的使用必须能最恰当的表达个 人的信息以及这种方法是没有限制的。这个准则提出三种报告格式，企业就可以 根据环境会计信息概述和执行进展的程度来选择其中一种报告格

11、式。环境会计报 告的内容以及在环境报告中描述的内容必须根据企业适用的环境会计框架适当 的挂钩。（1）环境成本导向型：公告格式A这种格式是在环境成本信息公布的基础上编写的。他在描述环保措施的内容 和影响方面是可取的，就像是作为环境报告里面的补充信息，包括细节。 报告格式A-2在一些更具体的类别里也作为附加的格式来报告信息。（2）环境效应相关型：公告格式B这种格式主要是为了澄清企业采取环保措施所产生的成本以及与环境成本 相关的环境影响。影响可以适当量化，影响必须与环境报告说明紧密联系，在实 际上支持信息。（3）综合效应相关型：公告格式C这种格式适用于澄清与环保效应、环保措施、以及综合效应测量有联系

12、的经 济效应的环境相关成本。虽然在现有的条件下取得丰富的信息是可能的，自从不 同单位的数字的价值可以简单的列示则采取适当的措施对于介绍方法是必要的。这一准则提供了如上面所概述的简单的公告格式的例子。公布更详细的环境 核算是要根据进行信息披露的企业的态度的。经济影响在大范围内和环境成本有 关，仅仅是以可信度为基础的计算出来的经济结果是没有限制的。在这种情况下， 需要强制考虑与环境报告中的环境性能指数联系的环保措施的成本影响。总结现在，企业在遇到环境问题的同时寻找准则，将信息披露和环境报告给公示 给大家。这篇文章主要写的就是对美国财务会计准则委员会和证券交易委员会所 要求的报告和信息披露，以及环境

13、污染问题、环保署的执法行为和发展历史有基 本的了解。对今后研究的若干建议对于公司环境披露的财政报告的进一步研究可以从以下几个方面进行。当公 司收到大会通知信或特别通知信，评估该股票市场的可行性方面可以进一步研究。 可以对公开披露的公司的过去和现在的环境状况进行研究。可以对美国与其他国 家的环境问题的报告和披露的比较作进一步研究。最后，可以通过评估来确定环 境信息披露方面的动机。出处：Paul D.Hutchison,环境会计的问题、报告和披露，商业应用研究，第41 卷(4), 2000：1-10.any environmental issues for which a reporting en

14、tity 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

15、 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 pollutio

16、n, specifically hazardous wastes, in this country, the EPA made the following statements:There are approximately 240, 0009 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 th

17、is 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 t

18、he 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. Additio

19、nally, 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 dis

20、closure 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

21、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 nation

22、al 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 o (once owned by Vice-President Spiro Agnew, who had trouble selling it through regular real e

23、state 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 implementat

24、ion 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 country*s social, economic, and political agendas (Vinc

25、oli 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, 1

26、972, 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

27、 (RCRA) - 1976 (amended in 1980 and 1984); Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA) (Superfund) - 1980; SuperfundAmendments and Reauthorization Act (SARA) - 1986 (amended 1991); HazardousWaste Operations and Emergency Response (HAZWOPER) - 1990; PollutionPreventi

28、on 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

29、 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 ove

30、rall intent to control hazardous wastes. One of the most significant acts related to environmental issues is the Superfund Act (CERCLA).Financial Reporting and DisclosureThis manuscript will now review disclosure requirements of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Financial Accounting Sta

31、ndards 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

32、). 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

33、 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. (William

34、s 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 t

35、he 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 signific

36、ance 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 e

37、ach 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 administr

38、ation 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 C

39、hapters 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 als

40、o 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 assume

41、s 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

42、 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 s

43、ummarizing 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.(

44、1) Environmental cost oriented type: Announcement format AThis 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 applicab

45、le 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 environmen

46、tal 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 correl

47、ation 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 abund

48、ant 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 environm

49、ent 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 envir