环境会计相关信息披露

1、碍E埃nvironm傲ental a捌ccounti癌ng案I版ssues，r摆eportin把g and d鞍isclosu按re 霸Abstrac安t 唉With cl爸eanup c阿osts of百 hazard唉ous was跋tes exp背ected t唉o run a案s high 翱as $500绊 billio爱n to $1啊 trilli拜on over盎 the ne把xt 50 y背ears, 埃environ叭mental翱 report按ing and按 disclo伴sure by岸 firms 扒in the 肮United 班States 哎during

2、袄the 200暗0s wil跋l becom案e more 捌prolifi疤c. This班 manusc柏ript se跋eks to 笆provide俺 an und班erstand鞍ing of 熬the mag鞍nitude 扮of 邦environ白mental挨 issues埃, a bri阿ef hist挨ory of 安the EPA矮, discu八ssion o阿f 安environ板mental翱 regula把tory ac俺ts and 案enforce袄ment, a鞍nd repo懊rting a叭nd disc胺losure 半require板ments b

3、哎y the S班EC and 凹FASB. 疤Introdu爸ction爱One of 凹the big跋gest co芭ncerns 碍that fi瓣rms wil氨l face 把in the 熬2000s 半will be板 report翱ing and靶 disclo斑sing of哀 盎environ胺mental吧 issues啊. By ea阿rly 199吧6, the 白Environ哎mental邦 Protec八tion Ag拜ency (E佰PA) had芭 identi奥fied ov叭er 36,0埃00 haza伴rdous w肮aste si啊tes in

4、盎the 拌United 按States蔼, and t埃he iden案tificat挨ion of 爱additio板nal sit岸es cont隘inues. 半The EPA敖 estima傲tes tha暗t total绊 cleanu暗p costs笆 of all敖 identi绊fied ha埃zardous叭 waste 暗sites c般ould ru拔n as hi隘gh as $俺500 bil按lion to稗 $1 tri按llion o氨ver the哎 next 5盎0 years办 (Jense鞍n and U盎nger 19肮91). In疤teresti

5、埃ngly, s熬ome of 邦the lar八gest pu鞍blic co肮rporati搬ons in 蔼the 半United 邦States百 have b氨een ide佰ntified俺 by the绊 EPA as霸 respon绊sible p八arties.俺 般The 1,4爸05 most阿 seriou按sly con摆taminat唉ed prop版erties 靶have be爱en plac坝ed on t颁he Nati拌onal Pr爱ioritie柏s List 芭(NPL), 绊and are碍 common唉ly refe颁rred to瓣 as S

6、up敖erfund 翱sites. 半From th袄ese Sup懊erfund 八sites a癌lone, t肮he EPA 叭has ide摆ntified罢 more t爱han 15,霸000 Pot吧entiall搬y Respo肮nsible 背Parties板 (PRPs)疤 (Jense摆n and U坝nger 19傲91). (A袄 PRP is百 a pers耙on or e耙ntity d笆esignat白ed by t耙he EPA 坝as pote坝ntially爱 respon办sible f鞍or the 摆costs i罢ncurred背 in cle啊a

7、ning u癌p the s胺ite(s).班) The a笆verage 阿cost to巴 clean 敖up a Su扒perfund笆 site i柏s estim翱ated to哀 be $35靶 millio班n (Dixo按n, Drez搬ner, an矮d Hammi哀tt 1993哎); more瓣 troubl袄esome s疤ites co扳uld run拌 as hig扳h as $1吧 billio案n each 埃(Jensen罢 and Un爱ger 199安1). To 氨date, o袄nly abo靶ut 498 爸of thes班e Super八fund

8、si拜tes hav叭e been 澳cleaned霸 up tot埃ally. 佰In ligh佰t of ti皑me and 斑resourc哀e commi盎tment c袄osts to板 clean 霸up thes柏e hazar盎dous wa拜ste sit百es, the阿 potent拔ial imp俺act on 巴some sp扮ecific 唉entitie把s could靶 be eno暗rmous. 班Accordi澳ngly, i翱t is lo霸gical t疤hat the般 public按 would 盎want to袄 know a碍bout th白e

9、exist埃ence of艾 any 背environ摆mental氨 issues芭 for wh伴ich a r斑eportin肮g entit拌y might芭 be hel笆d respo颁nsible.啊 With t爱his in 疤mind, t拌he unde暗rlying 敖purpose扒 for th芭is manu斑script 版is to p佰rovide 搬an unde背rstandi八ng of t暗he magn鞍itude o隘f 疤environ碍mental颁 issues耙 in the百 United鞍 States蔼, a bri矮ef hist

10、搬ory of 按the 巴Environ哀mental翱 Protec艾tion Ag八ency, 暗environ熬mental隘 regula搬tory ac埃ts and 奥methods扮 of enf疤orcemen阿t by th昂e EPA, 佰and cur盎rent di癌sclosur颁e requi阿rements柏 for co捌rporati板ons by 柏the Sec哎urities啊 and Ex稗change 俺Commiss隘ion (SE邦C) and 跋the Fin昂ancial 艾Account伴ing吧 Standa稗rds Boa八rd (F

11、AS氨B). 罢Magnitu瓣de of E绊nvironm盎ental P拜ollutio拜n扳Environ笆mental哎 pollut敖ion in 靶the 巴United 安States懊 is a m熬ajor is爸sue. In柏 assess搬ing 瓣environ昂mental蔼 pollut奥ion, sp叭ecifica坝lly haz巴ardous 般wastes,隘 in thi百s count坝ry, the罢 EPA ma唉de the 捌followi凹ng stat把ements:百 胺There a胺re appr按oximate岸ly 240,吧

12、000, 0扳00 peop澳le in t把he 昂United 跋States艾. Try t吧o imagi扒ne a to安n of ha艾zardous啊 waste 埃piled n岸ext to 胺each of敖 them, 袄with an颁other t巴on adde坝d each 伴and eve佰ry year般. 胺Hazardo袄us wast霸e is pr俺oduced 啊in this翱 countr伴y at th佰e rate 拜of 700,澳000 ton哎s per d摆ay. Tha氨ts 250俺 millio罢n tons 罢per yea疤

13、r-enou霸gh to f办ill the摆 Superd巴ome in 瓣New Orl啊eans霸 1,500 癌times o盎ver. (版Environ癌mental靶 Protec百tion Ag版ency 19稗87, p. 袄14) 背Althoug俺h it is熬 true t百hat the邦 amount坝 of haz把ardous 背waste i版s large昂, most 叭of this鞍 waste 颁is not 半dumped 懊directl摆y into 罢the env唉ironmen哎t. Give拔n suffi把cient i办ncent

14、iv隘es, mos扒t of th扮e hazar拜dous wa罢ste pro艾duced p板robably翱 could 版be recy暗cled as扮 energy懊 source疤s or be傲 chemic跋ally st啊abilize拔d. 把However斑, in th案e past,把 public佰 corpor伴ations 拌were no哎t as kn碍owledge吧able ab百out the败 impact般 of the盎se haza阿rdous w稗astes o矮n human阿s as th霸ey are 昂now. Ad版ditio

15、na拜lly, th般ey lack氨ed suff哀icient 拜incenti昂ves to,般 and we拜re not 鞍require唉d to, p耙roperly袄 dispos岸e of ha吧zardous翱 materi捌als. To傲day, th斑ese com半panies 靶are bei叭ng forc靶ed to a隘ddress 版their l颁ack of 矮foresig笆ht by a肮cceptan佰ce of r皑esponsi班bility 翱and, th办erefore半, liabi蔼lity fo爱r past 稗wastes.阿

16、This l八iabilit板y ultim吧ately l巴eads to拜 disclo柏sure by跋 public靶 corpor绊ations.板 The EP盎A is th吧e princ俺ipal fe搬deral a挨gency r岸esponsi扳ble for扮 identi阿fying t邦he comp皑anies t肮o be he鞍ld resp凹onsible盎 for th绊ese pas稗t waste安s. 捌History绊 of the扮 Enviro摆nmental败 Protec巴tion Ag爸ency般Preside爱nt Rich般ard

17、M. 伴Nixon c暗reated 懊the 懊Environ靶mental盎 Protec绊tion Ag耙ency (E坝PA) as 懊an inde昂pendent隘 agency挨 of the邦 扒United 蔼States疤 govern班ment by按 an Exe案cutive 扮Order e拜ntitled鞍 Reorg碍anizati哎on Plan拌 3 of 1芭970. W埃hile mo袄st fede瓣ral age百ncies h挨ave bee巴n creat伴ed by C坝ongress奥, the c爱reation敖 of an 柏agenc

18、y 岸by exec稗utive o案rder wa岸s uniqu耙e and i般mplied 盎lack of罢 legisl拜ative s敖upport.氨 办Designe岸d to en盎sure th翱e prote耙ction o百f natio肮nal 扒environ安mental蔼 health阿, the E坝PA has 拌not alw岸ays rec爸eived m碍eaningf案ul supp阿ort fro疤m Congr袄ess. Ea蔼rly bud哎gets we般re meag瓣er, and百 the ag耙encys 案main he矮adqu

19、art哎ers in 拜Washing案ton, D.岸C. was 百located熬 in an 版old con霸dominiu瓣m。 (哎once班 owned 扮by Vice埃-Presid扒ent Spi袄ro Agne吧w, who 奥had tro爸uble se岸lling i拜t throu案gh regu昂lar rea搬l estat八e chann暗els). 耙Althoug盎h it re坝ceived 挨minimal跋 suppor瓣t origi爱nally, 鞍since i败ts crea百tion tw般o decad俺es ago,阿 the EP

20、败A has w岸itnesse挨d a gra百dual an艾d stead鞍y growt艾h in pu懊blic co罢ncern f佰or the 摆environ袄ment. D安uring t斑he 1970芭s, in i版ts firs叭t decad啊e of ex拜istence凹, the E阿PA focu按sed its癌 attent扮ion pri耙marily 罢on the 版impleme盎ntation柏 of maj叭or 哎environ摆mental挨 legisl昂ation e凹nacted 案by Cong巴ress. D耙uring t般

21、he next翱 decade爸, the 1矮980s, t版he agen懊cy bega笆n to tu爸rn its 按attenti搬on towa吧rd the 扮problem暗 of enf稗orcing 巴its man岸y statu盎tes. To皑day, 拔environ靶mental盎 concer背ns have拔 never 扳been hi拔gher in疤 the co隘untrys暗 social哀, econo捌mic, an靶d polit绊ical ag拜endas (败Vincoli斑 1993).盎 In add耙ition, 敖there h凹

22、ave bee爸n sever扒al laws绊 passed霸 that a芭re dire爱ctly co岸ncerned挨 with 俺environ邦mental蔼 issues斑. 矮Environ扳mental 耙Regulat盎ory Act癌s唉Some of扮 the mo哎re sign俺ificant暗 巴environ霸mental耙 federa柏l regul阿ations 搬in the 矮United 案States 斑include颁: 蔼Clean A跋ir Act 阿(CAA) -矮 1963 (捌revised半 and am肮ended i芭n 196

23、7,叭 1970, 拌1972, 1凹977, an鞍d 1990)拜; Clean版 Water 跋Act (CW俺A) - 19伴72 (ame扮nded in案 1977 a安nd 1987拔); Fede坝ral Ins肮ecticid佰e, Fung扳icide a扮nd Rode唉nticide笆 Act (F皑IFRA) -肮 1949 (翱amended扒 in 197盎2 and 1氨978); H蔼azardou翱s Mater伴ial Tra斑nsporta伴tion Ac扮t (HMTA胺) - 197芭5; Toxi白c Subst八ances A啊ct (TSC翱A

24、) - 19疤76; Res柏ource C安onserva癌tion an矮d Recov吧ery Act斑 (RCRA)矮 - 1976唉 (amend俺ed in 1邦980 and半 1984);伴 Compre袄hensive般 跋Environ伴mental鞍 Respon澳se, Com敖pensati跋on and 肮Liabili拔ty Act 搬(CERCLA盎) (Supe挨rfund) 袄- 1980;皑 Superf凹und Ame坝ndments板 and Re胺authori爸zation 佰Act (SA胺RA) - 1伴986 (am蔼ended 1啊991)

25、; H叭azardou扳s Waste般 Operat伴ions an吧d Emerg白ency Re鞍sponse 暗(HAZWOP扳ER) - 1昂990; Po背llution坝 Preven皑tion Ac巴t (PPA)扳 - 1990白. 澳Each of罢 these 皑federal坝 acts g癌ives th暗e EPA a扮nd othe安r feder皑al agen拜cies th啊e abili奥ty to e百nforce 吧cleanup摆 of aba摆ndoned 白and exi傲sting h矮azardou安s waste耙 sites 班and t

26、o 扒impose 矮liabili矮ty on r懊esponsi俺ble par斑ties to白 pay fo版r the c埃leanup.靶 矮As the 奥enactme胺nt date摆s of th叭ese fed昂eral ac罢ts indi扳cate, p蔼rior to爱 1970 皑environ扮mental拌 regula颁tion wa捌s limit爱ed. Sin拜ce the 靶creatio袄n of th拌e EPA, 碍there h疤as been稗 a subs板tantial败 increa傲se in 般environ哀mental蔼 aw

27、aren般ess by 拜the pub胺lic tha坝t has l伴ed dire袄ctly to懊 a larg绊e numbe稗r of go邦vernmen唉tal reg敖ulation搬s. Each挨 of the扒se 昂environ邦mental扮 acts h捌as cont稗ributed岸 direct跋ly to o坝ur coun爱trys o八verall 吧intent 八to cont板rol haz按ardous 叭wastes.捌 One of翱 the mo阿st sign坝ificant碍 acts r罢elated 奥to 版environ班m

28、ental昂 issues暗 is the澳 Superf凹und Act按 (CERCL巴A). 败Financi版al Repo扮rting a拌nd Disc跋losure HYPERLINK /ehost/detail?vid=18&hid=13&sid=5ff02ac3-d769-4b6b-b890-6a3d41896e91%40sessionmgr103&bdata=JmFtcDtsYW5nPXpoLWNuJnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#toc#toc l toc#toc o Financial Reporting and Disclosure 拜This

29、 ma捌nuscrip颁t will 癌now rev捌iew dis碍closure绊 requir懊ements 班of the 颁Securit啊ies and搬 Exchan扮ge Comm哀ission 盎and the斑 Financ版ial 鞍Account癌ing皑 Standa蔼rds Boa八rd. The唉 simila靶rities 昂and dif鞍ference拜s of th啊ese req霸uiremen爱ts and 懊how the哀y inter哀face wi凹th EPA 板require隘ments i巴s empha癌sized. 胺These t

30、板opics c埃ontribu案te The 柏SEC dis碍closure巴 requir靶ements 芭for 叭environ柏mental蔼 liabil霸ities h安ave evo隘lved di耙fferent捌ly from坝 those 罢of the 奥Financi安al 拜Account阿ing啊 Standa摆rds Boa叭rd (FAS啊B). The拔 SEC ma傲ndates 敖that co跋rporati埃ons fil伴e a rep笆ort if 傲polluti胺on expe摆nditure跋s have 隘a mater佰ial eff

31、阿ect on 八their e绊arnings斑. SEC r阿egulati熬on S-K 爸require澳s that 霸certain扒 types 柏of 芭environ安mental捌 inform坝ation b柏e discl碍osed: 蔼The mat罢erial e暗ffects 蔼that co鞍mplianc埃e with 案federal罢, state邦, and l耙ocal 皑environ板mental袄 laws m袄ay have埃 upon c暗apital 坝expendi拜tures, 埃earning疤s, and 坝competi敖tive

32、 po耙sition.昂Litigat袄ion pen奥ding or啊 known 疤to be c背ontempl拜ated by跋 a gove佰rnment 安authori百ty purs把uant to挨 federa安l, stat敖e, and 跋local 唉environ暗mental芭 regula斑tions.颁 拜Any oth俺er 哀environ败mental瓣 inform隘ation o碍f which哀 a prud绊ent inv岸estor o暗ught to摆 be inf柏ormed. 捌(Willia捌ms and 稗Phillip皑s 1994

33、,疤 p. 31)蔼 邦For sus爸tainabl叭e progr俺ess of 拔a compa啊ny, con昂structi靶ve info巴rmation敖 disclo扮sure is芭 requir疤ed as t俺he soci安al摆 鞍respons暗ibility袄 of the巴 compan懊y, part拜icularl蔼y for t般he info靶rmation吧 that h跋as impo百rtant s氨ocial m拌eaning.霸 At the案 袄same ti熬me, suc背h an ap跋proach 般establi巴shes th袄e

34、 socia坝l evalu埃ation o摆f the c霸ompany.霸 High e唉xpectat暗ions ar岸e班 扒imposed皑 on env俺ironmen绊tal acc哎ounting胺 as one俺 of the邦 enviro暗nmental盎 inform斑ation s绊ystems 霸involve凹d with昂 氨compani啊es and 绊introdu百ction o搬f the s埃ystem i柏n as ma搬ny comp奥anies a安s possi澳ble and般 accumu罢lation 败of翱 隘announc翱eme

35、nts 扒are str俺ongly r哎equeste八d.扒This gu鞍ideline把 clarif斑ies the百 signif皑icance 唉of envi扮ronment胺al acco搬unting 耙in Chap翱ter 1, 岸indicat邦es埃 敖environ办mental 埃costs, 安environ肮mental 熬effects板, and e懊conomic拜al effe颁cts ass肮ociated白 with e扳nvironm霸ental搬 斑measure埃s in Ch懊apters 般2 and 3板 as the瓣 elemen

36、耙ts that爸 form t拔he envi斑ronment澳al acco凹unting 熬system.半 The拔 翱guideli把ne has 凹discuss案ed the 傲concept瓣 of mea搬suring 败each el敖ement. 蔼Compani敖es try 矮to inst按all the芭 案environ版mental 笆account俺ing sys霸tem and败 use th氨e syste稗ms for 版various昂 cases 昂using t拜he info扮rmation颁.拔Enterpr凹ises us罢ing the板

37、ir data八bases, 哎which a败re deve版loped u矮sing an暗 enviro罢nmental扒 accoun摆ting sy唉stem, c柏an背 跋use the哎m for t昂heir in版ternal 百environ靶mental 案managem凹ent or 哀adminis爱tration八 manage半ment an伴d for a拜nnounci昂ng搬 颁the imp办lementa昂tion st巴atus of靶 enviro般nmental啊 conser叭vation 翱externa皑lly as 熬a part 俺of

38、 info碍rmation哎 disclo跋sure. I跋n拜 拜the int笆ernal u绊se, sin袄ce the 挨indepen巴dence a扮nd uniq拌ueness 岸of the 百company八 can be巴 demons矮trated,绊 this g吧uidelin叭e搬 八simply 肮indicat罢es the 芭basic c败oncepts蔼 descri埃bed in 摆Chapter瓣s 1 to 胺3.扳When di矮sclosin绊g infor懊mation 唉externa扒lly, co巴mpanies鞍 must c埃ons

39、ider澳 integr袄ity and安 common跋ality t肮hat ena摆ble败 八the sys傲tem to 俺be a so昂cial sy柏stem fo搬r distr肮ibution般 of cor佰rect in柏formati捌on to u坝sers. W跋hile re哎commend跋ing办 八positiv胺e annou败ncement案 of env颁ironmen瓣tal acc按ounting背 inform捌ation, 奥this gu疤ideline懊 also d般iscusse岸s as re败quired背 蔼the con拜ce

40、pt fo拜r the f跋ramewor坝k of en搬vironme蔼ntal ac跋countin奥g requi扳red for熬 announ昂cing in捌formati挨on asso把ciated跋 版with su俺mmarize叭d envir凹onmenta肮l accou颁nting, 吧concept肮 regard啊ing the版 framew矮ork of 扳environ袄mental 佰account爸ing,癌 阿the ite半ms to b爸e measu氨red and坝 the co捌ncept. 隘This gu挨ideline坝 also

41、a唉ssumes 碍users o熬f envir俺onmenta暗l repor板ts,把 按that is办, consu爱mers, i吧nvestor翱s, and 稗local r半esident班s as th绊e main 傲receive哎rs of e扳nvironm颁ental a拜ccounti霸ng跋 鞍informa把tion.败When an颁 enviro绊nmental哎 accoun邦ting sy案stem is邦 summar百ized ba俺sed on 盎the con吧cept th斑at has 笆been de肮scribed耙 拔in this

42、熬 guidel案ine, th懊e forma矮ts show按n below扳 can be班 used f碍or anno八uncing 奥environ蔼mental 佰account把ing耙 阿informa俺tion. O傲f cours岸e, the 霸idea is伴 to use百 the me搬thod th艾at can 坝most ap碍propria罢tely ex昂press i笆ndividu疤al奥 鞍informa皑tion an般d the m佰ethod i半s not r蔼estrict按ed. Thi傲s guide八line su傲ggests 拜

43、three a爸nnounce板ment fo矮rmats t半o矮 熬enable 疤selecti颁on of a哎 format安 accord摆ing to 傲the pol捌icy for肮 summar昂izing e傲nvironm爸ental a八ccounti稗ng info按rmation拔 般and the傲 degree疤 of imp哎lementa版tion pr背ogress.隘 The co版ntents 案announc坝ed by e背nvironm唉ental a袄ccounti埃ng and 矮the疤 昂descrip白tions i澳n envir拔

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57、 the p版ublic. 板环境会计的问题邦、报告和披露摘要耙随着未来50年拌清理危险废物的吧费用将高达五千爱亿美元到一万亿邦美元，所以21熬世纪美国公司在哎环境披露和报告埃方面将进一步完般善。这篇文章的岸写作目的主要是安对美国证券交易拌委员和财务会计班准则委员会的环俺境管理行为和执绊法措施，以及信吧息披露的要求和隘报告，环保署的捌历史和环境问题吧有个简单的了解前言部分背21世纪对企业耙关注的焦点之一败就是，将面临环耙境问题的披露和安报告。早在19搬96年，美国环阿境保护局就确定昂了36000多挨个在美国存在的碍危险废物的工厂邦，并且这项工作按继续进行着.1捌991年时，美哎国环保署就顾及耙

58、所有已经查明了颁的存在危险废物般的工厂的清理费阿用在为未来50扮年内将达到五千罢亿美元到一万亿扒美元。有趣的是笆，在美国一些最邦大的公共企业已安经被环保署确定凹为责任方。绊1405种污染氨最严重的产业已唉经被视为不良土般地放到污染名单柏。仅从这些超级半场所上，美国环笆保署又确定了1霸5000多家潜耙在的责任方。每奥清理一个不良地隘点需要3500扒万美元，而有些坝更麻烦的地点的奥清理费会高达1捌0亿美元。到目懊前为止，仅有4懊98个地方被完阿全清理干净。艾由于清理这些存安在危险废物的场傲所需要很多的人疤力和物力，因此芭产生的一些实质俺性的影响可能是芭巨大的。因此市八民想了解一些可敖能被追究责任的

59、芭报告实体是否存摆在任何的环境问袄题。考虑到这一皑点，这篇文章的叭根本目的就是为颁了对美国的环境半问题、环境署的氨发展历史、环境唉管理行为和执行稗情况，以及美国熬证券交易委员会氨和财务会计准则靶委员会的披露要哎求。环境污染的规模扳环境污染在美国巴是一个重要的问霸题。美国环保局靶在进行环境污染把评估时，特别是按对危险废物的污袄染评估，提出了碍一下声明：美国隘大约有2亿4千拌万居民，试着想阿象每个人身边堆哀一吨的危险废物邦，并且以每年增稗加一吨的速度增扒长。危险垃圾在暗美国每年以70敖0000吨的速霸度增长，到了每霸年2.5吨的时稗候，就足以天不阿新奥尔良超级穹柏顶体育场150罢0次。虽然这些阿数

60、额巨大的危险佰垃圾的大部分并爱不直接进入环境把是事实。如果给皑与足够的经费，坝大部分的危险垃盎圾也坑带来巨大耙的再生能源，或哎使其化学性质稳版定。伴在过去那些公共案企业不了解危险癌垃圾对人类的影拔响。此外，在妥班善处理有害物质败方面他们缺乏足盎够的奖励，和强拜制性的要求。现唉在，这些企业也翱被迫接受由于他凹们缺乏远见而导盎致对过去的废物按处理的责任。这般种责任最终导致拔公共企业的信息佰的披露。环保署碍是确定那些过去昂的废物由谁处理盎的主要的联邦机芭构。环保署的发展史扒尼克松总统在任盎期间发布一个行澳政命令将环保署巴作为一个独立的板机构，题为皑“敖1970年重组艾计划疤”熬。大部分联邦机柏构的建