Accounting for small business environmental issues. Part one: The breadth of environmental issues

Environmental laws at the federal, state and local level establish responsibility for handling hazardous wastes and clean up of contaminated sites. These laws create financial exposure for public accounting clients in the form of capital and operating expenditures to comply with environmental laws and regulations, tort liability for personal injury or property damage and punitive damages for noncompliance. Various EPA settlements are reviewed to demonstrate the breadth of environmental issues and the role of the public accounting firm as a business advisor is considered.