ABSTRACT
In June 1995, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released a document entitled, “An introduction to environmental accounting [EA] as a business management tool: Key concepts and terms” (EPA 742-R-95-001). Produced as part of EPA’s Environmental Accounting Project, the document’s intent was to serve as a “primer” on the environmental accounting activities at several companies in North America. The document was designed to aid stakeholders in at least two ways: “(1) to orient readers to key concepts often referred to as environmental accounting, and (2) to explain how the terms that refer to environmental accounting are currently being used, so that confusion about the terms does not impede progress in understanding and applying core concepts.” 1 The EPA makes the point that “the term environmental accounting has many meanings and uses” 2 and goes on to discuss national income accounting and EA as a means of informing internal business decisions.
