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Webinar: Practical Business Strategies for Dealing with the New FASB Standards for Reporting Environmental Liabilities
[May 31, 2006 - May 31, 2006]
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YOUR OFFICE OR CONFERENCE ROOM
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Acquire the competitive edge as you learn from three national experts experienced in financial reporting of environmental liabilities, asset management/utilization systems, and traditional engineering cost estimating for environmental liabilities and decommissioning of facilities. Our panel includes C. Gregory Rogers, President and founder of Advanced Environmental Dimensions, LLC, and author of “Financial Reporting of Environmental Liabilities and Risks after Sarbanes-Oxley,” Matt Gross, President of Re-Logistics, Inc. formerly with FMC Corporation, Fred Taylor, Associate, Conestoga-Rovers & Associates, Donna Sandidge, Practice Leader for Corporate Risks and Liabilities, Marsh Environmental Practice and Dean Jeffery Telego, Risk Management Technologies, Inc. as moderator.
Click here for More Information on Greg Roger's Book.
Practical Business Strategies for FASB will cover the financial reporting of environmental liabilities and risks according to Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) Interpretation No. 47 on accounting for conditional asset retirement obligations (CAROs), otherwise known as FIN 47, which became effective December 15, 2005. FIN 47 requires the recognition of liabilities for legal obligations associated with the future retirement of property, plant, and equipment.
Recent corporate filings indicate that FIN 47 is having a material impact on a wide range of industries. Practical Business Strategies for FASB will:
- Provide guidance to facility management and the chief financial officer on issues of financial reporting of environmental liabilities and asset management systems,
- Examine the financial reporting of environmental liabilities and risks after FIN 47,
- Cover strategies to deal with and deploy idle or under utilized assets, called “Lazy Assets®”, that have declined in value due to environmental impairment, age, obsolescence, degradation and
- Focus on the engineering cost estimates for environmental liabilities, assigning probabilities to cost elements, and performing the decommissioning of facilities while addressing the trade offs of maintenance costs versus retirement costs and the issues of liability buyout costs against other real costs.
FIN 47 vastly expands the universe of environmental obligations to be assessed for financial reporting purposes, accelerates the accrual of liabilities on corporate balance sheets, and increases the amount of reported cost estimates. The two key components to this requirement are first, determining if there is an existing legal obligation and second, determining the fair value of that liability. FIN 47 clarifies that the legal obligations associated with the future retirement of long-lived assets must be recognized as soon as reasonable estimates can be made of fair value, regardless of the uncertainty surrounding when and how the obligation will be settled. A company cannot wait until the property is sold or the hazardous materials are removed to incorporate this liability. The liability, although it can be deferred, must still be accounted for.
Unresolved Issues with FIN 47
FIN 47 tightens the standards for the accrual and disclosure of environmental obligations. In demystifying FIN 47, there are several key questions that our expert panel will address:
- How are environmental Asset Retirement Obligations distinguished from environmental remediation liabilities? Does FIN 47 require a change in accounting method for a site undergoing a RCRA closure if it has been accounted for under SOP 96-1?
- How will companies actually estimate the fair value of their Conditional Asset Retirement Obligations (CAROs) in light of the heightened scrutiny of financial statements prevalent today?
- Who will estimate environmental cleanup costs, assess quotes for guaranteed fixed priced cleanups and liability transfers or forecast asset retirement based on industry practice?
- Does FAS 143 apply to all types of equipment subject to special disposal requirements under environmental laws?
About Our Speakers
Gregory Rogers is President and founder of Advanced Environmental Dimensions, LLC, a management consulting and education firm specializing in environmental financial reporting and related business strategies. He is also "of counsel" with a Dallas law firm focusing on environmental legal matters, where he advises public and non-public companies on the purchase, sale, financing, and redevelopment of contaminated real estate. Greg is a non-practicing CPA and former financial auditor with Arthur Andersen & Co. He was one of 30 national experts who participated in the recent U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) investigation and report to Congress on Environmental Disclosures (July 2004). He is on the editorial board for Brownfield News and is the author of “Financial Reporting of Environmental Liabilities and Risks after Sarbanes-Oxley”.
Matt Gross is President of Re-Logistics, Inc., the LAZY ASSETS® Company. Re-Logistics is a woman-owned Capital Asset Management (CAM) and Investment Recovery (IR) company doing business since 1994. Re-Logistics develops, implements and manages programs to optimize Capital Asset Utilization for a diverse complement of owners. The company’s core experience is in Manufacturing, Government and Healthcare. Its sector competencies include energy, health care, electronics, transportation, chemicals, agricultural and industrial equipment. From 1983 to 1993 Matt was Chief Corporate Environmental, Health and Safety (EHS) Executive for FMC Corporation, a diversified manufacturer of chemicals, machinery and defense equipment, with 26,000 employees at 130 worldwide locations. Matt cost effectively directed the company effort to move from a reactive, firefighting mode --so-called “stage 1”-- to a sophisticated manager of EHS risks “stage 3” and a leader in the eyes of employees, customers, neighbors and shareholders
Fred Taylor is a professional chemical/environmental engineer (licensed in Ontario), a licensed environmental professional in Connecticut, a licensed site professional in Massachusetts, and licensed remediation specialist in West Virginia. Fred is an Associate of CRA and has been the Project Manager and a Senior Engineer for a wide variety of environmental and consulting engineering projects throughout North America. His projects include: multi media environmental investigations; regulatory compliance and permitting; Superfund and RCRA Site closure, property development, feasibility studies; engineering analyses; risk assessments; engineering design; construction management; operation & maintenance; long term monitoring; litigation support, and due diligence. His clients are primarily private sector clients, law firms, and potentially responsible party groups and his project types include a diverse range of environmental issues, including for example, petroleum hydrocarbon; chlorinated solvents; landfill closure and remediation; engineered wetlands; hazardous waste management systems; and decommissioning and demolition of industrial facilities.
Donna Sandidge is a recognized international expert in environmental risk management and insurance with over 28 years in the industry. She is a Managing Director and is the Practice Leader for Corporate Risks and Liabilities for Marsh’s Environmental Practice. Her practice focuses on liability management consulting and innovative insurance and financial solutions for corporate clients dealing with environmental liabilities, particularly those facing increased financial reporting risks under Sarbanes Oxley and, particularly FIN 47. She is responsible for Marsh’s strategy, design, implementation and coordination of financial risk solutions, including blended risk insurance programs and alternative risk solutions in the environmental area, both in the U.S. and internationally. Donna has extensive experience in risk financing of environmental liabilities, as well as risk profiling, risk analysis, environmental risk quantification and the redevelopment of environmentally challenged properties.
Dean Jeffery Telego is President of Risk Management Technologies (RTM) and RTM Communications, Inc. Jeff has been in the environmental risk management field since 1978. Risk Management Technologies, Inc. performs expert environmental risk management consulting for industrial/ manufacturing clients and financial services companies in the areas of business and real estate transactions, government relations, regulatory and policy analysis, strategic market planning, expert testimony, environmental insurance consulting and risk-based cleanups at industrial/ brownfield sites. RTM also performs the overall regulatory interface and issues management for clients disposing of contaminated real property. For RTM Communications, Inc., Jeff creates and chairs national conferences and Webinars on environmental finance and risk management topics each year.
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