Notice2024-30058
Initial Guidance for Environmental-Economic Accounting Classifications for Economic Statistics-Request for Comments on Future Natural Capital Accounting Statistical Classifications
Primary source
Metadata and text below are from the Federal Register, a public-domain U.S. government work. Always verify the official published version before relying on it for any legal matter.
Published
December 20, 2024
Issuing agencies
Management and Budget Office
Abstract
The Office of Management and Budget (OMB), on behalf of the Environmental-Economic Accounting Classification Interagency Technical Working Group (ITWG), seeks public comments on an Interim Report which contains initial draft statistical classification guidance for environmental-economic accounting classifications. Details about the Interim Report, its contents, and specific questions of interest for public comment are available in the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section below.
Full Text
<html>
<head>
<title>Federal Register, Volume 89 Issue 245 (Friday, December 20, 2024)</title>
</head>
<body><pre>
[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 245 (Friday, December 20, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 104226-104229]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2024-30058]
=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT AND BUDGET
Initial Guidance for Environmental-Economic Accounting
Classifications for Economic Statistics--Request for Comments on Future
Natural Capital Accounting Statistical Classifications
AGENCY: Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Office of
Management and Budget, Executive Office of the President.
ACTION: Notice of solicitation of comments on a preliminary draft of
new statistical classification guidance for environmental-economic
statistics.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: The Office of Management and Budget (OMB), on behalf of the
Environmental-Economic Accounting Classification Interagency Technical
Working Group (ITWG), seeks public comments on an Interim Report which
contains initial draft statistical classification guidance for
[[Page 104227]]
environmental-economic accounting classifications. Details about the
Interim Report, its contents, and specific questions of interest for
public comment are available in the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section
below.
DATES: To ensure consideration of comments on this notice, they must be
received no later than February 18, 2025. Because of delays in the
receipt of regular mail related to security screening, respondents are
encouraged to send comments electronically (see ADDRESSES section,
below).
ADDRESSES: Submit comments through <a href="http://www.regulations.gov">www.regulations.gov</a>, a Federal E-
Government website that allows the public to find, review, and submit
comments on documents that agencies have published in the Federal
Register and that are open for comment. Enter ``OMB-2024-0011'' (in
quotes) in the Comment or Submission search box, click Go and follow
the instructions for submitting comments. Comments received by the date
specified above will be included as part of the official record. OMB
and the ITWG will respond to comments by issue and theme, and not to
individual submissions. Please include the Docket ID (OMB-2024-0011)
and the phrase ``Environmental-Economic Accounting Classifications
Guidance'' at the beginning of your comments. Please also indicate
which questions in the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION of this notice are
addressed in your comments.
Privacy Act Statement: OMB is issuing this request for comments
pursuant to its authority to oversee the Federal statistical system
under 44 U.S.C. 3504(e). Submission of comments in response to this
notice is voluntary. Information you provide will be used to inform
sound decision making regarding potential future OMB statistical
classifications. Please note that all submissions received in response
to this notice may be posted on <a href="http://www.regulations.gov">www.regulations.gov</a> or otherwise
released in their entirety, including any personal and business
confidential information provided. Do not include in your submissions
any copyrighted material; information of a confidential nature, such as
personal or proprietary information; or any information you would not
like to be made publicly available. The OMB System of Records Notice,
OMB Public Input System of Records, OMB/INPUT/01, 88 FR 20913
(<a href="http://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2023/04/07/2023-07452/privacy-act-of-1974-systemof-records">www.federalregister.gov/documents/2023/04/07/2023-07452/privacy-act-of-1974-systemof-records</a>), includes a list of routine uses associated
with the collection of this information.
Electronic Availability: Federal Register notices are available
electronically at <a href="http://www.federalregister.gov/">http://www.federalregister.gov/</a>.
For general inquiries email: <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#8eddfaeffae7fdfae7edefe2d1cae7fcebedfae7f8ebfdcee1e3eca0ebe1fea0e9e1f8"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="26755247524f55524f45474a79624f544345524f50435566494b440843495608414950">[email protected]</span></a>.
Please note: Communication through this email will not be included in
the record for OMB-2024-0011. Comments should be submitted through
<a href="http://www.regulations.gov">www.regulations.gov</a>.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Pursuant to its authority under 44 U.S.C.
3504(e), the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) announces the start
of the classification development process for new statistical
classification guidance for environmental-economic statistics. OMB, on
behalf of its Environmental-Economic Accounting Classification
Interagency Technical Working Group (ITWG), seeks public comment on an
Interim Draft report which contains an initial draft of statistical
classification guidance, as well as on the specific topics presented in
Section IV of this Federal Register Notice (FRN). This is the first of
multiple FRNs requesting public comment in the process leading up to
OMB publishing new statistical classification guidance for
environmental-economic statistics. OMB anticipates issuing final
guidance in 2028.
I. Background on National Economic Accounts
National economic accounts were created to organize the broad
concept of an economy in a useful way, beyond just an understanding of
the size of its many components, to also understand their systematic
interdependencies. The U.S. National Income and Product Accounts (NIPA)
are used to compute Gross Domestic Product (GDP), calculate a national
balance sheet, and help conduct long-term forecasting. Existing
national economic accounts data for the United States, however, do not
include environmental data, leaving an incomplete view of U.S. assets
and economic dependencies on natural assets.\1\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ Off. of Sci. & Tech. Pol'y, Off. of Mgmt. & Budget, & Dep't
of Com., National Strategy to Develop Statistics for Environmental-
Economic Decisions (Jan. 2023), available at <a href="http://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Natural-Capital-Accounting-Strategy-final.pdf">www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Natural-Capital-Accounting-Strategy-final.pdf</a>.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
International statistical standards are created for national
economic statistics in order to promote consistency and comparability
that can help all nations in a complex, interconnected world economy,
but are also broad enough and allow for nation-level adaptations. The
United States actively participates and assists in developing these
international standards. The United States' NIPA accounts are compliant
with the United Nations Statistical Commission's System of National
Accounts (SNA, 2008),\2\ which is being revised in 2025.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\2\ United Nations Stat. Comm'n, System of National Accounts
2008, United Nations, <a href="http://unstats.un.org/unsd/nationalaccount/sna2008.asp">unstats.un.org/unsd/nationalaccount/sna2008.asp</a> (last visited Oct. 30, 2024).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
U.S. and international economic accounting standards and account
structures are routinely and cyclically improved to make them more
comprehensive and accurate. As part of this iterative improvement
process, the United States and the international statistical community
have committed to developing environmental-economic statistics that
extend the SNA through the newer international statistical standards
and supporting documents that comprise the System of Environmental-
Economic Accounting (SEEA) framework. The U.S. commitment includes the
United States' January 2023 National Strategy to Develop Statistics for
Environmental-Economic Decisions (National Strategy). The SEEA Central
Framework (SEEA-CF, 2012) \3\ is an international statistical standard
that offers principles and guidance for constructing physical flow
accounts and physical asset accounts that cover specific environmental
assets (e.g., land, water, timber, harvestable marine resources), along
with economic accounts that cover a named set of human economic
activities that manage environmental resources.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\3\ United Nations et al., System of Environmental-Economic
Accounting 2012 (2014), available at <a href="http://seea.un.org/sites/seea.un.org/files/seea_cf_final_en.pdf">seea.un.org/sites/seea.un.org/files/seea_cf_final_en.pdf</a>.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
As the SEEA is generally additive with the SNA, it does not alter
the SNA's fundamental principles. The SEEA aligns with existing SNA
accounting principles and boundaries, while extending them to
explicitly include the environment and environmental flows. Thus,
accounting rules for environmental-economic accounting begin by
orienting, to the extent possible, with preexisting rules for national
economic statistics including the national balance sheet.
II. Role of the Office of the Chief Statistician of the United States
and the U.S. Federal Statistical System in Developing Statistical
Classification Standards
The U.S. Federal statistical system is decentralized, with 16 OMB-
recognized statistical agencies and units (RSAUs) that have data
collection as their primary mission and over 100 other agencies that
collect statistical data,
[[Page 104228]]
along with carrying out other primary missions. The Chief Statistician
of the United States at OMB serves as coordinator of the Federal
statistical system under the authority of the Paperwork Reduction Act
of 1995 (PRA), and must ensure the efficiency and effectiveness of the
system as well as the integrity, objectivity, impartiality, utility,
and confidentiality of information collected for statistical
purposes.\4\ The PRA also charges the Chief Statistician of the United
States with coordinating the Federal statistical system by developing
and overseeing the implementation of Government-wide principles,
policies, standards, and guidelines concerning the presentation and
dissemination of statistical information.\5\ These coordination efforts
promote the efficiency and effectiveness of the Federal statistical
system. More information on the Federal statistical system, including
its structure and policies that govern it, is available at
<a href="http://www.statspolicy.gov">www.statspolicy.gov</a>.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\4\ See 44 U.S.C. 3504(e)(1).
\5\ See 44 U.S.C. 3504(e)(3).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Office of the Chief Statistician of the United States is
initiating the development of new statistical classification guidance
for an environmental-economic statistics series, in alignment with the
January 2023 National Strategy to Develop Statistics for Environmental-
Economic Decisions (National Strategy). This National Strategy was
jointly published by the Office of Science and Technology Policy, the
Office of Management and Budget, and the Department of Commerce, and
presents a plan for developing the first U.S. national system to
standardize environmental-economic statistics, built from the
collaborative efforts of 27 Federal departments, agencies, and offices.
The National Strategy itself underwent public comment,\6\ and is built
on decades of theoretical and empirical research.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\6\ See Off. of Mgmt. & Budget, Revised Strategic Plan on
Statistics for Environmental-Economic Decisions, 88 FR 5374 (Jan.
27, 2023), available at <a href="http://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2023/01/27/2023-01608/revised-strategic-plan-on-statistics-for-environmental-economic-decisions">www.federalregister.gov/documents/2023/01/27/2023-01608/revised-strategic-plan-on-statistics-for-environmental-economic-decisions</a>.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ultimately, completion of the National Strategy's 15-year plan
would create statistical classifications for a new national economic
statistics series, that further connects the environment to the
economy. This would provide a reliable, regularly updated statistical
series of data. It would introduce environmental-economic accounting of
the nation's environmental assets like land, water, and clean air, and
economic flows associated with these assets, to supplement the National
Income and Product Accounts (NIPA) from which the United States
calculates GDP and understands economic interdependencies across
sectors and resources. This FRN publicly announces the start of this
classification development process and also seeks public comment on the
initial draft of statistical classification guidance on the Phase I
accounts within the National Strategy.
The Chief Statistician of the United States initiated the
development of new statistical classification guidance via the
convening of an Environmental-Economic Accounting Classification
Interagency Technical Working Group (EEA-C ITWG) in November 2023. This
working group, made up of Federal experts on economic classification
and environmental-economic accounting from more than a dozen Federal
agencies, is charged to help advise OMB by providing recommendations
for account classifications and guidance on how to develop official
environmental-economic accounting classifications to define accounts
for environmental-economic statistics to pair with traditional economic
statistics accounts.
The EEA-C ITWG developed an Interim Report,\7\ which contains the
first draft of their recommendations for future statistical
classification guidance for environmental-economic accounting
classifications. This Interim Report represents the first interagency
effort to build the principles and processes to construct an
environmental-economic accounting classification system for use in
official economic statistics in the United States. This classification
work will deepen and expand from this foundation.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\7\ The Interim Report is available on <a href="http://regulations.gov">regulations.gov</a> docket.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Interim Report includes one chapter for each of six
Environmental Sectors per Phase I in the National Strategy, and in full
knowledge that the Interim Report is preliminary. The accounts are Air
Emissions, Water, Land, Environmental Activities & Jobs, the first
phase of Marine natural capital accounts, and Forests.\8\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\8\ Note that Forests accounts were added from the Phase II set
to the Phase I set described in the National Strategy, because the
ITWG agreed they were mature enough to be included in this first
classification effort, provided that ecosystem services are not
considered in this ``Phase I'' classification building effort.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Request for comment at this stage is the first of several public
interaction and solicitations in support of this effort, in the spirit
of robust and wide engagement during the classification development
processes, and a key step in the EEA-C ITWG's development of account
classifications and guidance. As that process continues, the EEA-C ITWG
will consider public feedback from this request for comments and from
any public listening sessions that this group or its account sub-groups
may hold. There will be a further request for public comment in 2025,
before an EEA-C ITWG Final Report is submitted to the Chief
Statistician of the United States. Further, similar classification work
and public comment opportunities are expected on Phase II and Phase III
accounts (i.e., the remaining 10 environmental sector accounts) from
the National Strategy.
This FRN seeks public input on the potential approaches to building
categories and on the initial six accounts. It is general, checking
alignment with theory and practical constraints, and also requests
comment on certain potential metrics associated with specific accounts
and categories that are presented in the Interim Report's account
chapters. In the next round of public comment in 2025, the EEA-C ITWG
expects to ask for public comment about a more detailed and complete
classification set, including possible metrics for the classification
tables. Note that constructing the classification system is key, but
only one part of the larger effort to develop environmental-economic
accounts.
The National Strategy defines a suite of targets, timelines, and
tasks to build statistics to support environmental-economic decisions.
Among these are Headline Summaries (e.g., changes in natural capital
wealth); Satellite Accounts and Supporting Products (e.g., ``Hazards''
account, dashboards, and an environmental activities report);
Environmental Sector accounts (in Phases I, II and III); and Supporting
Activities (e.g., engagement across accounts and cross-cutting topics
like classification systems, data sharing, and valuation standards).
From this wider suite, the building of common U.S. environmental-
economic accounting classifications will help to ensure agencies are
using standardized categories and definitions. As with any standardized
statistical classification, common taxonomies of mutually exclusive and
comparable categories will serve as a unifying platform for consistent
statistical data development. Each Environmental Sector account (e.g.,
Water, Land) will be comprised of multiple tables or sub-accounts.
Environmental-economic accounting classifications will name essential
rows and columns in specific tables or accounts.
[[Page 104229]]
III. EEA-C ITWG Interim Report--Chapter Content
Each of the six account chapters in the Interim Report begins with
an introduction of the account topic area, followed by an overview of
the relevant conceptual history and an exploration of other countries'
or intergovernmental organizations' relevant work in the account topic
area that may be considered for application in the United States (e.g.,
``United Nations,'' ``Organisation for Economic Co-operation and
Development,'' or ``European Union''). Any relevant U.S. work is also
described, in order to promote efficiency when the application of past
U.S. or international approaches is feasible and desirable (section 2).
Each account chapter then proposes a classification framework and
guidance particular to that account (which is usually a set of accounts
within that topic area (section 3); discusses current data gaps and
limitations to be considered when attempting consistent national
quantification within the proposed classification framework (section
4); and closes with a conceptual discussion of connections to other
accounts, and guidance for using the proposed account in its current
form (section 5).
IV. Request for Information
The National Strategy recommends that environmental-economic
accounts be pragmatic and useful for a wide range of decision-making
(Recommendation 1), comparable through time and across accounts
(Recommendation 2), and align with international accounting standards
as our national economic accounts do (Recommendation 3). The accounts
have been developed thus far with beneficial input from 27 U.S.
departments and agencies. In order to improve the utility of these
accounts to users as the accounts are further developed over time, it
is important to seek feedback across a broad range of perspectives. We
therefore focus this request for public comment on the following
questions. The questions posed below are those the EEA-C ITWG deemed
most significant and relevant to its recommendations and do not
indicate positions of OMB or the agencies participating in the EEA-C
ITWG. The questions have been sorted into broad categories for ease of
review. Responses should be concise, and if summarizing or depending on
published works, please include citations and electronic links to
reference materials, studies, research, and other empirical data that
are not widely available.
1. Is the overall U.S. approach to environmental-economic
accounting, as proposed through this initial set of classifications,
consistent with the principles of environmental-economic accounting and
economic statistics? Is there pertinent information or are there key
priorities that the EEA-C ITWG should consider when improving the
recommendations for classifications? Does the overall approach adhere
to national economic accounting concepts, and reasonably balance these
with the goals of simplicity, feasibility, and reproducibility? If
noting a break from the Interim Report's methods or current
recommendations, please cite sources and be specific as to anticipated
consequences of not making the change.
2. Are the specific approaches--framing of accounts, which account
tables are recommended in each environmental-economic account type--
taken in these six account chapters and any related supplemental
materials clear, logical, and consistent with (a) the precepts of
national economic accounting (SEEA-CF as supplemental to SNA); (b) the
environmental-economic accounting needs of U.S. agencies and other
domestic stakeholders; and (c) the need for international comparability
of environmental-economic accounts? If there are concerns with any
specific approaches, please note how the overall approach or specific
accounting structures as recommended in the Interim Report may be
improved, being as specific as possible.
3. Considering first what agencies can currently measure, what
relevant categories or subcategories are missing from the initial set
of accounts? Or, are there categories included in this draft that
should not be included? Please name or describe them, and reasons for
changing the proposal. Where metrics are discussed that may fill
account table cells, comment on the appropriateness of these metrics,
and whether specific changes may improve the usefulness of the accounts
to specific stakeholders.
4. Are there additional, alternative, or forthcoming data sources
that should be considered to (a) improve classifications in these
chapters; or (b) facilitate how these accounts accurately measure the
components and subcomponents of these accounts? Please explain why or
why not, and how specific data sources would improve the utility of
specific accounts.
5. As the EEA-C ITWG moves to consider metrics that cannot yet be
measured, but that may serve stakeholder needs, are there
recommendations for specific categories and metrics not presently
measurable but that should be targeted for inclusion in the future, or
general recommendations for how to expand on that list? If a metric or
classification has not been considered to date in the United States
nationally, is there an example of its feasibility (sub-nationally in
the United States or elsewhere internationally)?
V. Timing for Developing This New OMB Statistical Classification
Guidance
Following this public comment period, the EEA-C ITWG will review
the comments and revise draft statistical classification guidance on
the Phase I accounts. Then OMB will publish the EEA-C ITWG's proposed
recommendations for public comment in a subsequent Federal Register
Notice. The EEA-C ITWG will then review the comments and develop final
recommendations to the Chief Statistician of the United States at OMB
on the statistical classification guidance on the Phase I accounts in a
Final Report. The EEA-C ITWG will follow a similar process to make
recommendations for the Phase II and III accounts (i.e., the remaining
10 environmental sector accounts) in the National Strategy. OMB will
review the culminative recommendations and make decisions for Phases I-
III. It is expected that OMB would be issuing final guidance in an
Environmental-Economic Accounting Classifications Manual in 2028.
Karin A. Orvis,
Chief Statistician of the United States.
[FR Doc. 2024-30058 Filed 12-19-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE P
</pre><script data-cfasync="false" src="/cdn-cgi/scripts/5c5dd728/cloudflare-static/email-decode.min.js"></script></body>
</html>Indexed from Federal Register on December 20, 2024.
This is legal information, not legal advice. Laws vary by jurisdiction and change frequently. Always verify current law with official sources and consult a licensed attorney in your jurisdiction for advice on your specific situation.