Survey of Environmental Protection Expenditures (SEPE)

Detailed information for 1998

This survey provides a measure of the expenditures made by industry operating in Canada for environmental protection in response to Canadian and international environmental regulations, conventions and voluntary agreements.

Data release - November 9, 2000

• Questionnaire(s) and reporting guide(s)
• Description
• Data sources and methodology
• Data accuracy

Description

The Survey of Environmental Protection Expenditures provides a measure of the cost to Canadian industry to comply with present or anticipated environmental regulations, conventions and voluntary agreements. The survey also collects information on environmental management practices and environmental technologies used by industry for the purpose of preventing, abating or controlling pollution.

Data from the survey are used predominantly by policy analysts and by both industry and academic researchers. Data may be used to monitor expenditure trends within industry groups or provinces for the purpose of developing business or research and development strategies, as well as to evaluate the effectiveness of policy.

Reference period: The calendar year or the 12-month fiscal period for which the final day occurs on or between April 1st of the reference year and March 31st of the following year.

Subjects

• Environment
• Environmental protection

Data sources and methodology

Target population

The survey provides an estimate of environmental expenditures made by establishments in primary industries (resource extraction), manufacturing industries, the Electric Power Generation, Transmission, and Distribution Industry, the Pipeline Transportation Industry, the Oil and Gas Extraction Industry and the Natural Gas Distribution Industry. In order to be selected for the survey, an establishment has to have more than 49 employees. Note: In some provinces and territories, employment thresholds are reduced in order to obtain minimum coverage.

Two survey forms are used: a long (detailed) questionnaire is sent to establishments in industry groups whose environmental expenditures per employee are equal to or greater than $1000; a short questionnaire is sent to establishments in industry groups whose environmental expenditures per employee are less than $1000.

Estimation is done for all companies in the targeted industry groups whose employment is 50 or above.

Instrument design

The questionnaire has undergone various transformations since its inception in 1994. The original material was developed by the Environmental Accounts and Statistics Division with assistance from Industry Canada. A pilot study involving a limited group of respondents was performed as a means of initial testing of content and terminology. The basic expenditure questions have remained relatively constant over the cycles, with most significant changes involving the environmental management processes and technologies material (qualitative data).

Sampling

This is a sample survey with a cross-sectional design.

A number of industries were targeted for increased survey coverage (14 in 1996 and 15 in 1997) based on 2-digit and 3-digit Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) industries. Target industries were selected on the likelihood that they faced or anticipated high levels of environmental expenditures. The selection was based upon previous survey results and additional information obtained from annual reports of companies and Statistics Canada's annual Capital and Repair Expenditure Survey. For most of these target industries, all establishments with more than 49 employees were surveyed. A sample of establishments (with more than 49 employees) in other, non-target manufacturing industries was taken. In general, target industries were identified as those reporting more than $1000 of environmental expenditures per employee in 1996. Establishments with more than 49 employees in the target industries (non-manufacturing and targeted manufacturing industries) were provided with a long questionnaire.

The manufacturing sample was made of a take-all strata and a take-some strata. All establishments with more than 49 employees in the following target manufacturing industries were selected and received a long questionnaire: Beverage, Tobacco Products, Pulp and Paper, Primary Metals and Refined Petroleum and Coal Products. Logging, Mining, Crude Petroleum and Natural Gas, Electric Power Systems, Gas Distribution Systems and Pipeline Transport were selected. All establishments with more than 49 employees in Logging, Mining, Crude Petroleum and Natural Gas, Electric Power Systems, Gas Distribution Systems and Pipeline Transport were selected.

The non-targeted manufacturing industries were sampled at the 3-digit SIC level and grouped into an "other manufacturing" category. Establishments (with more than 49 employees) in these industries received a short questionnaire.

The take-some strata were selected by ranking establishments within each 3-digit SIC by employment. If there were 50 or more establishments in the 3-digit SICs, the top 15% establishments, ranked by employment, were selected. If there were between 15 and 49 establishments, the top 20% ranked by employment were selected. Where the total number of establishments fell below 15, all establishments were selected. In some provinces and territories, in order to obtain minimum coverage, the employment thresholds were reduced. The sample selected the largest establishments in order to minimise response burden. Analysis has shown that there is no bias introduced by surveying the largest establishments because of the absence of a correlation between the environmental expenditure to employment ratio and employment size.

Data sources

Responding to this survey is mandatory.

Data are collected directly from survey respondents.

A list of establishments to be surveyed was produced using the frame from Statistics Canada's Annual Survey of Manufactures, the Business Register and other frames of establishments or companies active in the following indus-tries: Crude Petroleum and Natural Gas, Pipeline Transport, Coal, Electric Power Systems and Gas Distribution Systems. A list of metal and non-metal mining establishments was produced, based on Natural Resource Canada's Census of Mines

View the Questionnaire(s) and reporting guide(s).

Error detection

Every attempt was made to eliminate the non-sampling errors from the results of the survey. Establishments brought into the survey for the first time were researched and it was verified that the contact information was accurate. The returned questionnaires were verified and validated before data capture. The data were edited and tabulated automatically. Extensive follow-up was carried out for incomplete responses and for non-response.

Imputation

Imputation for non-response was performed in four stages. First, all possible related information was assembled (e.g. information from the Capital and Repairs Expenditure Survey, Business Register, Pulp and Paper Canada and from company annual reports) and some companies were re-contacted to help provide further indicators that would allocate expenditures by province where this information was missing. Second, when possible, last year's operating expenditure data were used to impute for 1997 operating expenditure data by applying the appropriate industry growth factor associated with the establishments that did respond during both years. This was only applied to records that were a non-response in the current cycle but responded the previous cycle. Third, total environmental protection expenditures were estimated on a per-employee basis. The 1997 survey used the mean of environmental expenditures per employee by industry (2-digit SIC for "other manufacturing" records) and province or region to estimate for non-responding establishments. If there were not enough donors at the industry and province/region level, then imputation was based on the mean of the environmental expenditure per employee ratio for a more aggregated group of donors. Finally, the missing components of environmental protection expenditures were estimated as a proportion of total expenditures using donors from the same industry.

Disclosure control

Statistics Canada is prohibited by law from releasing any information it collects that could identify any person, business, or organization, unless consent has been given by the respondent or as permitted by the Statistics Act. Various confidentiality rules are applied to all data that are released or published to prevent the publication or disclosure of any information deemed confidential. If necessary, data are suppressed to prevent direct or residual disclosure of identifiable data.

In order to prevent any data disclosure, confidentiality analysis is done using the Statistics Canada Generalized Disclosure Control System (G-Confid). G-Confid is used for primary suppression (direct disclosure) as well as for secondary suppression (residual disclosure). Direct disclosure occurs when the value in a tabulation cell is composed of or dominated by few enterprises while residual disclosure occurs when confidential information can be derived indirectly by piecing together information from different sources or data series.

Revisions and seasonal adjustment

This methodology does not apply to this survey.

Data accuracy

Typically the sampling error is measured by the expected variability of the estimate from the true value, expressed as a percentage of the estimate. This measure is referred to as the coefficient of variation or the standard deviation. In the case of the Survey of Environmental Protection Expenditures, however, a random sample was not taken. Rather, a minimal sample number was calculated, and the establishments with the largest number of employees were sampled. This methodology was used in order to survey the largest proportion of employment in each target industry while keeping response burden to a minimum. Given the nature of the sampling process, no coefficient of variation by industry was produced.