Changes

The frequency for a regulatory activity determines how many periods there are in each year in the analysis. The number of periods per year affects the undiscounted impact estimates because it affects how often the RCC estimates the stakeholder count, and the undiscounted impacts depend on how many stakeholders are in the market at any given time. The number of periods per year also affects the discounted impact estimates because each subsequent period happens later in the analytical timeframe and is therefore discounted to a greater extent.  

The frequency for a regulatory activity determines how many periods there are in each year in the analysis. The number of periods per year affects the undiscounted impact estimates because it affects how often the RCC estimates the stakeholder count, and the undiscounted impacts depend on how many stakeholders are in the market at any given time. The number of periods per year also affects the discounted impact estimates because each subsequent period happens later in the analytical timeframe and is therefore discounted to a greater extent.  

Sometimes the regulatory text will explicitly state how often stakeholders must conduct a regulatory activity (e.g., "do Activity X once per year" or "do Activity X every 6 months"). Other times, the regulatory text may state that an activity must be conducted every time some other event happens (e.g., "do Activity X every time Event Y happens"). An example of the latter is a requirement to report the importation of goods containing a certain chemical: this could happen 1 time, 2 times, or 1,000 times per year.  

Sometimes the regulatory text will explicitly state how often stakeholders must conduct a regulatory activity (e.g., "do Activity X once per year" or "do Activity X every 6 months"). Other times, the regulatory text may state that an activity must be conducted every time some other event happens (e.g., "do Activity X every time Event Y happens"). An example of the latter is a requirement to report the importation of goods containing a certain chemical: this could happen 1 time, 2 times, or 1,200 times per year.  

Frequencies in the RCC can be grouped into three categories:   

Frequencies in the RCC can be grouped into three categories:   

# frequency < 1   

# frequency < 1   

   

   

If the frequency is set to 1 then the RCC will more closely align with how you probably set up your main CBA (e.g., 10 years of impact estimates spread over 10 columns).      

If the frequency is set to 1 then the RCC will more closely align with how you probably set up your main CBA (e.g., 10 years of impact estimates spread over 10 columns). Upfront impacts are assumed to be incurred at the beginning of every period and they are always assumed to have a frequency of 1. Upfront activities will start at period 0, so if an upfront activity spans 10 years it will have 11 total periods (starting at period 0 and ending at period 10). Ongoing impacts are assumed to be incurred at the end of every period. Ongoing activities will start at period 1, so if an ongoing activity spans 10 years it will have 10 total periods (starting at period 1 and ending at period 10). This treatment of upfront vs. ongoing activities may partially explain some numerical differences between your RCC and your CBA, even if both use an annual frequency of 1.       

   

   

However, if you enter an annual frequency of 1,200, then you are telling the RCC that you want to split every single year into 1,200 evenly spaced periods, in which the stakeholder count must be estimated and impacts must be discounted back to the PV base. Is that really what you want to do? That is probably not how you set up your main CBA. With 1,200 evenly spaced periods that means the RCC will estimate the stakeholder count more than 3 times per day. There is nothing mathematically wrong with this, however it is computationally intensive and it may not be necessary.     

You may decide to use a frequency greater than 1 if the regulatory requirement specifies that the activity must be conducted several times per year, or if the requirement to conduct the activity is triggered by some other event that happens several times per year. if you enter an annual frequency of 1,200, then you are telling the RCC that you want to split every single year into 1,200 evenly spaced periods, in which the stakeholder count must be estimated and impacts must be discounted back to the PV base. Is that really what you want to do? That is probably not how you set up your main CBA. With 1,200 evenly spaced periods that means the RCC will estimate the stakeholder count more than 3 times per day. There is nothing mathematically wrong with this, however it is computationally intensive and it may not be necessary.     

   

   

If the activity takes 1 hour each time, then if it happens 1,000 times per year it is evident that 1,000 hours per year will be spent on the activity. But this can be modelled in several ways, such as:  

If the activity takes 1 hour each time, then if it happens 1,000 times per year it is evident that 1,000 hours per year will be spent on the activity. But this can be modelled in several ways, such as: