Tag: Mandatory GHG Reporting

BC’s New GHG Reporting Framework came into force on January 1, 2016

In January 2010 British Columbia’s first mandatory GHG reporting regulation came into force. The Reporting Regulation specified that operations located in British Columbia and emitting 10,000 tonnes or more of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions (CO2e) per year (excluding emissions from biomass listed in Schedule C of the regulation) are required to report greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions (while reporting operations emitting 25,000 tonnes or more of CO2e per year have also been subject to a third party verification requirement).
As part of efforts to re-orient BC’s GHG regime and establish a framework for the developing liquefied natural gas (LNG) industry, the BC government passed the Greenhouse Gas Industrial Reporting and Control Act (the Act), which came into force on January 1, 2016. The Act introduces as part of the reporting performance standards that are set for industrial facilities or sectors by listing them within a Schedule to the Act. Currently, the Schedule sets GHG emissions benchmark for LNG facilities and includes an emissions benchmark for coal-based electricity generation operations. It is anticipated that other industrial facilities and sectors will be added later. The Act also streamlines several aspects of existing GHG legislation and regulation into a single legislative and regulatory system, including the GHG reporting framework established under the Greenhouse Gas Reduction (Cap and Trade) Act. Notably, three regulations necessary to implement the Act also came into effect on January 1, 2016:

  1.  Greenhouse Gas Emission Reporting Regulation – this regulation replaces the existing industrial Reporting Regulation and adds compliance reporting requirements.
  2. Greenhouse Gas Emission Administrative Penalties and Appeals Regulation – this regulation establishes the process for when, how much, and under what conditions administrative penalties may be levied for non-compliance with the act or regulations.
  3. Greenhouse Gas Emission Control Regulation – this regulation establishes the BC Carbon Registry and sets criteria for developing emission offsets issued by the BC government. The regulation also establishes a price of $25 for funded units issued under the Act that would go towards a technology fund to support the development of clean technologies. Regulated operations will need to purchase offsets from the market or funded units from government in order to meet their compliance obligations.

Under the new Greenhouse Gas Emission Reporting Regulation, industrial operations will continue to report GHG emissions as they have since 2010.

California ARB Fines Nine Companies for Late or Inadequate GHG Reporting

Nine companies have been fined by the California Air Resources Board (ARB) for violations of the state’s Mandatory Greenhouse Gas Reporting Rule (the Reporting Rule) which requires facilities, including those covered by California’s cap-and-trade regulation, to report their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions annually. Adopted by ARB in 2007, the Reporting Rule requires facilities that emit more than 10,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide annually to report their emissions. About 600 facilities have been reporting their greenhouse gas emissions to ARB since 2008.  

Industrial facilities are required to report each April and utilities are required to do so each June. These reports are then checked for accuracy and verified by independent third parties with oversight by ARB staff.  The reporting compliance rate for 2012 was 97%. Nine companies have been fined for failure to supply complete information by the appropriate deadlines for either the reporting or verification stages. In addition to paying these fines, the violators must provide ARB with plans for complete and accurate data collection and reporting in the future. The companies fined include:

·        ExxonMobil Oil Corporation: $120,000

·        DG Fairhaven Power: $55,000

·        Vintage Production California: $35,000

·        Pacific Gas & Electric: $20,000

·        Veneco: $20,000

·        Cemex Construction Materials: $15,000

·        Lehigh Southwest Cement: $10,000

·        Lhoist North America of Arizona: $10,000

·        Tidelands Production: $10,000

With respect to GHG reporting, ARB Chairman Mary D. Nichols said that: “Accurate reporting of greenhouse gas emissions is the foundation of our efforts to reduce carbon pollution from the state’s energy and industrial sectors.  We will continue to vigorously enforce the mandatory reporting rule to ensure that every company follows all its requirements.”

Emissions reported by facility under the Reporting Rule can be viewed online

 

U.S. EPA Proposes to Add More Sources to Mandatory GHG Reporting Program

In order to gain a better understanding of greenhouse gas (GHG) emission sources, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing to include additional emissions sources in its national mandatory greenhouse gas (GHG) reporting system.

In October 2009, the EPA finalized the Mandatory Reporting of Greenhouse Gases Rule, which requires 31 industry sectors (representing 85 percent of total U.S. GHG emissions) to track and report their emissions. This reporting rule requires suppliers of fossil fuels or industrial greenhouse gases, manufacturers of vehicles and engines, and facilities that emit 25,000 metric tons or more of GHG emissions per year to submit annual reports to the EPA.

On March 22, 2010, the EPA issued proposed rules targeted at expanding the scope of the reporting system to cover facilities emitting 25,000 metric tons or more of GHG emissions per year in the following sectors:

  • oil and natural gas industry (this will include vented and fugitive methane and CO2 emissions);
  • industries that emit fluorinated gases (source categories will include: electronics manufacturing, fluorinated gas production, manufacture and use of electric transmission and distribution equipment, and imports/exports of equipment pre-charged with fluorinated GHGs or containing fluorinated GHGs in closed-cell foams); and
  • facilities that inject and store CO2 underground for the purposes of geologic sequestration or enhanced oil and gas recovery.

Newly covered sources would be required to begin collecting emissions data on January 1, 2011, with the first annual reports submitted to the EPA on March 31, 2012. In addition, the EPA is proposing to require all facilities in the reporting system, including those proposed, to provide information on their corporate ownership.

These proposals will be open for public comment for 60 days after publication in the Federal Register. The EPA will also hold public hearings on these proposals in April 2010.

For more information on these proposals and the hearings, please go to
Link