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