Mar 26, 2010 -- STATE DEPARTMENT RELEASE/ContentWorks



The United States is seeking to increase the number of industry sectors that must report greenhouse gas emissions under a new mandatory reporting system.

The collected data would provide a better understanding of specific sources and help regulators and businesses develop effective ways to reduce emissions, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the federal agency that regulates substances that could damage the environment. EPA announced the proposed rule March 23.

"Gathering this information is the first step toward reducing greenhouse emissions and fostering innovative technologies for the clean-energy future," EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson said. "It's especially important to track potent gases like methane, which traps more than 20 times as much heat as carbon and accelerates climate change. Once we know where we must act, American innovators and entrepreneurs can develop new technologies to protect our atmosphere and fight climate change."

Countries that are parties to the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change met in Copenhagen in December 2009 to discuss strategies for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and slowing climate change. The United States is committed to working with other nations on a global solution, but in the meantime is moving forward with domestic controls.

EPA first adopted a mandatory greenhouse gas reporting requirement October 30, 2009. That rule, which took effect December 29, requires 31 industry sectors, covering 85 percent of total U.S. emissions, to track and report their emissions. Industries covered include fossil fuel suppliers, industrial gas suppliers, direct greenhouse gas emitters and manufacturers of heavy-duty and off-road vehicles and engines.

The rule supplemented a number of voluntary partnership programs EPA already sponsored, including Climate Leaders, the Natural Gas STAR program and Energy Star, but the mandatory reporting program has broader coverage of U.S. emissions than most voluntary programs, which typically focus on a specific industry or emission-reduction goal.

The agency now is proposing to collect emissions data from the oil and natural gas sector, from industries that emit fluorinated gases, and from facilities that inject and store carbon dioxide underground for geologic sequestration or enhanced oil and gas recovery. These additions are important because:

* Methane is the primary greenhouse gas emitted from oil and natural gas systems and is more than 20 times as powerful as carbon dioxide in warming the atmosphere., * Fluorinated gases are even stronger and can stay in the atmosphere for thousands of years., * Collecting data from sequestration facilities would enable EPA to track the amount of carbon dioxide that is injected and possibly require a monitoring strategy for detecting emissions to the atmosphere.

The data would allow businesses to compare their emissions to similar facilities, and identify cost-effective ways to reduce them.

EPA also has proposed requiring all facilities in the reporting system to provide information on their corporate ownership.

Under the proposal, newly covered sources would begin collecting emissions data on January 1, 2011, with the first annual reports submitted to EPA on March 31, 2012. The sectors listed in the October 2009 rule are collecting data in 2010 and will submit their first annual reports to EPA on March 31, 2011.

As always with federal rules, this proposal will be available for public review and comment for at least 60 days. EPA also plans to hold public hearings on April 19 in Arlington, Virginia, and April 20 in Washington. After reviewing the comments, the agency typically makes changes that address the issues raised by the public and the regulated industries before adopting a final rule.

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