The Climate Report - Winter 2011

On December 27, 2010, U.S. EPA proposed to defer until March 31, 2014 a requirement under the Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program, codified at 40 C.F.R. Part 98, to report certain data that are inputs to emission equations—including production and throughput quantities, product compositions, raw materials used, and other process-specific information—for calendar years 2010, 2011, and 2012. The purpose of the reporting deferral is to allow EPA time to evaluate the potential business impact from the disclosure of that data before it is collected by EPA and then potentially subject to public availability. To allow time to finalize the proposed rule, EPA also issued an interim final rule that extends the deadline for reporting emission input data for calendar year 2010 (currently March 31, 2011) to August 31, 2011.

The proposed rule applies only to facilities covered by Subparts C through JJ and Subparts RR, SS, and TT of the Program, and not to suppliers of fuels and industrial greenhouse gases. It also does not affect the reporting of any other data, including emissions totals, which still must be reported for calendar year 2010 by March 31, 2011 using EPA's Electronic Greenhouse Gas Reporting Tool.

It is also important to note that the proposed rule only defers reporting of the emission equation inputs. Facilities must still collect the information and maintain records of all inputs to emission equations in a form that is suitable for expeditious inspection and review.

Unless EPA decides to substantively change the Program's reporting obligations, facilities must report all inputs for 2010, 2011, and 2012 by March 31, 2014. To that end, EPA issued a call for information requesting information from the public on the potential impact of disclosure of the emissions input data, including how public availability could cause competitive harm, whether any of the data elements are already publicly available through other data sources, and alternative methods for calculating greenhouse gas emissions or conducting verification of reported data.

Public comments on the proposed deferral rule may be submitted to EPA through January 26, 2011, and all responses to the call for information must be submitted by February 25, 2011.

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