On September 22, 2009, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a final rule for the mandatory reporting of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Covered facilities must start tracking their emissions beginning January 1, 2010. The rule requires reporting for calendar year 2010. The new GHG rule creates a reporting program for a number of GHGs, including carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, hydrofluorocarbons, perfluorocarbons, sulfur hexafluoride, and other fluorinated gases. The rule covers certain facilities regardless of emissions levels; however, most sources are covered only if they emit more than 25,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalents per year. Fuel combustion sources are generally covered if their combined heat input capacity is greater than 30 million British thermal units per hour. Suppliers of certain fossil fuels and industrial GHGs are also covered. The goal of the program is to gather information that could later be used to develop regulations to control GHG emissions. The program is expected to cover approximately 85 percent of the nation's GHG emissions and apply to roughly 10,000 facilities.

To comply with the rule, covered facilities must:

  • Determine what monitoring, data gathering, calculation, QA/QC and record-keeping requirements apply, and whether they will be required to purchase and install new monitoring equipment before March 31, 2010.
  • Determine whether an extension is needed for the use of best available data through the end of 2010. To obtain an extension, a facility must demonstrate incapability or infeasibility to install required monitoring equipment in time. (A company must request an extension within 30 days after the effective date of the rule. The rule will be published in the Federal Register in the near future and will become effective 60 days later. Thus, extension requests will be due around December 31, 2009).
  • Develop a GHG Monitoring Plan which defines the details associated with gathering the required data, QA/QC of the data gathering process, estimating, recordkeeping and the reporting of data to the EPA.
  • Prepare and submit the first report to the EPA by March 31, 2011 (reporting emissions for calendar year 2010).

In the final rule, the agency dropped the "once in, always in" component of reporting, thus allowing facilities to avoid the reporting requirement if they reduce emissions below the reporting threshold for 5 consecutive years or if they drop below 15,000 tons per year for 3 years. The agency also stepped away from a requirement for facilities to use third-party certification of their data, an idea opposed by industry but advocated by environmental groups. The final rule also does not preempt state and regional GHG reporting programs, so obligations under those programs will continue.

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.