Blog
EPA Finalizes Amendments to Greenhouse Gas Reporting Rule
Blog
November 29, 2011
On November 29, 2011, the EPA finalized amendments to its greenhouse gas reporting rule. These amendments include a one-time six-month extension of the reporting deadline for 12 industries, and clarification reporting obligations. Additionally, the amendments limit the reporting requirements for underground coal mines and require industries to notify EPA when they use alternative methods for calculating greenhouse gas emissions.
EPA has extended the reporting deadline from March 31, 2012, to September 28, 2012, for 12 industries: (1) electronics manufacturing, (2) fluorinated gas production, (3) magnesium production, (4) petroleum and natural gas systems, (5) use of electric transmission and distribution equipment, (6) underground coal mining, (7) industrial wastewater treatment, (8) geologic sequestration of carbon dioxide, (9) manufacture of electric transmission and distribution, (10) industrial waste landfills, (11) underground injection of carbon dioxide, and (12) imports and exports of equipment pre-charged with fluorinated greenhouse gases or containing fluorinated greenhouse gases in closed-cell foams. These industries began collecting data in 2011, and the EPA extended the deadline to allow time for testing and implementation of the mandatory electronic greenhouse gas reporting tool.
The amendments clarify compliance obligations in response to questions raised by reporting entities. The EPA intends these revisions to ensure consistency in calculating, monitoring, and reporting greenhouse gas emissions.
Under the amended version of the rule, only underground coal mines which emit 36.5 million cubic feet of methane per year or more are required to report greenhouse gas emissions. This new threshold removes reporting requirements for 500 mines.
Finally, the amended rule requires industries to notify EPA when they use alternative “best available” monitoring methods for calculating greenhouse gas emissions.
The final amended greenhouse gas reporting rule will take effect December 29, 2011.
This entry has been created for information and planning purposes. It is not intended to be, nor should it be substituted for, legal advice, which turns on specific facts.