The oil industry is pushing the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to change its plans for establishing a greenhouse gas emissions inventory. In April, EPA proposed a regulation that would require facilities to report greenhouse gas emissions above a certain threshold. The data would then be made available in a publicly accessible, online database. (More on the proposed regulation here.)

On Aug. 11, the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) hosted a meeting where oil industry lobbyists were able to air their grievances with the proposed rule. Representatives from Shell, Chevron, Exxon Mobil, and BP were all in attendance, as well as two lobbyists from the American Petroleum Institute – the D.C.-based firm that lobbies on behalf of the entire industry. Two EPA employees, three OIRA employees, and one from the White House Council of Economic Advisers also attended.

At the meeting, API gave EPA and White House officials a list of recommended changes to the proposed rule. Among them, a recommendation that EPA alter the proposed effective date of the rule, which as currently written would require facilities to begin collecting greenhouse gas emissions data beginning Jan. 1, 2010. Instead, API wants EPA to require facilities to report only the “best available data.” The change would take all the teeth out of the rule, at least for the first year.

In comments submitted to EPA, OMB Watch anticipated the push for delay requests and urged EPA not to waver:

We strongly encourage EPA not to delay the start of data collection activities. EPA has acknowledged the urgency of the issue and the need to begin data collection as soon as possible. Additionally, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) has stressed the importance of accurate and thorough emissions data to the success of future climate change policies, in particular, a cap-and-trade system that distributes at least a portion of carbon credits via auction. A baseline comprising several years' worth of facility-level emissions data is most valuable to accurately measuring and allocating emissions credits and to measuring emissions reductions. Considering the rapidity with which the U.S. Congress is proceeding, pending climate change policies will need emissions data as soon as possible to improve the chances for successful implementation. 

Other API recommendations get into some pretty technical aspects of the bill that exceed my limited intellectual capacities; so, if you spy something particularly fishy, leave it in the comments below.

OIRA – the White House office responsible for reviewing, and sometimes editing, drafts of proposed and final regulations – often holds meetings to hear from stakeholders while reviewing agency drafts.

Interestingly, EPA has not yet sent to OIRA the final draft of its greenhouse gas inventory regulation – the period of time when meetings like this one usually occur. Kudos, to OIRA for posting information about this meeting, even though the regulation is not formally under review.

But supporters of EPA’s effort to establish a high-quality greenhouse gas emissions inventory should keep a watchful eye on this rulemaking. As OMB Watch said in its comments, “Acquiring such data is the first, fundamental step toward developing policies that can succeed in mitigating the impacts of climate change.”