California Moves Forward with Greenhouse Gas Reporting

On Oct. 19, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) released a draft rule that would create an extensive mandatory greenhouse gas reporting system and held a public workshop to review the proposal on Oct. 31. The Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 (A.B. 32) requires CARB to adopt regulations creating a greenhouse gas registry by Jan. 1, 2008, putting in place what appears to be the country's most comprehensive and sophisticated greenhouse gas registry. The proposed regulations were developed with input from public and private stakeholders, state agencies and the general public. Modeled after the California Climate Action Registry (CCAR), a voluntary greenhouse gas reporting program started in 2001, the regulations detail which industrial sectors will report, what the reporting and verification thresholds and requirements will be, and how calculations will be made. Approximately 800 facilities will be required to report greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, which CARB estimates will represent 94 percent of California's total carbon dioxide production from stationary sources. Similar to other reporting registries, such as the Toxics Release Inventory, the GHG reporting will be annual (first reporting year is 2008) by facility with requirements to identify the parent company. Companies will be required to report carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide and methane emissions produced from on-site stationary source combustion and some fugitive emissions. The system will also require certain industrial sectors to report process emissions. Carbon dioxide emissions from biomass-derived fuels will be separately identified. Some industries have more specific requirements, such as mandatory hexafluoride and hydrofluorocarbons reporting for the electric power sector. The following industries will be subject to the regulations:
  • Electric generating facilities
  • Electricity retail providers
  • Power marketers
  • Oil refineries
  • Hydrogen plants
  • Cement plants
  • Cogeneration facilities
  • Industrial sources that emit over 25,000 metric tons per year of carbon dioxide from stationary source combustion (Food processing, oil and gas production and mineral processing)
Hospitals and primary and secondary schools would be exempt. The regulations seek to create a program with substantial oversight and assistance. The program will utilize online reporting with user-friendly interfaces, potentially compatible with other criteria pollutant reporting such as the Climate Registry, a non-governmental organization coordinating a common GHG registry between states, tribes and provinces in North America. CARB's regulation establishes staggered reporting deadlines to ease the administrative burden and enable staff to better assist reporting facilities with any questions or problems. Facilities will also have to get third-party verification that reports are accurate and comply with international standards on an annual or triennial basis. Though the proposed rule does not specifically direct the creation of an online searchable database, California state law requires all emissions reporting to be publicly accessible. Therefore, it is likely that the GHG reporting inventory will be made publicly available in an online searchable database. At least four other states (CT, ME, NJ, WI) have, albeit more limited, mandatory GHG reporting requirements. Another 38 states have committed to create similar programs with the voluntary Climate Registry. California's program appears to be the most ambitious effort to track the exact sources of GHG emissions. After the public comment period, final review of the proposed regulations will begin on Dec. 6. Federal legislation creating a national greenhouse gas inventory is pending.
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