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Greenhouse gas emissions thresholds: What will the magic number be?
Posted by Arash Guity on January 09, 2010 at 11:39am
While the Senate is working on passing its climate change bill (planned for later this year), the EPA has ruled, through its Endangerment Finding, that it has the authority to regulate GHG emissions now under the Clean Air Act.
The EPA estimates that approximately 10,000 facilities in the US will be affected and will be required to report their annual emissions, which represents 85% of all GHG emissions. The facilities which specifically fall under the reporting rule are energy intensive industries such as power plants, cement kilns, petroleum refineries, iron/steel mills, pulp and paper mills, and aluminum production facilities. The rule, however, will also apply to other non-industrial facilities or entities which have annual GHG emissions of 25,000 metric tons or more. Many large facilities such as some universities, hospitals, military bases, and commercial building complexes will fall under that criterion.
The World Resources Institute (WRI) has issued comment to the EPA reporting rule which suggests that the threshold of 25,000 metric tons is too low and has recommended to the EPA that it consider ratcheting down it down to 10,000 metric tons, which would greatly expand the number of facilities subject to reporting under the rule.
The Western Climate Initiative, a collaboration of several western states and several Canadian provinces working to find ways to reduce greenhouse gases in the region, has set the reporting thresholds at 10,000 metric tons.
Many states - Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, and Oregon to name a few - are working on their own individual GHG regulations with proposed thresholds ranging from 10,000 to 25,000 metric tons.
While it is not completely clear what the GHG reporting thresholds will be, it is more than likely that there will some form of regulation and reporting requirement in the near future which will apply to many facilities and entities. In order to understand what their risk of regulation is, facility owners would be wise to evaluate their exposure by assessing their current emissions. The best way to do this is through a greenhouse gas inventory and through voluntary participation in The Climate Registry. By going through this process now before reporting is mandatory, organizations can get a better idea of their risks, become comfortable with the process, streamline their emissions data management procedures, and be prepared for what is likely to come – whatever the magic number for minimum thresholds may be.
Links:
WRI Comment to EPA’s Mandatory Reporting Rule
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