EPA Greenhouse Gas Reporting Rule: Lessons Learned

A lot has changed since the EPA Greenhouse Gas Reporting Rule was issued in 2010. Under the rule, thousands of facilities were required to collect and report emissions data – or face potential criminal penalties. Now that the first year of monitoring and reporting greenhouse gas emissions under the rule has ended, the question is: What lessons are there to be learned that can improve compliance in your organization?

To bring businesses up to date, AIChE and the Air & Waste Management Association (A&WMA) have created a 90-minute look at the first year of reporting, what we’ve learned and what’s ahead

If you have a working knowledge of the EPA’s rule, don’t miss this opportunity to hear leading experts weigh in on the latest changes to the general provisions – including:

• Identifying the Designated and Alternative Designated representatives
• Using best available monitoring methods (BAMM)
• Post-BAMM tiered monitoring methods
• Navigating the EPA’s electronic Greenhouse Gas Reporting tool (e-GRRT)
• What constitutes confidential business information
• And other issues that impact compliance

Attendees will be able to pose questions to the panel via electronic chat.

Important:  If you are an A&WMA member or a student who is not an AIChE member please use the promotion code that was in your email to get your discounted rate. If you have any questions or do not have your code please contact the A&WMA Registrar, Kate Fischer, at 412.904.6029 or via email at kfischer@awma.org

Detailed Summary

In response to the U.S. FY2008 Consolidated  Appropriations Act, EPA first promulgated its mandatory greenhouse gas emission reporting rule, codified at 40 CFR Part 98, in October 2009 (74 Fed.  Reg. 56260).  With this rulemaking, EPA has engaged in an unprecedented level of educational outreach and industry stakeholder participation in the rulemaking process. On the other hand, the data gathered through this rulemaking is available and searchable on EPA’s website, subjecting reporting entities to significant visibility.  With the cost of compliance, and the impact of publicly available GHG emission data, the mandatory GHG reporting rule has had a tremendous impact on the regulated community.

The first facilities required to quantify actual GHG emissions and report in 2010 included significant stationary fuel combustors, electricity generation, producers of adipic acid, aluminum, cement, ethanol, ferroalloy, glass, hydrogen, iron and steel, lead, lime, nitric acid, petrochemicals, phosphoric acid, silicon carbide, titanium dioxide and zinc, in addition to manufacturers of pulp and paper, and soda ash, HCFC-22 production and HFC-23 destruction, carbonate uses, petroleum refineries, municipal solid waste landfills, and then suppliers of coal, coal-based liquid fuels, petroleum products, natural gas and natural gas liquids, industrial greenhouse gases and carbon dioxide. For reporting year 2011, EPA added electronics manufacturing, fluorinated gas and magnesium production, petroleum and natural gas systems, manufacturing and use of electric transmission and distribution equipment, underground coal mines, industrial wastewater treatment, imports and exports of equipment pre-charged with fluorinated GHGs or containing fluorinated GHGs in closed-cell foams, geologic sequestration of carbon dioxide, industrial waste landfills and injection of carbon dioxide.

The first year of monitoring and reporting greenhouse  gas emissions completed for most large sources and suppliers.  Now, both EPA and reporting entities have had the benefit of learning the process.  With this presentation, industry experts will review Lessons Learned regarding identification of Designated Representatives and Alternative Designated Representatives, utilization of Best Available Monitoring Methods (BAMM), use  of post-BAMM tiered monitoring methods, navigation of EPA's electronic Greenhouse Gas Reporting Tool (e-GRRT), what constitutes confidential business  information (CBI) and other questions.  The experts will also review the latest changes to the general provisions. With this presentation,  attendees are assumed to have a working knowledge of EPA's GHG Reporting Rule.