U.S. EPA Proposes First National Reporting Rule on Greenhouse Gas Emissions

U.S. EPA released proposed regulations for mandatory greenhouse gas (GHG) emission inventory reporting on March 10, 2009 and will be requesting public comment as soon as the regulations are published in the Federal Register via a 60 day public comment period.  The regulations regarding the inventory are contained at 40 CFR Part 98 (Mandatory Greenhouse Gas Reporting) while several other Parts have also been revised to reference nitrous oxide (N2O) and methane (CH4) emissions.  U.S. EPA has a June 26, 2009 deadline to finalize the GHG inventory program and intends to require sources with 25,000 metric tons equivalent of CO2 GHG emissions to report calendar year 2010 GHG emissions beginning in 2011.  U.S. EPA estimates that the requirement will cover approximately 13,000 facilities and will account for about 85 to 90 percent of GHGs emitted in the United States.