December 8, 2011

The electronic Greenhouse Gas Reporting Tool (e-GGRT) is now accepting electronic Notices of Intent (NOI’s) and Best Available Monitoring Methods (BAMM) submissions for Subpart W for the purposes of fulfilling requirements in 40 CFR 98.234(f).  If you would like further guidance on registering for and using e-GGRT, please go to the following link:
http://www.ccdsupport.com

Please note that that NOI’s must be submitted electronically in e-GGRT by January 3, 2012.  If you have questions regarding this communication or any additional questions you would like to pose to EPA, please visit the Help Website at http://www.ccdsupport.com/confluence/display/help/Contact+Us or submit those questions to the Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program (GHGRP) Help Desk by telephone at 1-877-444-1188 or via e-mail to GHGReporting@epa.gov.

EPA has issued a final rule granting a six-month delay for several industry sectors to submit first-time reports on their annual greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, in order to allow more time to test its electronic reporting tool and to avoid double reporting in 2012. First-time GHG reports were due March 31 next year for several industry sectors or sub-sectors. The final rule extends that deadline to Sept. 28, 2012, for petroleum and natural gas systems, electronics manufacturing, industrial waste landfills, coal mining, industrial waste water treatment and others sectors.

The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals recently announced the panel of judges, David Tatel, David Sentelle and Judith Rogers, who will determine the legality of the Environmental Protection Agency’s (“EPA”) suite of challenged greenhouse gas (“GHG”) regulations.  Oral arguments are scheduled for February 28-29, 2012.  At the same time, the EPA sent a major GHG rulemaking proposal covering new and existing power plants to the OMB for review.  The New Source Performance Standards rule is likely to expand GHG limits for new and existing power plants, most of which are not covered under existing EPA regulations.  This pending litigation and rulemaking are likely to set the course for U.S. climate policy, given the limited prospects for congressional action or climate tort lawsuits in the immediate future.

The four EPA GHG rules currently being challenged in the D.C. Circuit are the “endangerment finding” declaring that GHG emissions may endanger public health or welfare; the “tailpipe” rule regulating car and light truck GHG emissions; and the consolidated “timing” and “tailoring” rules that began phasing in stationary source GHG limits as of January 2010, while increasing emissions thresholds to limit the number of facilities covered.

Even as its legal authority is being challenged in the courts and Congress, EPA continues to move forward with new GHG regulations

Release date: 08/22/2011

WASHINGTON – Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is launching a new tool to allow 28 industrial sectors to submit their 2010 greenhouse gas (GHG) pollution data electronically. Prior to being finalized, more than 1,000 stakeholders, including industry associations, states and NGOs tested the electronic GHG Reporting Tool (e-GGRT) to ensure clarity and user-friendliness.

The data collected with e-GGRT will provide the public with important information about the nation’s largest stationary sources of greenhouse gas pollution. Industries and businesses can also use the data to help find ways to decrease carbon pollution, increase efficiency and save money.

EPA expects to receive 2010 GHG data from approximately 7,000 large industrial GHG emitters and suppliers, including power plants, petroleum refineries and landfills.

EPA’s GHG Reporting Program, launched in October 2009, requires the reporting of GHG data from large emission sources across a range of industry sectors. Suppliers of products that would emit GHGs if released, combusted, or oxidized are also required to report GHG data. Under this program, covered entities are required to submit GHG data to EPA annually and the first round of data will be submitted electronically by September 30, 2011. EPA plans to publish non-confidential GHG data collected through the GHGRP by the end of 2011.

For more information on the GHG Reporting Program:http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/emissions/ghgrulemaking.html

On July 27, 2011 the EPA proposed a suite of highly cost-effective standards to reduce emissions of smog-forming volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and air toxics from the oil and natural gas industry. The rules also would significantly reduce methane, a potent greenhouse gas. EPA is under a consent decree deadline to take final action on these rules by February 28, 2012.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has delayed a final decision on a more stringent limit for ozone, or smog, for the fourth time in the past year. The federal agency had targeted July 29th to announce the new standards, but they remain under review at the White House. The EPA estimates that complying with the proposed new limits would cost $19 billion to $90 billion a year but says those costs would be offset by the benefits to public health. The proposed smog level would be 60 to 70 parts ozone per billion parts air, down from 75 parts per billion, as established by the Bush administration in 2008. The EPA says the more stringent standard reflects scientific studies showing that ozone poses greater health risks than previously thought.

A more stringent limit would mean up to 650 counties nationwide would need to take additional steps to make their air safe. U.S. Rep. Gene Green, a Houston Democrat and member of the energy and commerce committee, also said Thursday that the EPA should not act before 2013, as scheduled, so the agency can review any new science and take additional public comment. Environmentalists and public health advocates, in the meantime, are growing impatient, saying the delay means people are breathing dirtier air than they should. They also point out that the Clean Air Act prohibits the EPA from considering cost or difficulty of attainment when it sets the standard.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has issued a final rule that extends the deadline for reporting 2010 data under the Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Reporting Program to September 30, 2011. The original deadline was March 31, 2011. EPA previously announced its intent to extend the deadline on March 1, 2011.

Under the GHG Reporting Program entities required to submit data must register with the electronic GHG reporting tool (e-GGRT) no later than 60 days before the reporting deadline. With this reporting deadline extension, the new deadline for registering with e-GGRT is August 1, 2011.

Following conversations with industry and others and in the interest of providing high quality data to the public this year, EPA is extending this year’s reporting deadline to September 30, 2011. This extension will allow EPA to further test the system that facilities will use to submit data and give industry the opportunity to test the tool, provide feedback, and have sufficient time to become familiar with the tool prior to reporting.

In addition to the nine rulemakings necessary to comply with congressional direction for the program, over the past two years EPA has established a public help center that operates through our website and efficient mechanisms for stakeholders to get answers from EPA experts to detailed technical questions. EPA has also conducted training sessions with each affected sector and held hundreds of meetings with stakeholders across the country.

EPA’s GHG Reporting Program, launched in October 2009, requires the reporting of GHG data from large emission sources across a range of industry sectors, as well as suppliers of products that would emit GHGs if released or combusted. The data will help guide policy decisions and the development of future programs which the Agency might implement to reduce these emissions. It will also help industries and businesses find ways to be more efficient and save money.

EPA is announcing its intention to extend this year’s reporting deadline – originally March 31 – and plans to have the final uploading tool available this summer, with the data scheduled to be published later this year. This extension would allow EPA to further test the system that reporters will use to submit data, and give industry the opportunity to test the tool, provide feedback and have sufficient time to become familiar with it prior to reporting.

The agency will provide more detail on the intended changes in the coming weeks and will ensure that this reporting extension is in effect before the original reporting deadline of March 31, 2011.

Please check the GHGRP website for updates:

http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/emissions/extension.html

The Environmental Protection Agency announced today that it is delaying new rules that would impose stricter limits on smog and mercury, drawing loud complaints from many environmental groups.

Lawmakers from both parties,  especially in industrial states in the Northeast and Midwest, have complained about the EPA’s boiler rule, which they say could place an added burden on businesses.

“We’re not going to let EPA regulate what they’ve been unable to legislate,” said Rep. Fred Upton, R-Mich., the incoming chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee. Upton promised numerous hearings on the EPA under his watch.

An EPA spokesman denied that politics played a role and said the delays were needed to ensure the agency’s final decisions were grounded in the best science.

The rules include steps designed to reduce harmful emissions from cars, power plants and other industrial facilities that contribute to ozone formation. A spokesperson for the EPA added that the delays would not affect public health.

The EPA now says the rule would take effect by the end of July.

Other planned rules are intended to cut mercury emissions in half by requiring steep and costly cuts from companies operating some 200,000 industrial boilers, heaters and incinerators.

The EPA is under court order to issue final rules on smog and mercury limits by Jan. 16, but the agency said in court papers Tuesday it is hoping to delay the rules until April 2012.

The American Petroleum Institute said it was pleased with EPA’s request to delay the ozone rule.

As many companies that produce, transport, and deliver natural gas are interested in Subpart W (Petroleum and Natural Gas Systems) of EPA’s Mandatory Greenhouse Gas Reporting Rule, EPA Administrator Jackson signed this subpart of the final rule on November 8, 2010. It is now available on the EPA website at: www.epa.gov/climatechange/emissions/subpart/w.html.

EPA will soon schedule Subpart W webinar training sessions to assist facilities that are required to report under the rule and will have more details about this as soon as the webinars are scheduled. EPA also intends to have screening tools available soon.

If you have questions about the rule, please send them to epamrr@epa.gov and put “SUBPART W QUESTION” in the subject line. You can also use the on-line form at http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/emissions/ghgrule_contactus.htm.

The EPA has requested that all questions be sent via email or using the on-line form. Questions and inquiries will be reviewed systematically and someone from the EPA will respond as soon as possible.