1605(b) Proposed General Guidelines Released

On December 5, 2003, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) published proposed revised guidelines for the Energy Information Administration's Voluntary Reporting of Greenhouse Gases Program in the Federal Register. These revised guidelines are designed to improve the accuracy, verifiability, and completeness of the data reported under the registry program. The issuance of this proposal is intended as another significant step toward the establishment of a broad national effort to reduce the greenhouse gas intensity of the U.S. economy, and addresses the risk of global climate change.

The proposed revisions would enable the Department of Energy to fully recognize those participants in the registry who provide an accurate and complete accounting of their efforts to reduce greenhouse gas intensity. DOE hopes that the proposed guidelines will encourage major U.S. companies and institutions to undertake comprehensive reviews of their greenhouse gas emissions and to take actions to reduce emissions. By emphasizing the importance of providing a full accounting of all greenhouse gas emissions and emission reductions, the revised guidelines are designed to stimulate broad, economy-wide efforts that are needed to help reduce the greenhouse gas intensity of the U.S. economy.

Under the revised guidelines, a wide range of entities, including utilities, manufacturers, landowners and individual citizens, will be able to register their greenhouse gas emission reductions if they provide entity-wide emissions data and demonstrate entity-wide emission reductions after 2002.

The text of the guidelines can be downloaded from DOE's Web site at: http://www.pi.energy.gov/enhancingGHGregistry/proposedguidelines/generalguidelines.html.

There will be a 60-day comment period and a workshop in January to facilitate dialogue and an open exchange of views regarding the guidelines (see the following story). Written comments on the proposed revised General Guidelines may be sent via e-mail to: 1605bgeneralguidelines.commen ts@hq.doe.gov or submitted directly through the following Web site: https://ostiwindb.osti.gov/pighg/ghgb01.idc.

To ensure full consideration, all comments should be submitted by February 3, 2004. After receipt, all written comments on the proposed revised General Guidelines will be made available on DOE's Web site (http://www.pi.energy.gov/enhancingGHGregistry/proposedguidelines/generalguidelines.ht ml).

DOE is also developing Technical Guidelines that specify the methods and factors to be used in measuring and estimating greenhouse gas emissions, emission reductions, and carbon sequestration. The Technical Guidelines will also be put out for public comment in the near future.

2002 Reporting Cycle Closes

With the closing of the 2002 data reporting cycle, we are pleased to bring you preliminary statistics. In this, the 9th reporting cycle for the Voluntary Reporting of Greenhouse Gases Program, 228 reports will be included in the 2002 Public Use Database. Although this is four reports less than last year, the number of projects has risen by 15 percent. A total of 2,029 projects were included in the 2002 reports, up from 1,706 last year! (See the pie graph below for a breakdown of projects by type.)

The 2002 Public Use Database will reflect the inclusion of four additional 2001 reports that were received after last year's database was finalized. The final count for 2001 includes a total of 232 reporters, 200 of which reported on the long form and 32 of which reported on the EZ form.

A brief summary of the 2002 emission reduction data will be presented in the next edition of The Greenhouse Gas Volunteer. Finalized information will be published in our annual report, Voluntary Reporting of Greenhouse Gases 2002, which will be released in early 2004.





Public Workshop

DOE has scheduled a one-day workshop to discuss the proposed revised General Guidelines and to receive comments from the public on January 12, 2004. This workshop will be held at the Washington Plaza Hotel, 10 Thomas Circle, N.W., Massachusetts Avenue at 14th Street, Washington, D.C. 20005, from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. The room reserved for the workshop can accommodate approximately 200 persons. Because space is limited, people interested in attending are asked to preregister by visiting the following Web site: http://204.248.169.39/registration.asp.



McCain-Lieberman Climate Stewardship Act Voted Down

The Climate Stewardship Act (S.139), sponsored by Senators John McCain (R-AZ) and Joseph Lieberman (D-CT), was rejected by a 55-43 vote in the Senate on October 30, 2003. This proposal, first introduced on January 9, 2003, intended to limit greenhouse gas emissions by establishing a system of tradable emissions allowances, similar to the cap-and-trade system that has been used to limit sulfur dioxide emissions from electric generators. S. 139 would have required entities with emissions exceeding 10,000 metric tons carbon dioxide equivalent, producers and importers of HFCs, PFCs, and SF6, and producers and importers of fossil fuel used for transportation to reduce their emissions to 2000 levels by 2010. (A more contentious clause which would have required additional reductions to 1990 levels starting in 2015 was dropped from the bill before the vote). This bill also proposed further scientific research into climate change.

The rejection of this bill represents the first Senate action on climate change since the 1997 Byrd- Hagel Resolution (S. RES. 98), which was adopted 95-0 in response to the Kyoto Protocol. The Byrd-Hagel resolution provided that the United States should not become a signatory to any international agreement on climate change that would cause serious harm to the U.S. economy, or which mandated developed countries to achieve reductions without regulating emissions of developing countries.

Welcome New Reporters!

We are happy to announce the addition of 15 new reporters this year. Thank you all and welcome to the Voluntary Reporting of Greenhouse Gases Program!
  • Black Beauty Coal Company
  • Blue Source, LLC
  • Commscope Headquarters-Hickory
  • Dakota Gasification Company
  • Fisher Scientific Company, LLC
  • The Forest Bird Society
  • Green Mountain Energy Company
  • Hanes Dye and Finishing, Butner Plant
  • J. Bradford Holloman
  • Montauk Energy Capital
  • Nissan North America, Inc.
  • Orlando Utilities Commission (OUC)
  • Shih Family
  • Toyota Motor North America, Inc.
  • TS Designs, Inc.

Congratulations to Southern California Edison and Pacific Gas and Electric Company!

Congratulations to 1605(b) reporters Southern California Edison and Pacific Gas and Electric Company for their receipt of a joint 2003 Energy StarÒ Award for Regional, State, and Community Leadership in Energy Efficiency! Energy StarÒ is a joint EPA/DOE program that certifies and promotes products surpassing federal energy efficiency requirements. Selected by the EPA and DOE, these two reporters, in conjunction with two other utilities and the State of California, have been honored for their dedication to educating citizens about energy efficiency products and incentives. The four utilities also received the 2003 Energy StarÒ Partner of the Year for New Homes from the EPA and DOE.

Both Southern California Edison and Pacific Gas and Electric Company have been documenting their energy savings and the resulting reductions in greenhouse gas emissions to the Voluntary Reporting Program since the Program's inception in 1994. Keep up the good work!


For More Information About Voluntary Reporting...

Voice: 1-800-803-5182 or 202-586-0688 Fax: (202) 586-3045
E-mail: infoghg@eia.doe.gov
Internet: http://www.eia.gov/oiaf/1605/frntvrgg.html
FTP: ftp://ftp.eia.doe.gov/pub/oiaf/1605/cdrom/
Mailing Address: Voluntary Reporting of Greenhouse Gases Program,
U.S. Department of Energy, Energy Information Administration, EI-81
1000 Independence Avenue, S.W., Washington, DC 20585.