The Federal Greenhouse Gas Registry Act of 2008 (S.1387) is bill that was introduced in the 110th Congress for the purpose of amending the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act of 1986 (EPCRA) to provide for greenhouse gases.
EPCRA establishes requirements for Federal, State and local governments, Indian Tribes, and industry regarding emergency planning and the community's "right to know" by way reporting requirements on hazardous and toxic chemicals. The right to know piece of the act provides education to the public with knowledge and access to information with regards to hazardous chemicals and their application.
The Federal Greenhouse Gas Registry Act of 2008 intends to establish a registry for greenhouse gases that:
(1) Is complete, consistent, transparent, and accurate;
(2) Will collect reliable and accurate data that can be used to design efficient and effective energy security initiatives and greenhouse gas emission reduction strategies
(3) Will provide appropriate high-quality data to be used for implementing greenhouse gas reduction policies.
The proposed act will further require that the registry:
(1) Builds upon the final rule promulgated under the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2008
(2) Will make changes necessary to achieve the purposes of the Act
(3) Require emission reporting to begin by not later than January 1, 2011. Sets forth the duties of the Administrator in establishing the registry, including designing and operating the registry, establishing an advisory body to guide the development and management of the registry, providing coordination and technical assistance, and developing an electronic format for reporting.
The EPA must promulgate the final regulations for implementing the registry no later than July 1, 2009.
The act will also authorize the EPA to bring a civil action against the owner or operator of an affected facility that fails to comply with the Act, and imposes a $25,000 per day for each violation of this Act.
reference:
http://www.thomas.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/Dd110:51:./temp/~bdt3jH:@@@L&summ2=m&/bss/d110query.html
http://www.epa.gov/emergencies/docs/chem/epcra.pdf
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Hi Rick,
ReplyDeleteSounds like a great topic. I just heard a story about this on NPR, which focused on the importance of generating an accurate registry of GHG emissions. I don't know much about it, but apparently the EU got into some trouble because they didn't get a good estimate before establishing some cap and trade programs, and ended up doling out too many credits. I guess they've been struggling ever since with fixing the system. Anyway, I think that it's a great beginning for us - especially for those firms that are not currently required to produce quantitative data for their emissions. Do you know who will be collecting the data? Will it be a third party or will firms be allowed to submit their own data?
I'm not sure exactly. This is new to me too.
ReplyDeleteI find it interesting that the registry would be under EPCRA though...