WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Secretary of Energy Samuel W.Bodman today announced
revised guidelines for the department's Voluntary Greenhouse Gas Reporting
Program, known as"1605 (b)" that encourage broader reporting of emissions and
sequestration by utilities, and industries, as well as small businesses and
institutions. The revised guidelines strengthen the existing public registry for
emissions and sequestration data and introduce new methods for U.S. businesses
and institutions to calculate entitywide emission reductions that contribute to
the President's goal of substantially reducing U.S. emissions intensity.
"The revised guidelines fulfill President Bush's call for enhancing the
'accuracy, reliability, and verifiability'of voluntary reporting and provides a
mechanism for companies to identify areas to further reduce emissions,"
Secretary Bodman said. "This program enables companies to measure progress
toward the President's goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions intensity 18%
by 2012."
The guidelines provide tools and guidance for companies to strengthen their own
greenhouse gas management efforts through high quality emission inventories and
entitywide assessments of emission reductions, while also establishing a public
record of these efforts. Under this program,
U.S. companies will submit detailed, annual reports on their emissions and
reductions of greenhouse gases, and these reports will become part of the public
record.
The revised guidelines enable utilities, industries and other emitters of
greenhouse gases to be credited with registered reductions. The revised
guidelines include "stateofthescience" guidance and tools for estimating
emissions associated with agriculture, forestry, and other sectors of the
economy, and for calculating reductions from geologic sequestration, energy
efficiency programs and other efforts. While the revised guidelines are
primarily directed at large emitters of greenhouse gases, such as electricity
generators and major industries, special provisions also encourage participation
by farmers and small businesses.
This voluntary emissions reporting program is part of the Administration's
efforts to accelerate reductions in U.S. greenhouse gas intensity now, while
developing the advanced technologies needed to stabilize atmospheric
concentrations of greenhouse gases without impairing economic growth. The
revised program guidelines were developed through an extensive interagency and
multiyear public review process that included workshops, meetings and other
opportunities to provide DOE with oral and written comment. The revisions take
into account new and emerging science and are the first revisions since the
original guidelines were established under Section 1605 (b)of the 1992 Energy
Policy Act.
DOE's Energy Information Administration will administer this voluntary reporting
program and will prepare and make available for public review the forms
necessary to implement the revised guidelines during the 2007 reporting cycle.
The revised guidelines will be published in the Federal Register this week. For
more information on the revised guidelines visit http://www.pi.energy.gov/enhancingGHGregistry/
DOE
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Page Last Modified: August 7, 2008
