[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 201 (Wednesday, October 19, 1994)]
[Unknown Section]
[Page 0]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 94-25901]
[[Page Unknown]]
[Federal Register: October 19, 1994]
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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Office of Policy
Guidelines for Voluntary Reporting of Greenhouse Gas Emissions
and Reductions, and Carbon Sequestration
AGENCY: Department of Energy (DOE).
ACTION: Notice of availability of guidelines.
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SUMMARY: Pursuant to Section 1605(b) of the Energy Policy Act of 1992,
the Department of Energy has developed guidelines for the voluntary
reporting of greenhouse gas emissions, their reduction, and carbon
fixation achieved through any measure. The data will be reported on
forms to be developed by the Energy Information Agency (EIA) and
entered into an EIA database.
The guidelines provide for the voluntary reporting of greenhouse
gas emissions and reductions, and of carbon sequestration. The
guidelines and supporting materials will assist parties in analyzing
activities and determining emissions and reductions in order to
voluntarily report this data. The EIA reporting forms will be
consistent with the guidelines. The guidelines and supporting material
are finalized and will be available for distribution on or before
October 31, 1994.
DATES: The Guidelines for the Voluntary Reporting of Greenhouse Gases
under Section 1605(b) of the Energy Policy Act of 1992 will be
available for distribution on or before October 31, 1994.
ADDRESSES: Copies of the guidelines and supporting documents are
available in hard copy or on 3\1/2\'' diskette. Copies may be obtained
by telephone request to (202) 586-3660, by facsimile request to (202)
586-2062 or (202) 586-3047, or by writing to the Office of Global
Environment (PO-63), U.S. Department of Energy, 1000 Independence Ave.,
SW., Washington, DC 20585. Please request publication DOE/PO-0028, and
indicate hard copy or diskette version.
A docket (Docket PO-VR-94-101) containing information related to
development of the guidelines and a copy of the guidelines and
supporting documents is available for public inspection in the DOE
Freedom of Information Reading Room, Room 1E-090, at the address listed
above, between the hours of 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. Monday through Friday.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jean Vernet, Office of Global
Environment (PO-63), U.S. Department of Energy, 1000 Independence Ave.,
SW., Washington, DC 20585, phone (202) 586-4755; or Elmer Holt, Office
of Global Environment (PO-63), at the same address, phone (202) 586-
0714.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Statutory Authority and Background
II. Discussion of Final Guidelines and Comments Received
A. Organization of the Final Guidelines and Supporting Materials
B. Purpose of the Guidelines and Design Principles
C. Changes to Draft Guidelines for Final Guidelines
1. Gases covered
2. Limitation on Vintage of Reportable Projects
3. Direct and Indirect Emissions
4. Primary and Secondary Effects
5. Amending a Previous Year's Report
6. Radiative Forcing of Greenhouse Gases
D. Changes to Draft Sector-Specific Supporting Documents for Final
Sector-Specific Supporting Documents
1. Electricity Supply
2. Residential and Commercial Buildings
3. Industrial
4. Transportation
5. Forestry
6. Agricultural
7. Adjusted Electricity Emissions Factors by State
III. Administrative Requirements
I. Statutory Authority and Background
Under Section 1605(b) of the Energy Policy Act of 1992 (EPAct; Pub.
L. 102-486), the Secretary of Energy with the Energy Information
Administration, and in consultation with the Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA), is required to establish a voluntary reporting system and
database on emissions of greenhouse gases (GHGs), reductions of these
gases, and carbon fixation. DOE is required to publish, after public
comment, guidelines setting procedures for the accurate voluntary
reporting of information on: (1) Greenhouse gas emissions on an annual
basis for the baseline period 1987 through 1990, and for subsequent
calendar years; (2) annual reductions of greenhouse gases and carbon
fixation achieved through any measure; and (3) reductions in greenhouse
gas emissions achieved voluntarily, or as a result of plant or facility
closings, or as a result of State or Federal requirements.
The guidelines and supporting materials finalized today will assist
those who wish to participate in determining or developing information
capable of being reported. The reporting forms and database system
required under Section 1605(b) are to be developed by EIA and must be
consistent with the guidelines.
Draft guidelines and supporting materials were made available for
public comment on June 1, 1994 (59 FR 28345); that notice discusses the
draft guidelines. A public hearing on the draft guidelines was held on
June 29, 1994. The draft supporting document for the agricultural
sector was made available June 30, 1994 (59 FR 33733). Comments were
provided by individuals and associations representing: public interest
environmental and land use groups; investor-owned and publicly-owned
utilities; independent power producers; oil production and use; coal
production and use; motor vehicle manufacturing and use; chemical
manufacturing; and academic, commercial, and public interest forestry
interests.
II. Discussion of Final Guidelines and Comments Received
A. Organization of the Final Guidelines and Supporting Materials
In response to comments, the final guidelines and supporting
materials have been re-organized from that presented in the draft. The
coverage of each sector-specific supporting Part, however, is the same
as that contained in the parallel Part of the draft documents. The
final guidelines and supporting documents, DOE/PO-0028, are organized
in three volumes:
Volume 1--General Guidelines
Volume 2--Sector-Specific Issues and Reporting Methodologies Supporting
the General Guidelines
Part 1--Electricity Supply Sector
Part 2--Residential and Commercial Buildings Sector
Part 3--Industrial Sector
Volume 3--Sector-Specific Issues and Reporting Methodologies Supporting
the General Guidelines
Part 4--Transportation Sector
Part 5--Forestry Sector
Part 6--Agricultural Sector
The material provided in the draft supporting document, Part 7,
dealing with Global Warming Potentials, has been revised as discussed
below, and now appears as Appendix E to each supporting volume.
B. Purpose of the Guidelines and Design Principles
The final guidelines and supporting materials have been developed
to reflect the goal of maximizing participation without compromising
the usefulness of the data voluntarily submitted. Commenters on the
draft guidelines generally supported the appropriateness of this goal,
although some did not agree on how to strike a balance between
maximizing participation and establishing a meaningful data reporting
system. The flexibility provided by the draft guidelines, which takes
into account the reporter's ability to use existing information and
select appropriate quantification methods, was supported by many
commenters as necessary to encourage participation.
However, some comments from environmental public interest groups
and forestry public interest groups urged that the final guidelines
include requirements for verification of emissions reductions and
carbon sequestration data. These commenters believe that the
flexibility provided by the program made data verification essential to
the credibility of the information entered into the database. Many of
these comments acknowledged that the statute directed neither DOE nor
reporters to obtain verification of data reported, but suggested that
third party verification could provide users of the database with
better assurances of its accuracy.
Some of these commenters indicated that, in the alternative, the
program should direct reporters to indicate the basis for the data
submitted based on a categorization system, and that the database
should be designed to allow sorting of data on the basis of this
categorization. For example, a report would indicate that data was
based on measurement, estimation, or use of default tables, and whether
emissions reductions project reports were accompanied by historic or
entity-wide emissions data. A database user would be able to retrieve
reported data on the basis of these categories.
In order to provide the flexibility necessary to encourage
reporting, the guidelines do not provide prescriptive features such as
verification. Rather, the guidelines indicate that a reporter will be
asked to categorize the data submitted. This categorization will
include third party verification as well as whether the data was
measured or estimated. Segregation of data by categories will be
possible.
DOE believes the approach of requesting the identification of data
derivation, and of any data verification performed, accommodates both
the need to maximize participation by providing flexibility, and the
need to create a useful and accessible database.
C. Changes to Draft Guidelines for Final Guidelines
After reviewing the comments received, DOE revised several
provisions of the draft general guidelines and some provisions of the
sector-specific supporting documents. The changes to the draft
guidelines include: the addition of gases to the list of those
reportable under the program, with delayed implementation for some of
those gases not covered in the draft guidelines; a limitation on
reporting project activities to those that achieved new emission
reductions or carbon sequestration beginning with January 1, 1991;
revision of the discussions about distinctions between primary and
secondary effects, and between direct and indirect emissions; and
guidance on amending a previous year's report.
A discussion of responses to significant comments on issues in the
draft general guidelines appears below. Significant changes as a result
of comments received on the sector-specific documents are discussed
below by sector document.
1. Gases Covered
The legislation does not define ``greenhouse gases.'' The draft
guidelines covered emissions of carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide,
as well as many of the halogenated substances. The final guidelines add
two halogenated substances, halon 1211 and halon 2402, to the list of
gases and substances covered. In addition, DOE announces the delayed
addition of three greenhouse gases, nitrogen oxides, nonmethane
hydrocarbons, and carbon monoxide, to the reporting program starting
with the third reporting cycle of the program which is expected in
1997.
a. Additional Gases to be Covered--Conventional Pollutants
Comments on the gases and substances covered by the draft
guidelines supported expansion of the program to a more comprehensive
list of greenhouse gases, especially some conventional, or
``criteria,'' pollutants regulated under the Clean Air Act for which
emissions data is collected by EPA and State agencies under various air
quality programs. These gases are nitrogen oxides, nonmethane
hydrocarbons, and carbon monoxide. Although these gases are not direct
greenhouse gases, they contribute to the formation of carbon dioxide
and/or tropospheric ozone.
The international scientific community has been unable to quantify
the differential radiative activity of these gases, and thus has not
provided an index of the climate change effects of these gases relative
to carbon dioxide. Because emissions data reported under the program
will be reported in units of weight, and not reduced by any common
index of comparative radiative effects, it is unnecessary to exclude
gases from the program solely on the basis that a quantification of
comparative effects is not available.
DOE agrees that a more comprehensive 1605(b) reporting program
should cover these indirect gases, and has expanded the gases covered
by the voluntary reporting program to include nitrogen oxides,
nonmethane hydrocarbons, and carbon monoxide. However, for the reasons
discussed below, DOE is delaying the programmatic acceptance of
voluntarily reported data on emissions and emissions reductions of
these gases for a period of two years. Thus, reports of data related to
these gases will first be accepted by EIA during the third reporting
cycle of the program, i.e. with reports filed in 1997. These reports
may include the results of activities beginning January 1, 1991, as
well as historic emissions data on these gases for the period 1987 to
1990.
The primary reason for delaying the addition of these gases is to
aid in the efficient administration of this new program. Neither DOE
nor EIA has sufficient experience in voluntary reporting to predict the
volume of participation in this program or the difficulties that may
arise in its implementation. EIA expects that experience gained in the
first two years of the program will enhance its ability to smoothly
accommodate this expansion of the reporting program.
b. Additional Gases to be Covered--Halogenated Substances
Comments were also received on the list of halogenated substances
for which emissions and reductions will be reportable. In response to
these comments, the final guidelines add two halogenated substances,
halon 1211 and halon 2402, to the list of reportable gases. Given the
limited amount of reporting anticipated on these substances, initial
coverage of the program includes these gases.
As explained in the June 1994 notice of availability for the draft
guidelines, the inclusion of some halogenated substances in the
voluntary reporting program is based on the language of Section
1605(b)(1)(B), referring to the reportability of reductions in
greenhouse gas emissions achieved through ``chlorofluorocarbon capture
and replacement.'' Without this language, DOE might have limited the
voluntary reporting program to those gases covered by the United
Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, thus excluding the
chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and other halogenated substances, including
the two halons now covered, from the reporting program.
One comment noted that the draft guidelines' failure to list halon
1211 and halon 2402 as reportable gases was inconsistent with the
listing of halon 1301. The draft guidelines and supporting materials
listed only those halogenated substances for which the
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) had published an index
of global warming potential (GWP) relative to carbon dioxide. While
there are internationally accepted indices of stratospheric ozone
depletion potential for halogenated and bromide substances in addition
to those listed in the draft guidelines and supporting documents, the
IPCC published a GWP for halon 1301, but not for any other halon.
Based on stratospheric ozone depletion characteristics, the
halogenated substances are covered by an international agreement, the
Montreal Protocol on Substances Depleting the Stratospheric Ozone, and
under U.S. law are regulated under Title VI of the Clean Air Act
Amendments of 1990. These gases are greenhouse gases, although they
also have the antagonistic characteristic of destroying tropospheric
ozone, which tends to indirectly produce global cooling. These
antagonistic effects complicate the analysis of their impact on the
global climate, and have divided the scientific community over whether
the net effect of some of these gases will be global warming or
cooling.
This division in the scientific community has made it difficult to
determine the quantitative global warming potential of these gases.
Because emissions data reported under the program will be reported in
units of weight, and not reduced to a standard measure by application
of a common index of comparative radiative effects, and to be
consistent with the decision discussed above on conventional
pollutants, halon 1211 and halon 2401 are added to the list of gases
for which emissions may be reported under the program. Based on the
limited amount of activity in production and use of these substances,
and on the similarity in emissions of these substances to other
halogenated substances, DOE has determined that there is no
administrative need to delay acceptance of submissions on these gases.
2. Limitation on Vintage of Reportable Projects
The General Guidelines include a new section, discussing the
limitation on reporting projects which resulted in a reduction in
emissions, but on which activity commenced before 1991. The final
guidelines permit reporting as projects only new (post-1990) emissions
reductions and carbon sequestration. Pre-1991 emissions reductions will
be reflected in emissions reporting only. Thus, the results of all
emission reduction activities which are first achieved in 1991 are
reportable as projects, even if the activity commenced before 1991. For
example, in the case of an ongoing demand side management program,
emissions changes arising from energy savings through appliance
replacement in 1991 can be reported as project results, but the effects
of appliance replacements before 1991 are not reportable as emissions
reduction projects. Rather, these effects are subsumed in emissions
reporting for the baseline period of 1987 through 1990.
The draft guidelines had no comparable discussion. Some commenters
maintained that a time limitation on reportable emissions reduction
projects was necessary, particularly because under the guidelines
reporters may separately report emissions and emissions reductions.
These comments indicated that the statutory language of section
1605(b)(1)(A)(i) providing for 1987 through 1990 as baseline years for
emissions reporting implied that emissions reductions reporting under
section 1605(b)(1)(B) was limited to reductions occurring after 1990.
Reductions occurring before 1991 would be reportable only for their
effect on emissions reported for the baseline years, rather than
separately as emissions reductions projects.
Since the statutory language on reporting emissions reductions is
not explicitly tied to any specific year or years, and the years 1987
through 1990 are referred to as the baseline period, DOE is persuaded
that goals of the reporting program are best served by limiting reports
of emission reduction projects to new emissions reductions after 1990.
Many emission reduction projects have multi-year or multi-decade lives;
without a time limitation, the database would include the emissions
reductions results of older activities more appropriately reflected
within emissions reporting rather than highlighted separately as
emissions reduction projects.
3. Direct and Indirect Emissions
The reporting program covers activities which directly or
indirectly result in greenhouse gas emissions or emissions reductions.
DOE has revised the text of the General Guidelines to clarify the
distinction between direct and indirect emissions in order to assist
reporters in identifying the distinction.
Some commenters supported limiting the program to submissions of
data on direct emissions, and to activities that directly produce or
reduce emissions, in order to provide clarity in the program's
database. Other comments supported the draft's inclusion of activities
that indirectly impact greenhouse gas emissions, based on the statutory
listing in Section 1605(b)(1)(B) of activities which indirectly affect,
or may indirectly affect, emissions or reductions. Additionally, many
comments evidenced confusion over the draft's discussion of direct and
indirect emissions.
DOE agrees that the statutory listing of activities which
indirectly affect emissions, as well as activities that directly affect
emissions, supports the inclusion of both direct and indirect emissions
in the reporting program. DOE also agrees that these concepts are
potentially confusing. To assist reporters in identifying direct and
indirect emissions, DOE has revised the text of the General Guidelines.
It is apparent from many of the comments that this confusion was
largely created by intertwining the concepts of primary and secondary
effects of an activity with the concepts of resulting direct and
indirect emissions.
In response, DOE has eliminated the distinction between primary and
secondary effects of a project, leaving a single concept of
``effects''.
4. Primary and Secondary Effects
Based on comments expressing confusion over the concepts and the
draft guidance for the inclusion of both primary and secondary effects
in project analysis, the final guidelines have eliminated the
distinction. While the concepts are still presented in Section GG-5.9,
the reporter is urged to consider and report the known and quantifiable
``effects'' of a project without regard to whether they are primary or
secondary. To provide additional clarity, the final guidelines also
present examples of different types of effects.
5. Amending a Previous Year's Report
The final guidelines add a provision which allows reporters to
amend any previous year's report. The program will, for example, accept
reports based on estimated and default data, which will be identified
as such by the reporter. (See discussion at II.B., above.) Where a
reporter subsequently develops better data, for example through field
measurements or utility-specific emissions factors, the original report
may be modified based on information developed using the later-acquired
data. The amended report will include the reason for the revision and a
comparison of the amended report's changes to the original report.
The primary reason for adding this provision is to encourage
reporters to develop their own activity-specific data, without
discouraging reporting based on less-specific estimation or default
data.
6. Radiative Forcing of Greenhouse Gases
The language of Section 1605(b)(1) provides that the reporting
guidelines are ``to establish procedures for taking into account the
differential radiative activity and atmospheric lifetimes of each
greenhouse gas.'' The draft guidelines and the supporting materials
included as Part 7, ``Global Warming Potentials'' (GWPs), describing
the GWP index developed by the IPCC as a simple method for representing
the relative effects on climate resulting from a unit mass of a
greenhouse gas.
Comments unanimously supported DOE's decision to require that
emissions data be reported only in units of greenhouse gases emitted,
and not to require reporters to convert these data to the effects of
the gases reported relative to carbon dioxide. The final guidelines
continue to direct that reported data will be in units of gas emitted.
Commenters expressed concerns that (1) the concept of GWPs was too
complex to be useful to most reporters in developing GHG mitigation
options; (2) the discussion in draft Part 7 of the scientific basis of
GWPs was flawed; and (3) use of scientific work not yet formally
adopted by the IPCC was inappropriate.
In response to comments, draft Part 7 has been substantially
condensed and appears as Appendix E in the two supporting volumes. The
expansion of draft Part 7 to clarify fully the many complex and
evolving scientific issues was deemed outside the scope of the
voluntary reporting program. A brief discussion of the concept,
together with a chart of the latest quantitative GWP index developed by
the international scientific community, is provided in the Appendix.
The reader/user is referred to other sources for additional
information.
DOE agrees that the scientific concepts involved in GWPs, such as
time horizons, carbon cycle models, and integration time scales, may
not be clearly understood by many in the general reporting population.
The ongoing improvements in our understanding of the complex global
climate system and analytic models developed are evidenced, as
discussed in the Notice of Inquiry preceding the draft guidelines, by
the 1992 revision of the 1990 IPCC report on GWPs. Further, revisions
to the 1992 report have been approved by an IPCC subsidiary body,
Working Group I, and will be published later this year. It is from this
anticipated publication that the GWPs provided in the draft and final
guidelines are taken.
The IPCC, an international body charged with reaching international
consensus on the complex scientific matters in climate change, is
supported by the United States. IPCC work will ultimately be a factor
in both domestic and international analyses on climate change
mitigation options. It would thus be imprudent for the DOE reporting
guidelines to address differential radiative forcing in a manner
inconsistent with the IPCC. The 1994 revisions to the IPCC GWP index
have been approved by Working Group I and are expected to be formally
accepted by the full IPCC soon after publication of the final
guidelines. DOE is using this material in advance of its formal
acceptance for administrative ease.
7. Editorial and Minor Revisions
In response to various comments, editorial revisions were made
throughout the General Guidelines and the supporting documents as
follows.
Case studies and examples. Case studies and examples are provided
for the purpose of illustrating the process of project analysis in
light of a reporter's purpose and sector-specific circumstances and
conditions. Some commenters suggested that some of the case studies and
examples provided were unrealistic, that they suggest a greater
reporting burden for reporters in some sectors than in others, or that
they appear to require the use of certain approaches and methods for
some activities.
To address these comments, the following text has been added to all
case study and example presentations:
Note: This example illustrates only one approach in analyzing a
project; your analysis, methods, and calculations will vary depending
on your particular circumstances, the geographic location of the
project, and other factors.
Examples are intended to provide, in an educational manner,
illustrations of various approaches to project and emissions analysis
permitted within the guidelines. They are not intended to imply any
additional directions or restrictions on reporting over and above that
provided by the Guidelines. The case studies and examples do, however,
suggest to potential reporters different ways in which existing data
and resources may be used to develop a report. The illustrated cases
thus differ in detail based on the stated purpose of the hypothetical
reporter for reporting, and the individual circumstances surrounding
the project and the reporter. Consistent with the goal of maximum
participation in the program, the flexibility of the reporting program
is not bound by any particular case study or example discussion on any
issue.
Subjective Terminology
Comments were made that the use in the guidelines and the
supporting materials of certain descriptive terms, relative to a
reporter's decisions regarding the data developed and reported, were
inappropriate within a voluntary program. The program's flexibility
allows reporters to select among various approaches in developing a
report. These selections do not encompass comparative value of the
reporter's activities. No value judgments are intended by the use of
subjective terms in any description of the reporter's choice of
approaches. Accordingly, the final guidelines and supporting materials
have been revised to minimize use of these terms, and to better reflect
that judgments on the quality of the data reported are to be made by
the reporter and database user, and not by the reporting program. Where
these terms remain in the guidelines and supporting documents, they are
intended to reflect differing perspectives of both reporters and
database users on choices permitted by the reporting program.
D. Changes to Draft Sector-Specific Supporting Documents for Final
Sector-Specific Documents
Comments were received on all draft sector specific supporting
documents. Revisions to the draft guidelines in response to comments on
less significant technical, mathematical, or editorial errors in the
draft sector specific supporting documents are not individually
discussed in this notice, but were considered and addressed where
appropriate.
Most comments fall into several categories of issues, including
those that have been addressed in the final General Guidelines and
discussed above in section II.C. of this notice. These categories
include: failure to discuss all emissions reduction or carbon
sequestration activities applicable to the sector; criticism of the
case studies' use of unrealistic circumstances; the accuracy,
completeness, and degree of conservativeness of default tables; and the
lack of balance among sector documents indicating differing reporting
burdens.
The program is expressly intended to provide reporters with the
flexibility to report on the achievements of all emissions reduction
and carbon sequestration activities. The failure of the draft
guidelines and supporting materials to discuss or list any particular
activity does not indicate that its achievements are not reportable
under the 1605(b) program.
In response to comments, the final supporting documents add
discussions of some additional emissions reduction and carbon
sequestration approaches, and provide more emphasis to some of the
approaches discussed in the draft. Nevertheless, the guidelines and
supporting documents are not intended to provide an exclusive list of
all activities that may be reported. The guidelines could not, for
example, provide identification and quantification of achievements from
the novel, innovative actions for which the information sharing
function of the voluntary reporting program is paramount.
As discussed above in C.7., the guidelines and supporting documents
use case studies and examples to illustrate the application of concepts
and varied approaches to project analysis and reporting. Reporters are
not bound by the particulars of any presentation. Rather, the
guidelines provide reporters the flexibility needed to adapt project
analysis approaches to particular circumstances, including the type of
project, the availability of necessary data, and the purpose for
reporting.
Thus, while revisions have been made in many case studies and
examples throughout the documents in response to comments regarding
realism, these study examples are not intended to be exhaustive of the
range of appropriate approaches that reporters may develop and use to
determine the data to report under this program.
Significant comments were received on the accuracy, completeness,
and degree of conservativeness of the default tables provided in the
supporting documents. Based on DOE's technical judgment on individual
comments, errors have been corrected. Responses to these comments on
specific sector default tables appear below in the discussion of the
relevant sector.
In keeping with the flexibility of the program, reporters are
encouraged to use and develop data specific to the project being
reported to accommodate their individual circumstances. The continued
inclusion of default tables is, however, in keeping with the goal of
maximum participation, where the wide disparity among potential
reporting populations supports the need to provide some ``lookup''
tables for use at the discretion of the reporter.
Default tables, by their nature, may provide an easy way for
reporters to estimate the quantity of certain factors they may need in
order to report. By virtue of their ease of use, these tables cannot
accommodate all variables involved; rather, they are based on judgments
on appropriate methodologies and available data. In some fields of
endeavor, there is no apparent consensus on methodologies and the
quality and quantity of data needed either to develop default tables or
to definitively judge their conservativeness. The default tables
provided are, in DOE's judgment, generally conservative.
Some commenters asked that DOE add default tables covering
additional data quantification areas. While DOE agrees that the
addition of tables in these documents could be helpful to reporters,
their development did not warrant a delay in issuing the final
guidelines and supporting documents. In many instances, measurement and
other methodologies are in their relative infancy. DOE expects that
data and methodologies will evolve as national and international
interest continue in the areas of greenhouse gas emissions reduction
and carbon sequestration. Since reporters are permitted to develop
their own data and submit it to the voluntary reporting program, the
program itself may aid in the development of methodologies and the
accumulation of data to advance knowledge in these areas. DOE
acknowledges that sector-specific documents appear to differ greatly in
the detail with which applicable concepts and approaches are discussed.
This distinction was especially noted in comments on the Electricity
Supply Sector, Residential and Commercial Buildings Sector, Industrial
Sector and Forestry Sector documents, expressing concern that the
differences may indicate a higher reporting burden for these sectors.
The differences in focus and depth are based primarily on the
breadth of technical knowledge of each sector's greenhouse gas and
emissions reduction or carbon sequestration features, including the
knowledge held by each sector's population and the degree to which
reporters will have or can develop sufficient data necessary for a
report. These differences in focus and depth do not direct any
additional or supplementary requirements for these sectors. Minimum
reporting requirements, set forth in section GG-6 of the final General
Guidelines, are identical for all reporters and projects, regardless of
sector.
1. Electricity Supply
In addition to the revisions discussed above, in response to
comments on the draft Electricity Supply Sector document, the final
Electricity Supply Sector document includes more prominent mention of:
(1) The possible use of Integrated Resource Planning data and data
development methods; (2) the role of least-cost or other dispatching
modes; (3) the role of hydroelectric power in renewable energy; and (4)
emissions reduction projects in electrotechnologies. The discussion of
relevant electrotechnologies has been augmented in the Industrial and
Transportation Sector documents as well.
Comments were received on requiring reporters in this sector to use
certain existing Federal or State requirements, or other existing
protocols in developing reporting data. One example of a Federal
protocol is the EPA's Conservation and Verification Protocol, 40 CFR
Part 73, which is used in the acid rain program under title IV of the
Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990 to determine the distribution of bonus
sulfur dioxide allowances based on electricity conservation programs.
Another example under the Federal acid rain program is EPA regulations
providing for monitoring or estimating and reporting carbon dioxide
emissions from certain boilers. Many States also have protocols dealing
with estimating energy savings from demand side management (DSM)
programs.
While activities in this sector are characterized by an extensive
array of measurement and estimation methodologies and protocols, many
of which are mentioned in the guidelines and supporting documents, DOE
does not require their use for the reporting program. Consistent with
the flexibility of the program, reporters may choose to use appropriate
protocols and data developed for other reasons, including compliance
with Federal and State requirements.
Significant revisions to some of the examples for this sector were
made in response to comments that the scenarios and quantification
specifics provided were unrealistic. In addition to these revisions,
the language of the caveat discussed in section II.C.7., above, has
been added to the presentation of all examples for the purpose of
indicating that the example is meant to illustrate concepts, not to
prescribe the use of specific approaches.
2. Residential and Commercial Buildings
Comments on the supporting document for the Residential and
Commercial Buildings Sector reflect similar concerns to those raised on
the Electricity Supply Sector document. In response to comments, DOE
has added discussions of electrotechnologies specific to this sector
and identified additional conservation techniques. DOE has clarified
that the ability to report the results of an activity is not dependent
on whether that technology or technique is mentioned in the guidelines
or supporting documents.
Activities in this sector are characterized by an array of
measurement and estimation methodologies, some of which are mentioned
in the document. Comments were received on requiring reporters to use
specific protocols available for this sector. For the same reasons as
discussed in section D.1., above, the guidelines do not prescribe the
use of specific methodologies or protocols for measurement or
estimation.
3. Industrial
In response to comments, DOE has modified discussions on the
appropriate consideration of the obsolescence of equipment in
determining the reference case for reportable projects. Biomass
emissions factors have been clarified, and the distinction between
temporary and permanent fuel switching has been eliminated.
Similar to other sector-specific documents, the final Industrial
Sector supporting document has expanded discussions of
electrotechnologies specific to this sector and identified additional
conservation techniques. The ability to report the results of an
activity is not dependent on whether a technology or technique is
mentioned in the guidelines or supporting documents.
4. Transportation
In addition to the general revisions discussed above, DOE has
expanded the discussion on electric vehicles in the Transportation
Sector supporting document. Activities in the transportation sector are
characterized by an extensive array of measurement and estimation
methodologies, some of which are mentioned in the document. The use of
some of these methodologies is required under various Federal
regulatory and funding programs, such as those which regulate vehicle
air pollutant emissions or award highway construction funds. For the
reasons discussed above, reporters are not limited to using these
protocols.
5. Forestry
Comments on the Forestry Sector document related to its apparent
emphasis on carbon sequestration activity from new or replacement
forestation, together with a corresponding lack of emphasis on forest
preservation, forest management, and urban forestry. The varying
treatment of types of carbon sequestration activity is not meant to
imply a preference by DOE, or by the reporting program, for any
particular type of forestry activity. It is, rather, based primarily on
the state of the knowledge in these areas of forest carbon
sequestration. Similar to other sector documents, reporting is not
limited to the activities discussed.
Comments on the limited tree species and associated reference cases
provided for standard forestry projects suggested that the table be
expanded to include additional species. These data were developed with
the assistance of U.S. Forest Service staff, and the tables are based
on the availability of sufficient information to generalize carbon
sequestration effects of certain activities. While such information is
available for the major commercial species which are addressed in the
tables, DOE believes that there is insufficient information available
to develop adequate default tables on other species or reference cases.
For additional species and reference cases, as well as for other
forestry activities, the reporter will need to develop specific project
data.
Other commenters stated that field measurements for projects in
this sector were particularly essential to assure the accuracy of the
data submitted. Consistent with the flexibility necessary to encourage
reporting in this and all other sectors, the guidelines do not provide
prescriptive features such as requiring field measurements. Rather, the
guidelines indicate that a reporter will be asked to categorize the
data submitted, including whether it is based on measurement.
6. Agricultural
Comments received on the draft document for the Agricultural Sector
were indicative of the complexity of the sector, and its unique
characteristic of including reportable activities that contribute both
to greenhouse gas emissions and to carbon sequestration.
Comments were received on the failure to include any discussion of
certain emissions reduction or carbon sequestration approaches
specifically applicable to the agricultural sector. In response to
these comments, additional text has been added on windbreaks and
shelterbelts, changes to grazing land, and the production of biomass
for fuel. The failure of the document to address other agricultural
activities which affect greenhouse gases or carbon sequestration is not
intended to preclude data submissions on those activities, including
energy efficiency improvements.
7. Adjusted Electricity Emissions Factors by State
Substantial and detailed comment was received on the draft Appendix
C, ``Adjusted Electricity Emissions by State,'' which appeared in all
draft sector supporting documents. After consideration of the comments
received, Appendix C has been revised to employ a simpler methodology
and the inclusion of nonutility generation emissions. A summary of the
methodology used for the table appears together with the table in
Appendix C. The published data on fuel use and technologies used are
identified.
In response to comments that the draft failed to include nonutility
generation, emissions factors for nonutility generation have been
added, together with weighted combined emissions factors for utility
and nonutility generation. Where the reporter utilizing the table knows
whether the power is utility or nonutility generated, the appropriate
factor should be used. The combined factor is intended for use when the
reporter is unable to make this identification.
In keeping with the flexibility of the program, reporters are
encouraged to use emissions factors specifically applicable to the
project being reported. Where a utility-specific factor is available,
for example, it will incorporate actual fuel mix and dispatching modes
which are not differentiated within a State factor provided in Appendix
C. The inclusion of revised Appendix C is in keeping with the
programmatic goal of maximum participation, by providing a method for
estimating emissions and reductions when other data are not easily
available.
III. Administrative Requirements
A. Regulatory Review
DOE has determined that this is not a significant regulatory action
because it does not meet the criteria which define such actions under
Executive Order 12866, 58 FR 51735, and is therefore not subject to
regulatory review. Accordingly, the Office of Management and Budget
(OMB) has informed DOE that no clearance of the guidelines and
supporting materials is required.
B. Issues Under the Paperwork Reduction Act
The provisions of section 1605(b) direct EIA to develop the
reporting forms and database for the reporting program, consistent with
the guidelines issued today. Separate administrative requirements apply
to the development of EIA reporting forms.
Any information collection requirements proposed for the voluntary
reporting program are subject to the Paperwork Reduction Act, 44 U.S.C.
3501 et seq., and will be submitted to the Office of Management and
Budget for review and approval of paperwork requirements. EIA
anticipates the availability of draft reporting forms for public
comment within 30 days. A notice on the availability of the draft
reporting forms will appear in the Federal Register.
Issued in Washington, DC on October 13, 1994.
Susan F. Tierney,
Assistant Secretary, Office of Policy.
[FR Doc. 94-25901 Filed 10-18-94; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P
