The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published a Supplemental Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (SNPRM) in the May 22, 2023 Federal Register (F.R. Vol. 88 No. 98) (EPA-HQ-OAR-2019-0424; FRL-7230-03-OAR). This SNPRM would amend specific provisions in the Greenhouse Gas Reporting Rule (GHGR), which the EPA administers, to improve the quality and collection of data that is relevant to a wide variety of Clean Air Act provisions.
The EPA recently evaluated the requirements of the GHGR to identify areas of improvement, including updates to the existing calculation, recordkeeping, and reporting requirements; and requested information for collection of additional data to understand new source categories to the GHGR proposed on June 21, 2022 (F.R. Vol. 87 No. 118).
The EPA is now proposing additional amendments, including updates to the General Provisions to reflect revised global warming potential, and is proposing to require reporting of greenhouse gas data from additional sectors -energy consumption; coke calcining; ceramics production; calcium carbide production; and caprolactam, glyoxal, and glyoxylic acid production. The EPA is also proposing additional revisions that would improve implementation of the GHGR, such as updates to emissions calculation methodologies; revisions to reporting requirements to improve verification of reported data and the accuracy of the data collected; and other minor technical amendments, corrections, or clarifications.
The EPA intends to consider comments to this SNPRM prior to finalizing the rulemaking. The SNPRM also proposes to establish and amend confidentiality determinations for the reporting of certain data elements to be added or substantially revised in these proposed amendments.
Proposed amendments to Part 98 include:
Subpart A—General Provisions
- Proposed Revisions to Global Warming Potentials in Table A–1
- Additional Proposed Revisions to Improve the Quality of Data Collected for Subpart A
Subpart C - General Stationary Fuel Combustion
Subpart F - Aluminum Production
Subpart G - Ammonia Manufacturing
Subpart I - Electronics Manufacturing
Subpart N - Glass Production
Subpart P - Hydrogen Production
Subpart Y - Petroleum Refineries
Subpart AA - Pulp and Paper Manufacturing
Subpart HH - Municipal Solid Waste Landfills
Subpart OO - Suppliers of Industrial Greenhouse Gases
Subpart PP - Suppliers of Carbon Dioxide
Subpart QQ - Importers and Exporters of Fluorinated Greenhouse Gases Contained in Pre-Charged Equipment and Closed-Cell Foams
Subpart RR - Geologic Sequestration of Carbon Dioxide
Subpart UU - Injection of Carbon Dioxide
Subpart VV - Geologic Sequestration of Carbon Dioxide with Enhanced Oil Recovery Using ISO 27916
Proposed Amendments for Adding New Source Categories to Part 98
- Rationale for Inclusion in the GHGR
- Public Comments Received in Request for Comment
- Proposed Definition of Source Category
- Selection of Proposed Reporting Threshold
- Selection of Proposed Calculation Methods
- Selection of Proposed Monitoring, QA/QC, and Verification Methods
- Selection of Proposed Procedures for Estimating Missing Data
- Selection of Proposed Data Reporting Requirements
- Selection of Proposed Records That Must Be Retained
In the 2022 Data Quality Improvements Proposal, the EPA proposed confidentiality determinations for certain data elements in 26 subparts, including data elements newly added or substantially revised in the proposed amendments and existing data elements where the EPA had previously not established a determination, or was proposing to revise or clarify a determination based on new information.
In this supplemental proposal, the EPA is proposing additional amendments to Part 98 that would complement, expand on, or refine the amendments proposed in the 2022 Data Quality Improvements Proposal or that would further enhance the quality of Part 98 and implementation of the GHGR. To support the proposed amendments described in sections III and IV of this preamble, EPA is also proposing confidentiality determinations or "emission data"designations, and is providing 4 scenarios for comment.
The EPA is proposing that the final amendments would become effective on January 1, 2025. Reporters would implement the changes beginning with reports prepared for RY2025 and submitted March 31, 2026, with one exception for existing reporters. The facilities that are likely to be subject to subpart VV are thus not anticipated to be new reporters and would not perform any additional calculation, monitoring, or quality assurance procedures under the proposed requirements; therefore, the information submitted to the GHGR would be obtained and provided from readily available data and could be implemented beginning January 1, 2025. The EPA requests comments on the proposed schedule for existing and new reporters and the feasibility of implementing these requirements for the proposed schedule.
A virtual hearing, if requested, will be held using an online meeting platform, and the EPA will provide information on its website (www.epa.gov/ghgreporting) regarding how to register and access the hearing.
Comments for this EPA SNPRM are required by July 21, 2023.
The EPA SNPRM for Part 98 Subpart A is available on InterRegs.NET for our US Federal subscribers and is also available at www.selectregs.com.