United States
Major Changes  to the Rule  Since Proposal
-
 Final Rule: Mandatory Reporting of Greenhouse Gases

•   Applicability. Reduced the number of source and supply categories that facilities and suppliers must
    report under this final rule.  The following source and supply categories are not required to report at this
    time:

        Electronics manufacturing          Oil and natural gas systems
        Ethanol production                 SF6 from electrical equipment
        Fluorinated GHG production        Underground coal mines
        Food processing                   Wastewater treatment
        Industrial landfills                 Suppliers of coal
        Magnesium production

•   Exiting the Program. Added a mechanism for facilities and suppliers to cease annual reporting by
    reducing their GHG emissions.

       - Cease reporting after 5 consecutive years of emissions below 25,000 metric tons CO2e/year.
       - Cease reporting after 3 consecutive years of emissions below 15,000 metric tons CO2e/year.
       - Cease reporting if the GHG-emitting processes or operations are shut down.

•   Measuring Devices. Added a provision to allow use of best available monitoring methods in lieu of the
    required monitoring methods for January - March 2010.  Facilities can request a date extension beyond
    March 2010, but EPA will not approve any requests for an extension beyond 2010.

•   Monitoring Equipment. In several subparts, added monitoring options, changed monitoring locations,
    or allowed  engineering calculations to reduce the need for installing new monitors.

•   Sampling Frequency. For fuel combustion and some other source categories, reduced the required
    frequency for sampling and analysis.

•   Exemption. Excluded R&D activities from reporting.

•   Quality Assurance. Added calibration requirements for flow meters and other monitoring devices
    including a five percent accuracy specification.

•   Report Revision.  Added provision to require submittal of revised annual GHG reports if needed to
    correct errors.

•   Records Retention. Changed the general records retention period from 5 years to 3 years.

•   Verification.  In several subparts, required more data to be reported rather than kept as  records to allow
    EPA to verify reported emissions.

•   Combustion Sources. Added exemptions for unconventional fuels, flares, hazardous wastes, and
    emergency equipment. Reduced the need for mass flow monitors for some units or fuels.  Allowed more
    facilities to aggregate reporting of emissions from smaller units rather than report emissions for each
    individual unit.

•   Manure Management Systems.  Added an animal population threshold to reduce the burden of
    determining applicability. Reduced the monitoring requirements.
September 2009                                1                                    40 CFR 98

-------