Fact Sheet vvEPA United States Environmental Protection Final Rule - Greenhouse Gas Reporting Rule: 2014 Revisions and Confidentiality Aaency Determinations for Petroleum and Natural Gas Systems Action • The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is finalizing revisions to the Petroleum and Natural Gas Systems source category (Subpart W) and the General Provisions (Subpart A) of the Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program (GHGRP). The final rule includes revisions to certain calculation methods, monitoring and data reporting requirements, terms and definitions, and technical and editorial errors that were identified during the course of implementation. • The EPA is also finalizing confidentiality determinations for new or substantially revised data elements finalized in this rule, as well as finalizing a revised confidentiality determination for one existing data element. • The changes will enhance the clarity and consistency of the reported data. They are not expected to significantly change the total amount of reporters or greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions covered by the GHGRP. • This rule will be effective January 1, 2015. Thus, beginning on January 1, 2015, facilities must follow the revised methods, as amended, to calculate emissions. This action does not affect annual GHG reports that will be submitted for the 2014 calendar year. Background • The GHGRP, mandated by Congress in the FY2008 Consolidated Appropriations Act, requires reporting of GHG data from large emission sources and suppliers across a range of industry sectors. • The GHGRP collects greenhouse gas data from facilities that conduct Petroleum and Natural Gas Systems activities, including production, processing, transmission, and distribution. For the 2013 calendar year, the EPA received annual reports from over 2,100 facilities with Petroleum and Natural Gas Systems activities. The total reported GHG emissions for 2013 was 224 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent. • The EPA has been working to improve the quality of data from this sector and expects that the GHGRP will be an important tool for the Agency and the public to analyze emissions and understand emissions trends. During the course of implementation, the EPA identified potential changes to the rule that, if made, would enhance its clarity and consistency, improve data quality, and respond to questions raised by reporters. Revisions Finalized revisions include: • Revising units of measure, terms, and definitions in certain equations to provide consistency throughout the rule, provide clarity, and better reflect facility operations. November 2014 1 40 CFR Part 98 ------- • Clarifying or simplifying calculation methods for certain sources at a facility, such as for liquids unloading, completions and workovers, onshore production storage tanks, blowdown vents, associated gas venting and flaring, and natural gas distribution sources. • Expanding the use of site-specific gas composition data at facilities. • Revising calculation methods for centrifugal and reciprocating compressors that have presented safety and operational process concerns for reporters and providing the use of optical gas imaging as a screening tool to detect emissions from compressors. • Clarifying and providing greater specificity regarding procedures for estimating missing data. • Removing existing provisions related to Best Available Monitoring Methods (BAMM) as the revisions finalized in this rule address the safety and technical concerns that may have prevented full compliance with the rule. • Providing transitional BAMM in 2015 for reporters who are subject to new monitoring or measurement requirements as part of these final revisions. • Revising reporting requirements to clarify and align more closely with the calculation methods and to clearly identify the data that must be reported for each source type. Confidentiality Determinations • The EPA is finalizing confidentiality determinations for new and substantially revised data reporting elements and a revised confidentiality determination for one existing data reporting element in the finalized amendments. More Information • For more information on the GHGRP and a prepublication version of this action, please visit our Web site: http://www.epa.gov/ghgreporting/reporters/rules/index.html. • For more information on Petroleum and Natural Gas Systems in the GHGRP, see: http: //www. epa. gov/ghgreporting/reporters/subpart/w .html. November 2014 2 40 CFR Part 98 ------- |