The American Chemistry Council (ACC) is supporting a federal proposal that calls for mandatory reporting of greenhouse gas emissions from large sources.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) made the proposal March 10, saying the new reporting requirements would apply to suppliers of fossil fuel and industrial chemicals, manufacturers of motor vehicles and engines, as well as large direct emitters of greenhouse gases with emissions equal to or greater than a threshold of 25,000 metric tons per year. "The vast majority of small businesses would not be required to report their emissions because their emissions fall well below the threshold," EPA said.
Cal Dooley, ACC president and chief executive officer, said: "ACC supports EPA’s step to establish a national reporting system for greenhouse gas emissions. The United States needs a reporting system as a basis for discussion, development and implementation of a national climate policy. Consistent with our forward-looking approach to climate issues, ACC member companies track greenhouse gas emissions data and report it to ACC as a requirement of membership under our Responsible Care program. ACC reports the industry data on an aggregate basis."
He also pointed out that greenhouse gas emissions fell 13.2 percent between 1990 and 2007—-exceeding Kyoto Protocol requirements, and the industry’s greenhouse gas intensity—-a measure of emissions per unit of output—-improved 40.4 percent in the same time period.
"ACC is in the process of reviewing the specifics of the proposal," Dooley said. "As ACC prepares comments on the proposed rule, we will look for elements that can help drive a successful program, including ease of administration and implementation, broad applicability across the entire economy, reporting thresholds, consistency with other reporting rules, and others."
Dooley also noted that that chemistry products go into many widely-used items for energy efficiency and renewable energy, including building insulation, solar panels, wind turbines, lightweight vehicle parts, compact fluorescent light bulbs, energy-efficient appliances, lithium-ion batteries, and low-rolling resistance tires.
EPA said that the proposal calls for the first annual report to be submitted to the agency in 2011 for the calendar year 2010, except for vehicle and engine manufacturers, which would begin reporting for model year 2011.