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Enhancing DOE's Registry of Greenhouse Gas Emissions
and Emission Reductions
Update: On November 26, 2003, DOE released proposed revised General Guidelines for the voluntary reporting of greenhouse gas emissions and emission reductions under section 1605(b) of the Energy Policy Act. The Department of Energy extended the comment period on its proposed revision of the General Guidelines to February 17, 2004. It plans to make available for public comment a further revision of the proposed General Guidelines simultaneously with the issuance of proposed Technical Guidelines, now scheduled for release during the late summer or early fall 2004. On January 12, 2004, DOE held a public workshop to discuss the proposed guidelines and to receive comments. A transcript and audio recording of the proceedings of this workshop are now available. Written comments on the proposed revised General Guidelines are available on-line.
Mailing List: Receive e-mail notices regarding further developments affecting DOE's voluntary greenhouse gas reporting guidelines.
Background
On February 14, 2002, the President directed the Secretary of Energy, working with the Secretaries of Commerce and Agriculture, and the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, to propose improvements to the current greenhouse gas registry to "enhance measurement accuracy, reliability and verifiability, working with and taking into account emerging domestic and international approaches." Please see Presidential statements on climate change policy.
Implementing this Presidential directive requires resolving significant technical and policy issues. DOE and the other participating Federal agencies are working to identify and address these issues, and are seeking public participation in this process. To facilitate public involvement, the Department issued a Notice of Inquiry in the Federal Register on May 6, 2002 (HTML) requesting comments on the process the Department was undertaking. Comments received in response to this Notice of Inquiry are available on-line. Supplemental comments submitted from September 2002 through October 2003 are available on-line.
On July 8, 2002, Secretary of Energy Abraham, together with the Secretaries of Commerce and Agriculture and the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, sent a letter to the President informing him of actions taken in response to his February 14, 2002 directive. The letter provided recommendations for improving DOE's Voluntary Reporting of Greenhouse Gases (1605b) Program and outlined a plan, including public workshops, for developing and issuing new reporting guidelines by January 2004 (for reporting 2003 data). Four workshops were organized by the Department of Energy in November and December 2002, each addressing the full range of issues related to the 1605b Program. The Environmental Protection Agency discussed greenhouse gas reporting during a session of its State and Local Climate Partners Conference held November 20–22, 2002. The Department of Agriculture held two meetings in January 2003 that focused on agriculture accounting rules and guidelines, and on forest accounting rules and guidelines.
See additional information on all the above workshops and meetings.
The Department of Energy began developing revised guidelines in January 2003. More information on the proposed General Guidelines and the Technical Guidelines now under development
Links to more information on the DOE's existing Voluntary Reporting of Greenhouse Gases (1605b) Program and other government climate initiatives
