Release No. 0420.02

Raymond Bridge (202) 720-5447

PUBLIC WORKSHOPS ON IMPROVEMENTS TO GREENHOUSE GAS REPORTING SCHEDULED

WASHINGTON, Oct. 2, 2002--The Departments of Energy and Agriculture and the Environmental Protection Agency are announcing the first series of workshops and meetings designed to enable interested persons to help improve the guidelines now governing the Department of Energy's Voluntary Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program [established by section 1605(b) of the Energy Policy Act of 1992] and related programs. These workshops are intended to assist the participating agencies in enhancing the reporting of greenhouse gas emissions and emission reductions, as directed by the President on February 14, 2002.

Specific dates and venues for the workshops being organized by the Department of Energy have now been set:

November 18-19, 2002

Hilton Crystal City at National Airport

2399 Jefferson Davis Highway

Arlington, VA 22202

December 5-6, 2002

Renaissance O'Hare Suites Hotel

8500 West Bryn Mahr Avenue

Chicago, IL 60631

December 9-10, 2002

Best Western Grosvenor Hotel

380 South Airport Boulevard

So. San Francisco, CA 94080

December 12-13, 2002

Houston Airport Marriott

18700 John F. Kennedy Blvd.

Houston, TX 77032

Each of these four workshops will address the full range of issues related to the Department of Energy's Voluntary Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reporting (1605b) Program. More information about the four workshops listed above, including instructions for persons who wish to attend, can be found at the following website:

http://www.pi.energy.gov/enhancingGHGregistry/index.html

Over the coming weeks, draft agendas and background papers will be posted on this website. Information on the workshops also will be distributed by e-mail to registered participants and other interested persons and published in the Federal Register.

In January 2003, the Department of Agriculture will host two meetings to solicit input on the accounting rules and guidelines for forest and agriculture greenhouse gas offsets that will be used in DOE's 1605(b) greenhouse gas reporting system. These meetings will address technical methodological issues associated with preparing estimates of greenhouse gas offsets from agriculture and forestry activities and reporting them under DOE's 1605(b) program.

Agriculture Accounting Rules and Guidelines, January 14-15, 2003 in the Washington metropolitan area.

Forest Accounting Rules and Guidelines, January 23, 2003 in the Washington metropolitan area.

Additional information about the USDA meetings, including venues, draft agendas and instructions for persons who may wish to attend will become available over the coming weeks. This information will be distributed by e-mail, published in the Federal Register and posted at the following website: http://www.usda.gov/oce/gcpo/index.htm.

The Environmental Protection Agency is planning to include greenhouse gas reporting issues as one of the sessions at the State and Local Climate Change Partners Conference. The conference is in Annapolis, MD, November 20-22, 2002. Registration information is on the web site: http://www.epa.gov/globalwarming/annapolis.

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