Many institutional and commercial facilities have implemented strategies and practices in recent decades to curtail greenhouse gas emissions from their operations, with the goal of protecting the environment and achieving net zero status. Now, the administration has proposed ending the reporting system that tracks GHG emissions from facilities.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently announced that it would stop making polluting companies report their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to it, eliminating a tool the United States uses to track emissions and form climate policy. If finalized, the proposal would remove reporting obligations for most large facilities, all fuel and industrial gas suppliers, and CO2 injection sites.
The Clean Air Act (CAA) requires states to collect data on local pollution levels, which states then turn over to the federal government. For the past 15 years, the EPA has also collected data on carbon dioxide, methane and other greenhouse gases from sources around the country that emit over a certain threshold of emissions. This program is known as the Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program (GHGRP).
The GHGRP requires 47 source categories, covering over 8,000 facilities and suppliers in the United States to calculate and submit their GHG emissions reporting annually. Following its review, EPA proposed that there is no requirement under CAA section 114(a) to collect GHG emission information from businesses. The EPA is proposing to remove all GHG reporting requirements, except for those subject to the waste emissions charge.
Dan Hounsell is senior editor for the facilities market. He has more than 30 years of experience writing about facilities maintenance, engineering and management.?
