§300.13. Incorporation by reference. — Inbound Citations

(a) The General Guidelines in this part and the Technical Guidelines incorporated by reference in § 300.13 govern the Voluntary Reporting of Greenhouse Gases Program authorized by section 1605(b) of the Energy Policy Act of 1992 (42 U.S.C. 13385(b)). The purpose of the guidelines is to establish the procedures and requirements for filing voluntary reports, and to encourage corporations, government agencies, non-profit organizations, households and other private and public entities to submit annual reports of their greenhouse gas emissions, emission reductions, and sequestration activities that are complete, reliable and consistent. Over time, it is anticipated that these reports will provide a reliable record of the contributions reporting entities have made toward reducing their greenhouse gas emissions.

(a) EIA will review all reports to ensure they are consistent with this part and with the Technical Guidelines (incorporated by reference, see § 300.13). EIA will also review all reports for completeness, internal consistency, arithmetic accuracy and plausibility. Subject to the availability of adequate resources, EIA intends to notify entities of the acceptance or rejection of any report within six months of its receipt.

(2) An entity must estimate its total emissions using methods specified in Chapter 1 of the Technical Guidelines (incorporated by reference, see § 300.13) or by using the Simplified Emission Inventory Tool (SEIT) provided by EIA and also discussed in Chapter 1. The results of this estimate must be reported to EIA. [Note: emission estimates developed using SEIT may not be used to prepare, in whole or part, entity-wide emission inventories required for the registration of reductions.]

(a) The objective of an emission inventory is to provide a full accounting of an entity's emissions for a particular year, including direct emissions of the first six categories of gases listed in the definition of “greenhouse gases” in § 300.2, indirect emissions specified in paragraph (e) of this section, and all sequestration or other changes in carbon stocks. An emission inventory must be prepared in accordance with Chapter 1 of the Technical Guidelines (incorporated by reference, see § 300.13). An inventory does not include avoided emissions or any offset reductions, and is not subsequently adjusted to reflect future acquisitions, divestitures or other changes to the reporting entity (although a reporting entity often makes these types of adjustments when calculating emission reductions under the guidelines). Entity-wide inventories are a prerequisite for the registration of emission reductions by entities with average annual emissions of more than 10,000 metric tons of CO2 equivalent. Entities that have average annual emissions of less than or equal to 10,000 metric tons of CO2 equivalent are eligible to register emission reductions associated with specific activities without also reporting an inventory of the total emissions, but such entities should inventory and report the emissions associated with the specific activity(ies) they do cover in their reports.

(2) For some entities, a single calculation method will be sufficient, but many entities may need to apply more than one method because discrete components of the entity require different calculation methods. In such a case, the entity will need to select a method for each subentity (or discrete component of the entity with identifiable emission or reductions). The emissions and output measure (generally a physical measure) of each subentity must be clearly distinguished and reported separately. Guidance on the selection and specification of calculation methods is provided in Chapter 2 of the Technical Guidelines (incorporated by reference, see § 300.13).

(a) An entity may report emissions and sequestration on an annual basis beginning in any year, but no earlier than the base period of 1987-1990 specified in the Energy Policy Act of 1992. To be recognized under these guidelines, all reports must conform to the measurement methods established by the Technical Guidelines (incorporated by reference, see § 300.13).