91视频

On Sept. 22, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency adopted rules that will require the monitoring and reporting of greenhouse gas emissions in a program to begin Jan. 1, 2010. According to the EPA, the program will cover approximately 85 percent of the nation鈥檚 greenhouse gas emissions and apply to roughly 10,000 facilities.

Greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide, are produced by burning fossil fuels and via industrial and biological processes. The gases covered by the proposed rules are carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, hydrofluorocarbons, perfluorocarbons, sulfur hexafluoride, and other fluorinated gases including nitrogen trifluoride and hydrofluorinated ethers.

Under the rules, fossil fuels suppliers and industrial gas suppliers, manufacturers of heavy-duty and off-road vehicles and engines, and facilities that emit 25,000 metric tons or more per year of greenhouse gas emissions are required to submit annual reports to the EPA.

Examples of businesses covered by the rule include pulp and paper mills, petroleum refineries, solid waste landfills, cattle feedlots, and heavy-duty vehicle manufacturing facilities. The rule does not require control or reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, but does require that sources monitor and report emissions.

Stationary emissions from most general construction firms should be less than the required amount for reporting. However, companies involved with cement production, such as a cement manufacturing facility that uses kilns, would need to monitor and report emissions.

Fossil-fuel and industrial-gas suppliers and facilities that emit 25,000 metric tons or more per year must begin collecting information on Jan. 1, 2010, and submit annual emission reports starting March 31, 2011, for 2010 emissions. Vehicle and engine manufacturers must begin reporting carbon dioxide for model year 2011 and other greenhouse gases in subsequent model years.

Earlier this year Oregon adopted its own reporting rules for greenhouse gas emissions. These are more stringent than the EPA rules in some areas and less stringent in others. For example, Oregon鈥檚 reporting rules apply to facilities that have a Title V permit and emit as little as 2,500 metric tons of greenhouse gases per year. Oregon鈥檚 rules, however, do not cover the transportation sector.

The EPA鈥檚 rule does not preempt state rules such as that Oregon鈥檚. As a result, certain entities may be required to report under Oregon鈥檚 reporting rules but not under the EPA rules while others may be required to report under the EPA rules but not under Oregon鈥檚. The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality will assess whether to revise the Oregon rules to make them more consistent with the EPA rules or to adopt the EPA rules entirely.

Patrick Rowe聽is an attorney with the Portland law firm of Sussman Shank LLP and is a member of its litigation and environmental law groups.聽Contact him at 503-227-1111 or [email protected].