There are several changes to the GHG reporting process this year, says BLR Legal Editor Tim Fagan. Fagan explains what’s new in this quick video.

Related article: Next up: GHG reports, by Tim Fagan, BLR Legal Editor

Can’t watch the video? Here’s a transcript:

Sources subject to EPA’s Mandatory Greenhouse Gas Reporting regulations under 40 CFR 98 must submit reports of their 2014 GHG emissions by March 31. All reports must be submitted to EPA using the agency’s electronic Greenhouse Gas Reporting Tool, known as E-GGRT.

A few things about this year’s report.

1. First, deferred data is deferred no more. For certain source categories there are some inputs into the GHG emissions calculation equations that can be considered confidential business information. For this reason EPA allowed reporting of these data elements for 2010 through 2013 to be deferred, and this is the year all of the data must be reported.

E-GGRT has been updated to accommodate deferred data in the 2014 report, and data for 2010 through 2013 will be entered on to E-GGRT data entry screens specifically for such data and be submitted with the 2014 report.

2. Next, EPA has launched the Inputs Verifier Tool (IVT) within E-GGRT. This tool will allow reporters to use data for which there are disclosure concerns to calculate GHG emissions. The IVT will verify the validity of the inputs when they are entered and generate a verification report to be submitted to EPA, but the data itself will not be saved, nor will it be submitted to EPA.

This preserves the confidential business information, but adds a recordkeeping burden on the reporter. The IVT does not save data. The reporter must download the IVT input file and save it locally. IVT data files must be saved for 5 years, as opposed to 3 years for other records required by the GHG reporting regulations.

3. Finally, before submitting the report, E-GGRT conducts a series of checks and will return certain error messages if it determines parts of the report to be incomplete or incorrect.

For 2014, EPA has expanded the list of checks performed and error messages returned. This will allow for more complete and accurate submittals, and reduce the amount of follow-up that must be done by EPA.

Stay tuned for more compliance videos!