Short title

This Act may be cited as the

Greenhouse Gas Registry Act

Definitions

In this Act: (1)

Administrator

The term Administrator means the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency. (2)

Carbon dioxide equivalent

The term carbon dioxide equivalent means, for each greenhouse gas, the quantity of the greenhouse gas that the Administrator determines, pursuant to section 4, makes the same contribution to global warming as 1 metric ton of carbon dioxide. (3)

Climate registry

The term Climate Registry means the greenhouse gas emission registry jointly established and managed by more than 40 States and Indian tribes to collect greenhouse gas emission data from entities to support various greenhouse gas emission reporting and reduction policies for the member States and Indian tribes. (4)

Covered entity

The term covered entity means, for each calendar year— (A)a facility within the electric power sector that contains a fossil fuel-fired electricity generating unit or units that together emit more than 10,000 carbon dioxide equivalents of greenhouse gas in that year; (B)an industrial facility that emits more than 10,000 carbon dioxide equivalents of greenhouse gas in that year; (C)a facility that produces, or an entity that imports or exports, in that year refined or semirefined petroleum-based, or coal-based, liquid fuel; (D)a local distribution company that in that year delivers natural gas; (E)to the extent that the Administrator considers necessary to achieve the purposes described in section 3, an entity selling or distributing electric energy or an independent system operator; (F)a facility that produces for sale or distribution, or an entity that imports, in that year more than 10,000 carbon dioxide equivalents of hydrofluorocarbons, perfluorocarbons, sulfur hexafluoride, any other anthropogenic gas designated by the Administrator as a greenhouse gas under section 5, or any combination thereof; (G)a site at which carbon dioxide is geologically sequestered on a commercial scale; and (H)any other entity that the Administrator determines is appropriate in order to carry out the purposes set forth in section 3. (5)

Facility

The term facility means one or more buildings, structures, or installations of an entity on one or more contiguous or adjacent properties located in the United States. (6)

Geologically sequestered

The term geologically sequestered means the isolation of greenhouse gases, without reversal, in geological formations, as determined by the Administrator. (7)

Greenhouse gas

The term greenhouse gas means any of— (A)carbon dioxide; (B)methane; (C)nitrous oxide; (D)sulfur hexafluoride; (E)a hydrofluorocarbon; (F)a perfluorocarbon; or (G)any other anthropogenic gas designated by the Administrator as a greenhouse gas under section 5. (8)

Greenhouse gas emission

The term greenhouse gas emission means an emission of a greenhouse gas, including— (A)stationary combustion source emissions emitted as a result of combustion of fuels in stationary equipment, such as boilers, furnaces, burners, turbines, heaters, incinerators, engines, flares, and other similar sources; (B)process emissions consisting of emissions from chemical or physical processes other than combustion; (C)fugitive emissions consisting of intentional and unintentional emissions from equipment leaks, such as joints, seals, packing, and gaskets, or from piles, pits, cooling towers, and other similar sources; and (D)biogenic emissions resulting from biological processes, such as anaerobic decomposition, nitrification, and denitrification. (9)

Industrial facility

The term industrial facility means— (A)any facility in the manufacturing sector (as defined in North American Industrial Classification System codes 31, 32, and 33); (B)any natural gas processing plant; and (C)any other facility that produces petroleum-based or coal-based liquid fuel. (10)

Local distribution company

The term local distribution company has the meaning given that term in section 2(17) of the Natural Gas Policy Act of 1978 (15 U.S.C. 3301(17)). (11)

Reversal

The term reversal means an intentional or unintentional release to the atmosphere of a significant quantity, as determined by the Administrator, of greenhouse gas that was sequestered. (12)

Sequestered

The term sequestered means the separation, isolation, or removal of greenhouse gases from the atmosphere, as determined by the Administrator.

Purposes

The purposes of this Act are— (1)to establish a Federal greenhouse gas registry that— (A)is national in scope; (B)is complete, consistent, and transparent; and (C)will collect reliable and accurate data that can be used by public and private entities to design and implement efficient and effective energy security initiatives and greenhouse gas emission reduction strategies, including a mandatory, multisector emissions trading scheme or emissions reduction program; and (2)to provide the Administrator better direction and clarity than has been provided in previous laws with respect to the United States need for greenhouse gas emission information.

Determination of carbon dioxide equivalent value of greenhouse gases

(a)

Initial determination

Not later than 90 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall— (1)determine the quantity of each greenhouse gas that makes the same contribution to global warming as 1 metric ton of carbon dioxide; and (2)publish such determination in the Federal Register. (b)

Methodology

In determining the quantity of a gas that makes the same contribution to global warming as 1 metric ton of carbon dioxide under this section or section 5, the Administrator shall take into account publications by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change or a successor organization under the United Nations.

Designation of greenhouse gases

The Administrator shall— (1)designate as a greenhouse gas, for purposes of this Act, any directly emitted anthropogenic gas that is included in the Inventory of United States Greenhouse Gases and Sinks, 1 metric ton of which makes the same or greater contribution to global warming as 1 metric ton of carbon dioxide, as determined by the Administrator; and (2)publish, and update as necessary, in the Federal Register such designation, including the quantity of the gas that the Administrator determines makes the same contribution to global warming as 1 metric ton of carbon dioxide.

Reporting of greenhouse gases

Not later than July 1, 2011, and annually thereafter, each covered entity shall report to the Administrator the greenhouse gas emissions of the covered entity for the prior calendar year, in accordance with the regulations issued under section 7.

Regulations

(a)

In general

Not later than July 1, 2009, the Administrator shall issue regulations establishing a Federal greenhouse gas registry that achieves the purposes described in section 3. Such regulations shall— (1)ensure the completeness, consistency, transparency, accuracy, precision, and reliability of data submitted by covered entities on— (A)greenhouse gas emissions in the United States; and (B)the production and manufacture in the United States, and importation into the United States, of fuels and other products the uses of which result in greenhouse gas emissions; (2)take into account the best practices from the most recent Federal, State, tribal, and international protocols for the measurement, accounting, reporting, and verification of greenhouse gas emissions, including protocols from the Climate Registry and other mandatory State or multistate authorized programs; (3)take into account the latest scientific research; (4)require that, wherever feasible, submitted data are monitored using monitoring systems for fuel use, fuel flow, or emissions, such as continuous emission monitoring systems or systems of equivalent precision, reliability, accessibility, and timeliness; (5)require that, if a covered entity is already using a continuous emission monitoring system to monitor mass greenhouse gas emissions under a provision of law in effect as of the date of enactment of this Act that is consistent with this Act, that system be used to monitor submitted data; (6)require reporting at least annually, beginning with reporting on the emission of greenhouse gases during calendar year 2010; (7)include methods for minimizing double reporting and avoiding irreconcilable double reporting of greenhouse gas emissions; (8)include protocols to prevent covered entities from avoiding reporting requirements; (9)include strict protocols for verification of submitted data; (10)establish a means for electronic reporting; (11)ensure verification and auditing of submitted data; (12)establish consistent policies for calculating carbon content and greenhouse gas emissions for each type of fossil fuel reported; (13)provide for immediate public dissemination on the Internet of all verified data reported under this Act that are not— (A)vital to the national security of the United States, as determined by the President; or (B)confidential business information that cannot be derived from information that is otherwise publically available and that would cause significant calculable competitive harm if published (except that information relating to greenhouse gas emissions shall not be considered to be confidential business information); and (14)prescribe methods by which the Administrator shall, in cases in which satisfactory data are not submitted to the Administrator for any period of time— (A)replace the missing data with a best estimate of emission levels that may have occurred during the period for which data are missing, in order to ensure that emissions are not underreported or overreported and to create a strong incentive for meeting data monitoring and reporting requirements; and (B)take appropriate enforcement action. (b)

Information gathering authorities

For purposes of carrying out this Act and the regulations under this section, the Administrator shall have the same authority as the Administrator has under section 114 of the Clean Air Act.

Interrelationship with other systems

(a)

In general

The regulations issued under section 7 shall take into account the work done by the Climate Registry and other mandatory State or multistate authorized programs, and shall explain the major differences in approach between the system established under the regulations and the respective registries or programs. (b)

No preemption

Nothing in this Act preempts any State or regional greenhouse gas registry efforts.

Enforcement

(a)

Civil actions

The Administrator may bring a civil action in a United States district court against any entity that fails to comply with any requirement promulgated pursuant to section 7. (b)

Penalty

Any person that has violated or is violating regulations promulgated pursuant to section 7 shall be subject to a civil penalty of not more than $25,000 per day for each violation. (c)

Penalty adjustment

For each fiscal year after the fiscal year in which this Act is enacted, the Administrator shall, by regulation, adjust the penalty specified in subsection (b) to reflect changes for the 12-month period ending the preceding November 30 in the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the Department of Labor.

10.

Effect on other provisions

Nothing in this Act, or regulations issued pursuant to this Act, shall affect or be construed to affect the regulatory status of carbon dioxide or any other greenhouse gas, or to expand or limit regulatory authority regarding carbon dioxide or any other greenhouse gas, for purposes of the Clean Air Act. The previous sentence shall not affect implementation and enforcement of this Act.