[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 201 (Wednesday, October 19, 1994)]
[Unknown Section]
[Page 0]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 94-25901]


[[Page Unknown]]

[Federal Register: October 19, 1994]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Office of Policy

 

Guidelines for Voluntary Reporting of Greenhouse Gas Emissions 
and Reductions, and Carbon Sequestration

AGENCY: Department of Energy (DOE).

ACTION: Notice of availability of guidelines.

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SUMMARY: Pursuant to Section 1605(b) of the Energy Policy Act of 1992, 
the Department of Energy has developed guidelines for the voluntary 
reporting of greenhouse gas emissions, their reduction, and carbon 
fixation achieved through any measure. The data will be reported on 
forms to be developed by the Energy Information Agency (EIA) and 
entered into an EIA database.
    The guidelines provide for the voluntary reporting of greenhouse 
gas emissions and reductions, and of carbon sequestration. The 
guidelines and supporting materials will assist parties in analyzing 
activities and determining emissions and reductions in order to 
voluntarily report this data. The EIA reporting forms will be 
consistent with the guidelines. The guidelines and supporting material 
are finalized and will be available for distribution on or before 
October 31, 1994.

DATES: The Guidelines for the Voluntary Reporting of Greenhouse Gases 
under Section 1605(b) of the Energy Policy Act of 1992 will be 
available for distribution on or before October 31, 1994.

ADDRESSES: Copies of the guidelines and supporting documents are 
available in hard copy or on 3\1/2\'' diskette. Copies may be obtained 
by telephone request to (202) 586-3660, by facsimile request to (202) 
586-2062 or (202) 586-3047, or by writing to the Office of Global 
Environment (PO-63), U.S. Department of Energy, 1000 Independence Ave., 
SW., Washington, DC 20585. Please request publication DOE/PO-0028, and 
indicate hard copy or diskette version.
    A docket (Docket PO-VR-94-101) containing information related to 
development of the guidelines and a copy of the guidelines and 
supporting documents is available for public inspection in the DOE 
Freedom of Information Reading Room, Room 1E-090, at the address listed 
above, between the hours of 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. Monday through Friday.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jean Vernet, Office of Global 
Environment (PO-63), U.S. Department of Energy, 1000 Independence Ave., 
SW., Washington, DC 20585, phone (202) 586-4755; or Elmer Holt, Office 
of Global Environment (PO-63), at the same address, phone (202) 586-
0714.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Statutory Authority and Background
II. Discussion of Final Guidelines and Comments Received
    A. Organization of the Final Guidelines and Supporting Materials
    B. Purpose of the Guidelines and Design Principles
    C. Changes to Draft Guidelines for Final Guidelines
    1. Gases covered
    2. Limitation on Vintage of Reportable Projects
    3. Direct and Indirect Emissions
    4. Primary and Secondary Effects
    5. Amending a Previous Year's Report
    6. Radiative Forcing of Greenhouse Gases
D. Changes to Draft Sector-Specific Supporting Documents for Final 
Sector-Specific Supporting Documents
    1. Electricity Supply
    2. Residential and Commercial Buildings
    3. Industrial
    4. Transportation
    5. Forestry
    6. Agricultural
    7. Adjusted Electricity Emissions Factors by State
III. Administrative Requirements

I. Statutory Authority and Background

    Under Section 1605(b) of the Energy Policy Act of 1992 (EPAct; Pub. 
L. 102-486), the Secretary of Energy with the Energy Information 
Administration, and in consultation with the Environmental Protection 
Agency (EPA), is required to establish a voluntary reporting system and 
database on emissions of greenhouse gases (GHGs), reductions of these 
gases, and carbon fixation. DOE is required to publish, after public 
comment, guidelines setting procedures for the accurate voluntary 
reporting of information on: (1) Greenhouse gas emissions on an annual 
basis for the baseline period 1987 through 1990, and for subsequent 
calendar years; (2) annual reductions of greenhouse gases and carbon 
fixation achieved through any measure; and (3) reductions in greenhouse 
gas emissions achieved voluntarily, or as a result of plant or facility 
closings, or as a result of State or Federal requirements.
    The guidelines and supporting materials finalized today will assist 
those who wish to participate in determining or developing information 
capable of being reported. The reporting forms and database system 
required under Section 1605(b) are to be developed by EIA and must be 
consistent with the guidelines.
    Draft guidelines and supporting materials were made available for 
public comment on June 1, 1994 (59 FR 28345); that notice discusses the 
draft guidelines. A public hearing on the draft guidelines was held on 
June 29, 1994. The draft supporting document for the agricultural 
sector was made available June 30, 1994 (59 FR 33733). Comments were 
provided by individuals and associations representing: public interest 
environmental and land use groups; investor-owned and publicly-owned 
utilities; independent power producers; oil production and use; coal 
production and use; motor vehicle manufacturing and use; chemical 
manufacturing; and academic, commercial, and public interest forestry 
interests.

II. Discussion of Final Guidelines and Comments Received

A. Organization of the Final Guidelines and Supporting Materials

    In response to comments, the final guidelines and supporting 
materials have been re-organized from that presented in the draft. The 
coverage of each sector-specific supporting Part, however, is the same 
as that contained in the parallel Part of the draft documents. The 
final guidelines and supporting documents, DOE/PO-0028, are organized 
in three volumes:

Volume 1--General Guidelines
Volume 2--Sector-Specific Issues and Reporting Methodologies Supporting 
the General Guidelines
    Part 1--Electricity Supply Sector
    Part 2--Residential and Commercial Buildings Sector
    Part 3--Industrial Sector
Volume 3--Sector-Specific Issues and Reporting Methodologies Supporting 
the General Guidelines
    Part 4--Transportation Sector
    Part 5--Forestry Sector
    Part 6--Agricultural Sector

    The material provided in the draft supporting document, Part 7, 
dealing with Global Warming Potentials, has been revised as discussed 
below, and now appears as Appendix E to each supporting volume.

B. Purpose of the Guidelines and Design Principles

    The final guidelines and supporting materials have been developed 
to reflect the goal of maximizing participation without compromising 
the usefulness of the data voluntarily submitted. Commenters on the 
draft guidelines generally supported the appropriateness of this goal, 
although some did not agree on how to strike a balance between 
maximizing participation and establishing a meaningful data reporting 
system. The flexibility provided by the draft guidelines, which takes 
into account the reporter's ability to use existing information and 
select appropriate quantification methods, was supported by many 
commenters as necessary to encourage participation.
    However, some comments from environmental public interest groups 
and forestry public interest groups urged that the final guidelines 
include requirements for verification of emissions reductions and 
carbon sequestration data. These commenters believe that the 
flexibility provided by the program made data verification essential to 
the credibility of the information entered into the database. Many of 
these comments acknowledged that the statute directed neither DOE nor 
reporters to obtain verification of data reported, but suggested that 
third party verification could provide users of the database with 
better assurances of its accuracy.
    Some of these commenters indicated that, in the alternative, the 
program should direct reporters to indicate the basis for the data 
submitted based on a categorization system, and that the database 
should be designed to allow sorting of data on the basis of this 
categorization. For example, a report would indicate that data was 
based on measurement, estimation, or use of default tables, and whether 
emissions reductions project reports were accompanied by historic or 
entity-wide emissions data. A database user would be able to retrieve 
reported data on the basis of these categories.
    In order to provide the flexibility necessary to encourage 
reporting, the guidelines do not provide prescriptive features such as 
verification. Rather, the guidelines indicate that a reporter will be 
asked to categorize the data submitted. This categorization will 
include third party verification as well as whether the data was 
measured or estimated. Segregation of data by categories will be 
possible.
    DOE believes the approach of requesting the identification of data 
derivation, and of any data verification performed, accommodates both 
the need to maximize participation by providing flexibility, and the 
need to create a useful and accessible database.

C. Changes to Draft Guidelines for Final Guidelines

    After reviewing the comments received, DOE revised several 
provisions of the draft general guidelines and some provisions of the 
sector-specific supporting documents. The changes to the draft 
guidelines include: the addition of gases to the list of those 
reportable under the program, with delayed implementation for some of 
those gases not covered in the draft guidelines; a limitation on 
reporting project activities to those that achieved new emission 
reductions or carbon sequestration beginning with January 1, 1991; 
revision of the discussions about distinctions between primary and 
secondary effects, and between direct and indirect emissions; and 
guidance on amending a previous year's report.
    A discussion of responses to significant comments on issues in the 
draft general guidelines appears below. Significant changes as a result 
of comments received on the sector-specific documents are discussed 
below by sector document.
1. Gases Covered
    The legislation does not define ``greenhouse gases.'' The draft 
guidelines covered emissions of carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, 
as well as many of the halogenated substances. The final guidelines add 
two halogenated substances, halon 1211 and halon 2402, to the list of 
gases and substances covered. In addition, DOE announces the delayed 
addition of three greenhouse gases, nitrogen oxides, nonmethane 
hydrocarbons, and carbon monoxide, to the reporting program starting 
with the third reporting cycle of the program which is expected in 
1997.
a. Additional Gases to be Covered--Conventional Pollutants
    Comments on the gases and substances covered by the draft 
guidelines supported expansion of the program to a more comprehensive 
list of greenhouse gases, especially some conventional, or 
``criteria,'' pollutants regulated under the Clean Air Act for which 
emissions data is collected by EPA and State agencies under various air 
quality programs. These gases are nitrogen oxides, nonmethane 
hydrocarbons, and carbon monoxide. Although these gases are not direct 
greenhouse gases, they contribute to the formation of carbon dioxide 
and/or tropospheric ozone.
    The international scientific community has been unable to quantify 
the differential radiative activity of these gases, and thus has not 
provided an index of the climate change effects of these gases relative 
to carbon dioxide. Because emissions data reported under the program 
will be reported in units of weight, and not reduced by any common 
index of comparative radiative effects, it is unnecessary to exclude 
gases from the program solely on the basis that a quantification of 
comparative effects is not available.
    DOE agrees that a more comprehensive 1605(b) reporting program 
should cover these indirect gases, and has expanded the gases covered 
by the voluntary reporting program to include nitrogen oxides, 
nonmethane hydrocarbons, and carbon monoxide. However, for the reasons 
discussed below, DOE is delaying the programmatic acceptance of 
voluntarily reported data on emissions and emissions reductions of 
these gases for a period of two years. Thus, reports of data related to 
these gases will first be accepted by EIA during the third reporting 
cycle of the program, i.e. with reports filed in 1997. These reports 
may include the results of activities beginning January 1, 1991, as 
well as historic emissions data on these gases for the period 1987 to 
1990.
    The primary reason for delaying the addition of these gases is to 
aid in the efficient administration of this new program. Neither DOE 
nor EIA has sufficient experience in voluntary reporting to predict the 
volume of participation in this program or the difficulties that may 
arise in its implementation. EIA expects that experience gained in the 
first two years of the program will enhance its ability to smoothly 
accommodate this expansion of the reporting program.
b. Additional Gases to be Covered--Halogenated Substances
    Comments were also received on the list of halogenated substances 
for which emissions and reductions will be reportable. In response to 
these comments, the final guidelines add two halogenated substances, 
halon 1211 and halon 2402, to the list of reportable gases. Given the 
limited amount of reporting anticipated on these substances, initial 
coverage of the program includes these gases.
    As explained in the June 1994 notice of availability for the draft 
guidelines, the inclusion of some halogenated substances in the 
voluntary reporting program is based on the language of Section 
1605(b)(1)(B), referring to the reportability of reductions in 
greenhouse gas emissions achieved through ``chlorofluorocarbon capture 
and replacement.'' Without this language, DOE might have limited the 
voluntary reporting program to those gases covered by the United 
Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, thus excluding the 
chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and other halogenated substances, including 
the two halons now covered, from the reporting program.
    One comment noted that the draft guidelines' failure to list halon 
1211 and halon 2402 as reportable gases was inconsistent with the 
listing of halon 1301. The draft guidelines and supporting materials 
listed only those halogenated substances for which the 
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) had published an index 
of global warming potential (GWP) relative to carbon dioxide. While 
there are internationally accepted indices of stratospheric ozone 
depletion potential for halogenated and bromide substances in addition 
to those listed in the draft guidelines and supporting documents, the 
IPCC published a GWP for halon 1301, but not for any other halon.
    Based on stratospheric ozone depletion characteristics, the 
halogenated substances are covered by an international agreement, the 
Montreal Protocol on Substances Depleting the Stratospheric Ozone, and 
under U.S. law are regulated under Title VI of the Clean Air Act 
Amendments of 1990. These gases are greenhouse gases, although they 
also have the antagonistic characteristic of destroying tropospheric 
ozone, which tends to indirectly produce global cooling. These 
antagonistic effects complicate the analysis of their impact on the 
global climate, and have divided the scientific community over whether 
the net effect of some of these gases will be global warming or 
cooling.
    This division in the scientific community has made it difficult to 
determine the quantitative global warming potential of these gases. 
Because emissions data reported under the program will be reported in 
units of weight, and not reduced to a standard measure by application 
of a common index of comparative radiative effects, and to be 
consistent with the decision discussed above on conventional 
pollutants, halon 1211 and halon 2401 are added to the list of gases 
for which emissions may be reported under the program. Based on the 
limited amount of activity in production and use of these substances, 
and on the similarity in emissions of these substances to other 
halogenated substances, DOE has determined that there is no 
administrative need to delay acceptance of submissions on these gases.
2. Limitation on Vintage of Reportable Projects
    The General Guidelines include a new section, discussing the 
limitation on reporting projects which resulted in a reduction in 
emissions, but on which activity commenced before 1991. The final 
guidelines permit reporting as projects only new (post-1990) emissions 
reductions and carbon sequestration. Pre-1991 emissions reductions will 
be reflected in emissions reporting only. Thus, the results of all 
emission reduction activities which are first achieved in 1991 are 
reportable as projects, even if the activity commenced before 1991. For 
example, in the case of an ongoing demand side management program, 
emissions changes arising from energy savings through appliance 
replacement in 1991 can be reported as project results, but the effects 
of appliance replacements before 1991 are not reportable as emissions 
reduction projects. Rather, these effects are subsumed in emissions 
reporting for the baseline period of 1987 through 1990.
    The draft guidelines had no comparable discussion. Some commenters 
maintained that a time limitation on reportable emissions reduction 
projects was necessary, particularly because under the guidelines 
reporters may separately report emissions and emissions reductions. 
These comments indicated that the statutory language of section 
1605(b)(1)(A)(i) providing for 1987 through 1990 as baseline years for 
emissions reporting implied that emissions reductions reporting under 
section 1605(b)(1)(B) was limited to reductions occurring after 1990. 
Reductions occurring before 1991 would be reportable only for their 
effect on emissions reported for the baseline years, rather than 
separately as emissions reductions projects.
    Since the statutory language on reporting emissions reductions is 
not explicitly tied to any specific year or years, and the years 1987 
through 1990 are referred to as the baseline period, DOE is persuaded 
that goals of the reporting program are best served by limiting reports 
of emission reduction projects to new emissions reductions after 1990. 
Many emission reduction projects have multi-year or multi-decade lives; 
without a time limitation, the database would include the emissions 
reductions results of older activities more appropriately reflected 
within emissions reporting rather than highlighted separately as 
emissions reduction projects.
3. Direct and Indirect Emissions
    The reporting program covers activities which directly or 
indirectly result in greenhouse gas emissions or emissions reductions. 
DOE has revised the text of the General Guidelines to clarify the 
distinction between direct and indirect emissions in order to assist 
reporters in identifying the distinction.
    Some commenters supported limiting the program to submissions of 
data on direct emissions, and to activities that directly produce or 
reduce emissions, in order to provide clarity in the program's 
database. Other comments supported the draft's inclusion of activities 
that indirectly impact greenhouse gas emissions, based on the statutory 
listing in Section 1605(b)(1)(B) of activities which indirectly affect, 
or may indirectly affect, emissions or reductions. Additionally, many 
comments evidenced confusion over the draft's discussion of direct and 
indirect emissions.
    DOE agrees that the statutory listing of activities which 
indirectly affect emissions, as well as activities that directly affect 
emissions, supports the inclusion of both direct and indirect emissions 
in the reporting program. DOE also agrees that these concepts are 
potentially confusing. To assist reporters in identifying direct and 
indirect emissions, DOE has revised the text of the General Guidelines. 
It is apparent from many of the comments that this confusion was 
largely created by intertwining the concepts of primary and secondary 
effects of an activity with the concepts of resulting direct and 
indirect emissions.
    In response, DOE has eliminated the distinction between primary and 
secondary effects of a project, leaving a single concept of 
``effects''.
4. Primary and Secondary Effects
    Based on comments expressing confusion over the concepts and the 
draft guidance for the inclusion of both primary and secondary effects 
in project analysis, the final guidelines have eliminated the 
distinction. While the concepts are still presented in Section GG-5.9, 
the reporter is urged to consider and report the known and quantifiable 
``effects'' of a project without regard to whether they are primary or 
secondary. To provide additional clarity, the final guidelines also 
present examples of different types of effects.
5. Amending a Previous Year's Report
    The final guidelines add a provision which allows reporters to 
amend any previous year's report. The program will, for example, accept 
reports based on estimated and default data, which will be identified 
as such by the reporter. (See discussion at II.B., above.) Where a 
reporter subsequently develops better data, for example through field 
measurements or utility-specific emissions factors, the original report 
may be modified based on information developed using the later-acquired 
data. The amended report will include the reason for the revision and a 
comparison of the amended report's changes to the original report.
    The primary reason for adding this provision is to encourage 
reporters to develop their own activity-specific data, without 
discouraging reporting based on less-specific estimation or default 
data.
6. Radiative Forcing of Greenhouse Gases
    The language of Section 1605(b)(1) provides that the reporting 
guidelines are ``to establish procedures for taking into account the 
differential radiative activity and atmospheric lifetimes of each 
greenhouse gas.'' The draft guidelines and the supporting materials 
included as Part 7, ``Global Warming Potentials'' (GWPs), describing 
the GWP index developed by the IPCC as a simple method for representing 
the relative effects on climate resulting from a unit mass of a 
greenhouse gas.
    Comments unanimously supported DOE's decision to require that 
emissions data be reported only in units of greenhouse gases emitted, 
and not to require reporters to convert these data to the effects of 
the gases reported relative to carbon dioxide. The final guidelines 
continue to direct that reported data will be in units of gas emitted. 
Commenters expressed concerns that (1) the concept of GWPs was too 
complex to be useful to most reporters in developing GHG mitigation 
options; (2) the discussion in draft Part 7 of the scientific basis of 
GWPs was flawed; and (3) use of scientific work not yet formally 
adopted by the IPCC was inappropriate.
    In response to comments, draft Part 7 has been substantially 
condensed and appears as Appendix E in the two supporting volumes. The 
expansion of draft Part 7 to clarify fully the many complex and 
evolving scientific issues was deemed outside the scope of the 
voluntary reporting program. A brief discussion of the concept, 
together with a chart of the latest quantitative GWP index developed by 
the international scientific community, is provided in the Appendix. 
The reader/user is referred to other sources for additional 
information.
    DOE agrees that the scientific concepts involved in GWPs, such as 
time horizons, carbon cycle models, and integration time scales, may 
not be clearly understood by many in the general reporting population. 
The ongoing improvements in our understanding of the complex global 
climate system and analytic models developed are evidenced, as 
discussed in the Notice of Inquiry preceding the draft guidelines, by 
the 1992 revision of the 1990 IPCC report on GWPs. Further, revisions 
to the 1992 report have been approved by an IPCC subsidiary body, 
Working Group I, and will be published later this year. It is from this 
anticipated publication that the GWPs provided in the draft and final 
guidelines are taken.
    The IPCC, an international body charged with reaching international 
consensus on the complex scientific matters in climate change, is 
supported by the United States. IPCC work will ultimately be a factor 
in both domestic and international analyses on climate change 
mitigation options. It would thus be imprudent for the DOE reporting 
guidelines to address differential radiative forcing in a manner 
inconsistent with the IPCC. The 1994 revisions to the IPCC GWP index 
have been approved by Working Group I and are expected to be formally 
accepted by the full IPCC soon after publication of the final 
guidelines. DOE is using this material in advance of its formal 
acceptance for administrative ease.
7. Editorial and Minor Revisions
    In response to various comments, editorial revisions were made 
throughout the General Guidelines and the supporting documents as 
follows.
    Case studies and examples. Case studies and examples are provided 
for the purpose of illustrating the process of project analysis in 
light of a reporter's purpose and sector-specific circumstances and 
conditions. Some commenters suggested that some of the case studies and 
examples provided were unrealistic, that they suggest a greater 
reporting burden for reporters in some sectors than in others, or that 
they appear to require the use of certain approaches and methods for 
some activities.
    To address these comments, the following text has been added to all 
case study and example presentations:
    Note: This example illustrates only one approach in analyzing a 
project; your analysis, methods, and calculations will vary depending 
on your particular circumstances, the geographic location of the 
project, and other factors.
    Examples are intended to provide, in an educational manner, 
illustrations of various approaches to project and emissions analysis 
permitted within the guidelines. They are not intended to imply any 
additional directions or restrictions on reporting over and above that 
provided by the Guidelines. The case studies and examples do, however, 
suggest to potential reporters different ways in which existing data 
and resources may be used to develop a report. The illustrated cases 
thus differ in detail based on the stated purpose of the hypothetical 
reporter for reporting, and the individual circumstances surrounding 
the project and the reporter. Consistent with the goal of maximum 
participation in the program, the flexibility of the reporting program 
is not bound by any particular case study or example discussion on any 
issue.

Subjective Terminology

    Comments were made that the use in the guidelines and the 
supporting materials of certain descriptive terms, relative to a 
reporter's decisions regarding the data developed and reported, were 
inappropriate within a voluntary program. The program's flexibility 
allows reporters to select among various approaches in developing a 
report. These selections do not encompass comparative value of the 
reporter's activities. No value judgments are intended by the use of 
subjective terms in any description of the reporter's choice of 
approaches. Accordingly, the final guidelines and supporting materials 
have been revised to minimize use of these terms, and to better reflect 
that judgments on the quality of the data reported are to be made by 
the reporter and database user, and not by the reporting program. Where 
these terms remain in the guidelines and supporting documents, they are 
intended to reflect differing perspectives of both reporters and 
database users on choices permitted by the reporting program.

D. Changes to Draft Sector-Specific Supporting Documents for Final 
Sector-Specific Documents

    Comments were received on all draft sector specific supporting 
documents. Revisions to the draft guidelines in response to comments on 
less significant technical, mathematical, or editorial errors in the 
draft sector specific supporting documents are not individually 
discussed in this notice, but were considered and addressed where 
appropriate.
    Most comments fall into several categories of issues, including 
those that have been addressed in the final General Guidelines and 
discussed above in section II.C. of this notice. These categories 
include: failure to discuss all emissions reduction or carbon 
sequestration activities applicable to the sector; criticism of the 
case studies' use of unrealistic circumstances; the accuracy, 
completeness, and degree of conservativeness of default tables; and the 
lack of balance among sector documents indicating differing reporting 
burdens.
    The program is expressly intended to provide reporters with the 
flexibility to report on the achievements of all emissions reduction 
and carbon sequestration activities. The failure of the draft 
guidelines and supporting materials to discuss or list any particular 
activity does not indicate that its achievements are not reportable 
under the 1605(b) program.
    In response to comments, the final supporting documents add 
discussions of some additional emissions reduction and carbon 
sequestration approaches, and provide more emphasis to some of the 
approaches discussed in the draft. Nevertheless, the guidelines and 
supporting documents are not intended to provide an exclusive list of 
all activities that may be reported. The guidelines could not, for 
example, provide identification and quantification of achievements from 
the novel, innovative actions for which the information sharing 
function of the voluntary reporting program is paramount.
    As discussed above in C.7., the guidelines and supporting documents 
use case studies and examples to illustrate the application of concepts 
and varied approaches to project analysis and reporting. Reporters are 
not bound by the particulars of any presentation. Rather, the 
guidelines provide reporters the flexibility needed to adapt project 
analysis approaches to particular circumstances, including the type of 
project, the availability of necessary data, and the purpose for 
reporting.
    Thus, while revisions have been made in many case studies and 
examples throughout the documents in response to comments regarding 
realism, these study examples are not intended to be exhaustive of the 
range of appropriate approaches that reporters may develop and use to 
determine the data to report under this program.
    Significant comments were received on the accuracy, completeness, 
and degree of conservativeness of the default tables provided in the 
supporting documents. Based on DOE's technical judgment on individual 
comments, errors have been corrected. Responses to these comments on 
specific sector default tables appear below in the discussion of the 
relevant sector.
    In keeping with the flexibility of the program, reporters are 
encouraged to use and develop data specific to the project being 
reported to accommodate their individual circumstances. The continued 
inclusion of default tables is, however, in keeping with the goal of 
maximum participation, where the wide disparity among potential 
reporting populations supports the need to provide some ``lookup'' 
tables for use at the discretion of the reporter.
    Default tables, by their nature, may provide an easy way for 
reporters to estimate the quantity of certain factors they may need in 
order to report. By virtue of their ease of use, these tables cannot 
accommodate all variables involved; rather, they are based on judgments 
on appropriate methodologies and available data. In some fields of 
endeavor, there is no apparent consensus on methodologies and the 
quality and quantity of data needed either to develop default tables or 
to definitively judge their conservativeness. The default tables 
provided are, in DOE's judgment, generally conservative.
    Some commenters asked that DOE add default tables covering 
additional data quantification areas. While DOE agrees that the 
addition of tables in these documents could be helpful to reporters, 
their development did not warrant a delay in issuing the final 
guidelines and supporting documents. In many instances, measurement and 
other methodologies are in their relative infancy. DOE expects that 
data and methodologies will evolve as national and international 
interest continue in the areas of greenhouse gas emissions reduction 
and carbon sequestration. Since reporters are permitted to develop 
their own data and submit it to the voluntary reporting program, the 
program itself may aid in the development of methodologies and the 
accumulation of data to advance knowledge in these areas. DOE 
acknowledges that sector-specific documents appear to differ greatly in 
the detail with which applicable concepts and approaches are discussed. 
This distinction was especially noted in comments on the Electricity 
Supply Sector, Residential and Commercial Buildings Sector, Industrial 
Sector and Forestry Sector documents, expressing concern that the 
differences may indicate a higher reporting burden for these sectors.
    The differences in focus and depth are based primarily on the 
breadth of technical knowledge of each sector's greenhouse gas and 
emissions reduction or carbon sequestration features, including the 
knowledge held by each sector's population and the degree to which 
reporters will have or can develop sufficient data necessary for a 
report. These differences in focus and depth do not direct any 
additional or supplementary requirements for these sectors. Minimum 
reporting requirements, set forth in section GG-6 of the final General 
Guidelines, are identical for all reporters and projects, regardless of 
sector.
1. Electricity Supply
    In addition to the revisions discussed above, in response to 
comments on the draft Electricity Supply Sector document, the final 
Electricity Supply Sector document includes more prominent mention of: 
(1) The possible use of Integrated Resource Planning data and data 
development methods; (2) the role of least-cost or other dispatching 
modes; (3) the role of hydroelectric power in renewable energy; and (4) 
emissions reduction projects in electrotechnologies. The discussion of 
relevant electrotechnologies has been augmented in the Industrial and 
Transportation Sector documents as well.
    Comments were received on requiring reporters in this sector to use 
certain existing Federal or State requirements, or other existing 
protocols in developing reporting data. One example of a Federal 
protocol is the EPA's Conservation and Verification Protocol, 40 CFR 
Part 73, which is used in the acid rain program under title IV of the 
Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990 to determine the distribution of bonus 
sulfur dioxide allowances based on electricity conservation programs. 
Another example under the Federal acid rain program is EPA regulations 
providing for monitoring or estimating and reporting carbon dioxide 
emissions from certain boilers. Many States also have protocols dealing 
with estimating energy savings from demand side management (DSM) 
programs.
    While activities in this sector are characterized by an extensive 
array of measurement and estimation methodologies and protocols, many 
of which are mentioned in the guidelines and supporting documents, DOE 
does not require their use for the reporting program. Consistent with 
the flexibility of the program, reporters may choose to use appropriate 
protocols and data developed for other reasons, including compliance 
with Federal and State requirements.
    Significant revisions to some of the examples for this sector were 
made in response to comments that the scenarios and quantification 
specifics provided were unrealistic. In addition to these revisions, 
the language of the caveat discussed in section II.C.7., above, has 
been added to the presentation of all examples for the purpose of 
indicating that the example is meant to illustrate concepts, not to 
prescribe the use of specific approaches.
2. Residential and Commercial Buildings
    Comments on the supporting document for the Residential and 
Commercial Buildings Sector reflect similar concerns to those raised on 
the Electricity Supply Sector document. In response to comments, DOE 
has added discussions of electrotechnologies specific to this sector 
and identified additional conservation techniques. DOE has clarified 
that the ability to report the results of an activity is not dependent 
on whether that technology or technique is mentioned in the guidelines 
or supporting documents.
    Activities in this sector are characterized by an array of 
measurement and estimation methodologies, some of which are mentioned 
in the document. Comments were received on requiring reporters to use 
specific protocols available for this sector. For the same reasons as 
discussed in section D.1., above, the guidelines do not prescribe the 
use of specific methodologies or protocols for measurement or 
estimation.
3. Industrial
    In response to comments, DOE has modified discussions on the 
appropriate consideration of the obsolescence of equipment in 
determining the reference case for reportable projects. Biomass 
emissions factors have been clarified, and the distinction between 
temporary and permanent fuel switching has been eliminated.
    Similar to other sector-specific documents, the final Industrial 
Sector supporting document has expanded discussions of 
electrotechnologies specific to this sector and identified additional 
conservation techniques. The ability to report the results of an 
activity is not dependent on whether a technology or technique is 
mentioned in the guidelines or supporting documents.
4. Transportation
    In addition to the general revisions discussed above, DOE has 
expanded the discussion on electric vehicles in the Transportation 
Sector supporting document. Activities in the transportation sector are 
characterized by an extensive array of measurement and estimation 
methodologies, some of which are mentioned in the document. The use of 
some of these methodologies is required under various Federal 
regulatory and funding programs, such as those which regulate vehicle 
air pollutant emissions or award highway construction funds. For the 
reasons discussed above, reporters are not limited to using these 
protocols.
5. Forestry
    Comments on the Forestry Sector document related to its apparent 
emphasis on carbon sequestration activity from new or replacement 
forestation, together with a corresponding lack of emphasis on forest 
preservation, forest management, and urban forestry. The varying 
treatment of types of carbon sequestration activity is not meant to 
imply a preference by DOE, or by the reporting program, for any 
particular type of forestry activity. It is, rather, based primarily on 
the state of the knowledge in these areas of forest carbon 
sequestration. Similar to other sector documents, reporting is not 
limited to the activities discussed.
    Comments on the limited tree species and associated reference cases 
provided for standard forestry projects suggested that the table be 
expanded to include additional species. These data were developed with 
the assistance of U.S. Forest Service staff, and the tables are based 
on the availability of sufficient information to generalize carbon 
sequestration effects of certain activities. While such information is 
available for the major commercial species which are addressed in the 
tables, DOE believes that there is insufficient information available 
to develop adequate default tables on other species or reference cases. 
For additional species and reference cases, as well as for other 
forestry activities, the reporter will need to develop specific project 
data.
    Other commenters stated that field measurements for projects in 
this sector were particularly essential to assure the accuracy of the 
data submitted. Consistent with the flexibility necessary to encourage 
reporting in this and all other sectors, the guidelines do not provide 
prescriptive features such as requiring field measurements. Rather, the 
guidelines indicate that a reporter will be asked to categorize the 
data submitted, including whether it is based on measurement.
6. Agricultural
    Comments received on the draft document for the Agricultural Sector 
were indicative of the complexity of the sector, and its unique 
characteristic of including reportable activities that contribute both 
to greenhouse gas emissions and to carbon sequestration.
    Comments were received on the failure to include any discussion of 
certain emissions reduction or carbon sequestration approaches 
specifically applicable to the agricultural sector. In response to 
these comments, additional text has been added on windbreaks and 
shelterbelts, changes to grazing land, and the production of biomass 
for fuel. The failure of the document to address other agricultural 
activities which affect greenhouse gases or carbon sequestration is not 
intended to preclude data submissions on those activities, including 
energy efficiency improvements.
7. Adjusted Electricity Emissions Factors by State
    Substantial and detailed comment was received on the draft Appendix 
C, ``Adjusted Electricity Emissions by State,'' which appeared in all 
draft sector supporting documents. After consideration of the comments 
received, Appendix C has been revised to employ a simpler methodology 
and the inclusion of nonutility generation emissions. A summary of the 
methodology used for the table appears together with the table in 
Appendix C. The published data on fuel use and technologies used are 
identified.
    In response to comments that the draft failed to include nonutility 
generation, emissions factors for nonutility generation have been 
added, together with weighted combined emissions factors for utility 
and nonutility generation. Where the reporter utilizing the table knows 
whether the power is utility or nonutility generated, the appropriate 
factor should be used. The combined factor is intended for use when the 
reporter is unable to make this identification.
    In keeping with the flexibility of the program, reporters are 
encouraged to use emissions factors specifically applicable to the 
project being reported. Where a utility-specific factor is available, 
for example, it will incorporate actual fuel mix and dispatching modes 
which are not differentiated within a State factor provided in Appendix 
C. The inclusion of revised Appendix C is in keeping with the 
programmatic goal of maximum participation, by providing a method for 
estimating emissions and reductions when other data are not easily 
available.

III. Administrative Requirements

A. Regulatory Review

    DOE has determined that this is not a significant regulatory action 
because it does not meet the criteria which define such actions under 
Executive Order 12866, 58 FR 51735, and is therefore not subject to 
regulatory review. Accordingly, the Office of Management and Budget 
(OMB) has informed DOE that no clearance of the guidelines and 
supporting materials is required.

B. Issues Under the Paperwork Reduction Act

    The provisions of section 1605(b) direct EIA to develop the 
reporting forms and database for the reporting program, consistent with 
the guidelines issued today. Separate administrative requirements apply 
to the development of EIA reporting forms.
    Any information collection requirements proposed for the voluntary 
reporting program are subject to the Paperwork Reduction Act, 44 U.S.C. 
3501 et seq., and will be submitted to the Office of Management and 
Budget for review and approval of paperwork requirements. EIA 
anticipates the availability of draft reporting forms for public 
comment within 30 days. A notice on the availability of the draft 
reporting forms will appear in the Federal Register.

    Issued in Washington, DC on October 13, 1994.
Susan F. Tierney,
Assistant Secretary, Office of Policy.
[FR Doc. 94-25901 Filed 10-18-94; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P