Mandatory Reporting Rule
Developing New York State’s Economywide Cap-and-Invest Regulations
GHG Reporting Rulemaking (6 NYCRR Part 253)
Public input will inform development of the regulations to implement New York’s Cap-and-Invest Program, including the auction of allowance under that program. As a starting point, DEC and NYSERDA invite the public to review the regulation governing California’s economywide program [PDF] as well as those operating in Quebec and Washington State. DEC and NYSERDA are interested in hearing what elements of those regulations would work well and what improvements or changes may best serve New York.
DEC and NYSERDA are interested in hearing what elements of those regulations would work well in New York State and what improvements or changes may best serve New York.
Meeting the Climate Act Limit on Greenhouse Gas Emissions (GHG) with a Cap-and-Invest Solution
- All GHG emissions would be accounted for under the State’s program and the cap must reduce at a rate to achieve the statewide GHG emission limits set in law.
- Obligated sources (e.g., large-scale GHG emitters and distributors of heating and transportation fuels) would be required to obtain allowances equal to the GHG emissions associated with their activities. All obligated sources will have a reporting requirement.
- Non-obligated sources would not be required to obtain allowances, but their GHG emissions would be accounted for in setting the allowance budget. The allowance budget plus the non-obligated emissions would equal the statewide GHG emission cap. Some non-obligated sources may have an emissions reporting obligation.
Invitation to Provide Comments on the development of the regulations. The major design elements that New York is seeking feedback on are listed below. You can expand each heading for further information on what is being considered for New York State.
DEC and NYSERDA have developed a template document [PDF] to assist commenters in providing feedback on these topics.
DEC and NYSERDA will review comments and further develop pre-proposal materials to define New York’s program. DEC will send notices to the distribution list when the second round of pre-proposal materials are posted.
Reporting and Verification – Defines what sources must report, when reporting will begin and how often, how reporting should be verified, and how to leverage existing reporting programs
- Applicability and Thresholds
- What sources should report emissions or operational data?
- How to set an emissions or operations threshold for program coverage?
- Reporting and Verification
- How can existing reporting systems be leveraged for various sources? Should the regulation call out specific existing programs or utilize plain language as much as possible?
- When should reporting begin, should past years be incorporated if there are benchmarking provisions?
- How often should reporting be required?
- How should a verification threshold be established? Should it be informed by the threshold for the Cap-and-Invest regulation?
- How should emission verifiers be certified?
- Energy-Intensive and Trade-Exposed Industries (EITE)
- What other operational data could be reported to establish benchmarking as a method to allocate allowances?
- How could fuel throughput data be supplied to inform adjustments to fuel supplier compliance obligations?
- Electricity Sector
- How should electricity generating units in the RGGI program report their emissions and fuel consumption?
- How should fuel suppliers identify fuel delivered to RGGI sources?
- How should electricity imports generated at a facility covered by an emission trading program outside of New York be identified?
- Transportation and Heating Fuels
- What specific ownership identification systems should be utilized to track fuel?
- What if any special considerations should be given for fuels such as propane or coal pellets, which may be supplied by smaller entities or in smaller volumes?
- Landfill, Waste Exporters, and Wastewater Treatment
- What considerations should inform how the operators of landfills, transfer stations, and waste haulers identify the organic fraction of the waste they process?
- What considerations should inform how transfer stations and waste haulers identify the final destination of waste generated in NY?
- What should be considered when establishing emission factors for waste exported from NY?
- How should the operation of anaerobic digesters or other treatment infrastructure be incorporated in facility reporting?