A prior blog post highlighted EPA’s proposed rule mandating greenhouse gas reporting for thousands of covered entities, with information collection obligations starting as early as January 1, 2010 if the rule is finalized as proposed.
On August 11, representatives of the American Petroleum Institute (API) and several oil companies met with the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to discuss concerns about EPA’s proposed rule and to make several recommendations. EPA recently sent the rule to OMB for review.
The concerns expressed by API include:
- The rule’s compliance deadline (requiring data to be collected on January 1, 2010) is not feasible; and
- The rule could trigger process unit shutdowns to install or maintain required monitoring devices.
The recommendations advanced by API include:
- EPA should develop an applicability-screening tool so that facilities can determine whether they are subject to the rule;
- EPA should permit reporting based on “best available data” when installation of monitoring devices could result in process unit shutdowns; and
- The rule should allow reporting based on best industry practices instead of outdated or inappropriate standards.
API’s comments highlight some of the practical issues that companies face in determining (1) whether they are subject to the rule; and (2) whether compliance with the rule may raise significant operational issues.
