Environmental, Health And Safety - October, 2009

Ontario

Draft guidelines for greenhouse gas emissions reporting

On October 7, 2009, the Ministry of the Environment (MOE) released its draft Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Emissions Reporting Regulation and Guideline, which would support the implementation of a cap-and-trade program. If enacted, this regulation would impose mandatory GHG emissions reporting for all regulated sources in Ontario that annually emit 25,000 or more tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (a measure of GHG emissions). Reporting for 2010 would occur in 2011 and continue annually thereafter. Under the regulation, a number of different GHG emissions quantification methods could be used for reporting 2010 emissions with standardized quantification methods being used in subsequent years. Third-party verification would also begin after the first year. Facilities that emit between 10,000 and 25,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent per year would not be required to report emissions under the regulation.