I 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2651 

To require large publicly traded companies and significant emitters of greenhouse gases to report their emissions to the Environmental Protection 

Agency, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 11, 2007 

Mr. ENGEL introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committee on Financial 

Services, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in 

each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To require large publicly traded companies and significant 

emitters of greenhouse gases to report their emissions 

to the Environmental Protection Agency, and for other 

purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Greenhouse Gas Ac5 countability Act of 2007’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE. 

7 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that— 


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1 (1) global climate change poses a significant 

2 and immediate threat to national security, the 

3 United States economy, public health and welfare, 

4 and the global environment; 

5 (2) having accurate data on greenhouse gas 

6 emissions is essential in order to implement a green7 house gas regulatory regime; 

8 (3) compiling accurate information on the dis9 tribution and processing of fuels and the manufac10 ture of products that contribute to global warming 

11 is important in crafting legislation to address global 

12 warming; and 

13 (4) the public and investors have the right to 

14 know which facilities, entities, and countries con15 tribute to global warming pollution. 

16 (b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this Act is to estab17 lish a mandatory greenhouse gas inventory that— 

18 (1) is complete, consistent, transparent, and ac19 curate; 

20 (2) will provide accurate data that can be used 

21 by public and private entities to design efficient and 

22 effective greenhouse gas emission reduction strate23 gies; 


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1 (3) will provide the appropriate high-quality 

2 data to be used in any future greenhouse gas regu3 latory regime; and 

4 (4) will provide the public and investors infor5 mation on the scope, amount, and sources of green6 house gas pollution. 

7 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

8 For purposes of this Act: 

9 (1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis10 trator’’ means the Administrator of the Environ11 mental Protection Agency. 

12 (2) CARBON DIOXIDE EQUIVALENTS.—The term 

13 ‘‘carbon dioxide equivalents’’ means, for each green14 house gas, the amount of each such greenhouse gas 

15 that makes the same contribution to global warming 

16 as one metric ton of carbon dioxide, as determined 

17 by the Administrator. 

18 (3) COMMISSION.—The term ‘‘Commission’’ 

19 means the Securities and Exchange Commission. 

20 (4) DIRECT EMISSIONS.—The term ‘‘direct 

21 emissions’’ means greenhouse gas emissions by an 

22 entity from a site, facility, or equipment that is 

23 owned or controlled by that entity, and such term 

24 includes— 


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1 (A) emissions from the generation of elec2 tricity, heat, or steam resulting from combus3 tion of fuels in stationary sources such as boil4 ers, furnaces, and turbines; 

5 (B) emissions from physical or chemical 

6 processing, including those resulting from man7 ufacture or processing of chemicals and mate8 rials such as cement, aluminum, and adipic 

9 acid, ammonia manufacture, and waste proc10 essing; 

11 (C) emissions from the transportation of 

12 materials, products, waste, and employees re13 sulting from the combustion of fuels in entity14 owned or controlled mobile combustion sources 

15 such as trucks, trains, ships, airplanes, buses, 

16 and cars; 

17 (D) fugitive emissions resulting from in18 tentional or unintentional releases, including— 

19 (i) equipment leaks from joints, seals, 

20 packing, and gaskets; 

21 (ii) methane emissions from coal 

22 mines and venting; 

23 (iii) hydrofluorocarbon emissions dur24 ing the use of refrigeration and air condi25 tioning equipment; and 


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1 (iv) methane leakages from gas trans2 port; 

3 (E) emissions from farming or raising of 

4 animals; and 

5 (F) any other type of direct emission the 

6 Administrator determines appropriate. 

7 (5) ESTIMATED PRODUCT EMISSIONS.—The 

8 term ‘‘estimated product emissions’’ means the 

9 greenhouse gas emissions of motor vehicles, fuels, or 

10 any other product or material the Administrator de11 termines appropriate, with respect to the portion of 

12 the life cycle of the product or material after the 

13 product or material leaves the control of the report14 ing entity. 

15 (6) GREENHOUSE GAS.—The term ‘‘greenhouse 

16 gas’’ means— 

17 (A) carbon dioxide; 

18 (B) methane; 

19 (C) nitrous oxide; 

20 (D) hydrofluorocarbons; 

21 (E) perfluorocarbons; 

22 (F) sulfur hexafluoride; or 

23 (G) any other emission or chemical com24 pound the Administrator determines appro25 priate. 


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1 (7) INDIRECT EMISSIONS.—The term ‘‘indirect 

2 emissions’’ means greenhouse gas emissions that are 

3 the result of the activities of an entity but are not 

4 its direct emissions, and includes— 

5 (A) emissions from the generation of elec6 tricity acquired and consumed by the entity, as 

7 calculated based on guidance provided by the 

8 Administrator; 

9 (B) for an entity providing transmission 

10 and distribution of electricity services, emissions 

11 associated with the portion of the electricity 

12 that is consumed or lost during the trans13 mission or distribution process, as calculated 

14 based on guidance provided by the Adminis15 trator; and 

16 (C) any other type of indirect emission the 

17 Administrator determines appropriate. 

18 (8) SIGNIFICANT EMITTER.—The term ‘‘signifi19 cant emitter’’ means— 

20 (A) an entity that directly or indirectly 

21 emits over— 

22 (i) 10,000 metric tons of greenhouse 

23 gas per year, measured in units of carbon 

24 dioxide equivalents, at one facility; or 


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1 (ii) 100,000 metric tons of greenhouse 

2 gas per year, measured in units of carbon 

3 dioxide equivalents, entity wide; or 

4 (B) an entity that produces or imports— 

5 (i) fuels, including fossil fuels, that, 

6 when combusted, will emit; 

7 (ii) hydrofluorocarbons, perfluoro8 carbons, or sulfur hexafluoride that, when 

9 used, will emit; or 

10 (iii) other greenhouse gases that, 

11 when used, will emit, 

12 over 100,000 metric tons of greenhouse gas per 

13 year, measured in units of carbon dioxide 

14 equivalents. 

15 SEC. 4. GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS REPORTING PRO16 GRAM. 

17 (a) ESTABLISHMENT OF REPORTING PROGRAM.— 

18 The Administrator shall establish a program to require 

19 each entity described in subsection (b) to annually report 

20 to the Administrator the greenhouse gas emissions of the 

21 entity for the previous year. In designing the program, the 

22 Administrator shall consider the standards and principles 

23 embodied in the WRI/WBCSD Greenhouse Gas Protocol’s 

24 Corporate Accounting and Reporting Standard (revised 

25 edition). The program shall be designed to— 


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1 (1) ensure the maximum practicable complete2 ness and accuracy of the greenhouse gas emissions 

3 database at the Environmental Protection Agency; 

4 (2) be consistent with the standards, protocols, 

5 and principles of the Climate Registry and the Cali6 fornia Climate Registry; 

7 (3) allow for electronic reporting of emissions; 

8 (4) maximize the ease of compliance for report9 ing entities; and 

10 (5) minimize double counting of emissions. 

11 (b) REPORTING ENTITIES.—The following entities 

12 shall be required to report greenhouse gas emissions to 

13 the Administrator under the program established under 

14 subsection (a): 

15 (1) Any significant emitter. 

16 (2) Any issuer of securities (as such terms are 

17 defined in section 3(a) of the Securities Exchange 

18 Act of 1934 (15 U.S.C. 78c) that is required to file 

19 an annual report under section 13(a) or 15(d) of 

20 such Act (15 U.S.C. 78m(a), 78o(d)), with annual 

21 revenues exceeding $10,000,000. 

22 (3) Any entity with annual revenues exceeding 

23 $10,000,000 that is engaged in the business of— 

24 (A) automobiles and components thereof; 

25 (B) aerospace and defense; 


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1 (C) chemicals; 

2 (D) construction materials; 

3 (E) electric utilities; 

4 (F) energy equipment and services; 

5 (G) oil, gas, and consumable fuels; 

6 (H) metals and mining; 

7 (I) paper and forest products; or 

8 (J) transportation. 

9 (c) IDENTIFICATION OF APPROPRIATE REPORTING

10 ENTITY.—The Administrator shall consult with the Secu11 rities Exchange Commission as necessary to enable identi12 fication of entity boundaries. In determining entity bound13 aries, the Administrator shall consider the standards and 

14 principles embodied in the WRI/WBCSD Greenhouse Gas 

15 Protocol’s Corporate Accounting and Reporting Standard 

16 (revised edition). 

17 (d) NATURE OF REPORTING REQUIREMENT.— 

18 (1) REPORTING BY ENTITY, COUNTRY, AND FA19 CILITY.—An entity described in subsection (b)(1) 

20 shall report emissions by entity, by country, and by 

21 facility. When reporting by facility, entities are only 

22 required to report the emissions of facilities which 

23 generate over 10,000 metric tons of greenhouse gas 

24 per year, measured in units of carbon dioxide 

25 equivalents. When reporting entity-wide emissions, 


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1 entities shall include all emissions, even those from 

2 facilities which generate less than 10,000 metric 

3 tons of greenhouse gas per year, measured in units 

4 of carbon dioxide equivalents. 

5 (2) REPORTING BY ENTITY AND COUNTRY

6 ONLY.—An entity described in subsection (b)(2) or 

7 (3), that is not an entity described in subsection 

8 (b)(1), shall report emissions by entity and by coun9 try. 

10 (3) EMISSIONS REPORTING.—(A) Direct, indi11 rect, and estimated product emissions shall be re12 ported separately. 

13 (B) Each type of direct emission described in 

14 subparagraph (A), (B), (C), (D), or (E) of section 

15 3(4), and each type of direct emission added by the 

16 Administrator pursuant to subparagraph (F) of such 

17 section 3(4), shall be reported separately. 

18 (C) Each type of indirect emission described in 

19 subparagraph (A) or (B) of section 3(7), and each 

20 type of indirect emission added by the Administrator 

21 pursuant to subparagraph (C) of such section 3(7), 

22 shall be reported separately. 

23 (D) Emissions relating to each of the green24 house gases described in subparagraph (A), (B), (C), 

25 (D), (E), or (F) of section 3(6), and emissions relatVerDate Aug 31 2005 21:41 Jun 12, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2651.IH H2651

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1 ing to each other emission or chemical compound 

2 added by the Administrator pursuant to subpara3 graph (G) of such section 3(6), shall be reported 

4 separately. 

5 (4) VEHICLE MANUFACTURERS.—An entity that 

6 manufactures or imports motor vehicles shall sepa7 rately report the estimated product emissions of all 

8 vehicles manufactured or imported by the entity, as 

9 calculated based on guidance provided by the Ad10 ministrator. 

11 (5) FUELS.—An entity that mines, extracts, re12 fines, distributes, processes, imports, or sells fuels 

13 shall separately report the estimated product emis14 sions resulting from the use of all such fuels (includ15 ing hydrogen fuels and fuels derived from biomass), 

16 as calculated based on guidance provided by the Ad17 ministrator. 

18 (6) BIOMASS COMBUSTION.—Greenhouse gas 

19 emissions from the combustion of biomass shall not 

20 be included as direct emissions, but shall be reported 

21 separately as biomass emissions. 

22 (7) DE MINIMIS EMISSIONS.—The Adminis23 trator may excuse from the reporting requirements 

24 of the program under this section any source of 


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1 emissions that is responsible for only de minimis 

2 amounts of greenhouse gas emissions. 

3 (e) INCLUDED ITEMS.—A report submitted pursuant 

4 to this section— 

5 (1) shall identify the appropriate contact at the 

6 entity responsible for preparing the report; 

7 (2) shall detail the tools and methods used in 

8 the calculation of emission levels and preparation of 

9 the report; 

10 (3) may indicate whether the information con11 tained in the report has been verified by an inde12 pendent third party, and if it has been so verified, 

13 shall identify and include the results of the inde14 pendent third-party verification; and 

15 (4) shall be made available in electronic form. 

16 (f) SCHEDULE OF PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT.— 

17 (1) REGULATIONS.—Not later than 1 year after 

18 the date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator 

19 shall issue regulations establishing the program 

20 under this section. Such regulations shall include— 

21 (A) tools and procedures, developed in con22 sultation with the Secretary of Energy, to assist 

23 entities in compliance with the reporting re24 quirements of the program; and 


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1 (B) other guidance required under this sec2 tion. 

3 (2) EFFECTIVE DATE OF REPORTING REQUIRE4 MENT.—Entities shall be required to submit their 

5 first greenhouse gas emissions report under this sec6 tion not later than 6 months after the issuance of 

7 regulations under paragraph (1). 

8 (g) OPTIONAL REPORTING.—An entity may addition9 ally report offsets, sequestration projects, or other efforts 

10 to mitigate its greenhouse gas emissions, pursuant to 

11 guidance provided by the Administrator. 

12 (h) AUDITS.—The Administrator may conduct an in13 vestigation or order an audit as necessary to verify the 

14 accuracy of information contained in a report submitted 

15 pursuant to this section. 

16 (i) PUBLIC RELEASE.—The Administrator shall 

17 make available to the public all reports submitted pursu18 ant to this section after the date which is 1 year after 

19 the effective date described in subsection (f)(2). After such 

20 date, the Administrator, upon receiving a report, shall 

21 make it available in electronic form within 30 days. 

22 (j) GAO REPORT.— 

23 (1) ACCESSIBILITY.—The Administrator shall 

24 provide access to the Government Accountability Of25 fice of any document or information submitted to, 


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1 generated by, or otherwise in the possession of the 

2 Environmental Protection Agency pursuant to this 

3 Act. 

4 (2) REVIEW AND REPORTS.— 

5 (A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than January 

6 1 of the first year following the calendar year 

7 in which regulations are issued under sub8 section (f)(1), and on January 1 of each year 

9 thereafter for the first five years and as re10 quested thereafter by one of the committees de11 scribed in clause (i) or (ii), the Government Ac12 countability Office shall submit a report under 

13 this subsection to— 

14 (i) the Committee on Environment 

15 and Public Works of the Senate; and 

16 (ii) the Committee on Energy and 

17 Commerce of the House of Representa18 tives. 

19 (B) CONTENTS.—Each report submitted 

20 under subparagraph (A) shall include— 

21 (i) a review of the entities’ compliance 

22 with the reporting requirements of this 

23 Act, including the accuracy of the informa24 tion contained in such reports, based on a 


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1 randomized review of companies required 

2 to report under this Act; 

3 (ii) a determination of whether the 

4 regulations issued under subsection (f)(1) 

5 or this Act should be revised to improve 

6 compliance and accuracy of reporting; and 

7 (iii) a determination of whether the 

8 regulations and this Act are effective in 

9 inventorying greenhouse gases. 

10 (k) PENALTIES.—A person who violates any require11 ment of this Act shall be liable to the United States for 

12 a civil penalty in an amount not to exceed $25,000 for 

13 each such violation for each day a violation continues. The 

14 Administrator may assess penalties on a per entity or per 

15 facility basis for reports not submitted or submitted not 

16 correctly, which may include per day penalties, depending 

17 on the circumstances of the violation. Violations may be 

18 corrected by submitting a corrected report. 

19 (l) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 1 year 

20 after the effective date described in subsection (f)(2), the 

21 Administrator shall transmit to the Congress a report con22 taining— 

23 (1) an assessment, prepared after consultation 

24 with the reporting entities, of the effectiveness of the 

25 implementation of this section; 


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1 (2) a description of any modifications the Ad2 ministrator intends to make to the program under 

3 this section; and 

4 (3) recommendations on whether a program to 

5 certify independent third parties described in sub6 section (e)(3) would be feasible and useful. 

7 SEC. 5. NATIONAL GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS DATA8 BASE. 

9 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Administrator shall es10 tablish a public website containing national greenhouse 

11 gas emissions database using data obtained pursuant to 

12 section 4. Such website database shall be designed to cor13 relate the data so as to be most useful for policymakers, 

14 government agencies, investors, and researchers. The 

15 website database shall allow the public, investors, and pol16 icymakers to— 

17 (1) search and aggregate greenhouse gas re18 leases by greenhouse gas; 

19 (2) ascertain through a single search the total 

20 greenhouse gas releases of an entity, by reporting 

21 year; 

22 (3) download data from the database; 

23 (4) determine the emissions of individual enti24 ties, industries, and geographic areas; and 


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1 (5) use the database for policymaking and regu2 latory purposes. 

3 (b) AVAILABILITY TO PUBLIC.—The database estab4 lished under subsection (a) shall be made available to the 

5 public 1 year after the effective date described in section 

6 4(f)(2). 

7 SEC. 6. DISCLOSURES TO SHAREHOLDERS BY PUBLICLY 

8 TRADED COMPANIES. 

9 (a) SUMMARY REQUIRED IN FINANCIAL REPORTS.— 

10 Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this 

11 Act, the Commission shall revise its regulations under the 

12 Securities Exchange Act of 1934 to require that each an13 nual report filed by an issuer of securities as required by 

14 section 13(a) or 15(d) of such Act (15 U.S.C. 78m(a), 

15 78o(d)) contain, in a form prescribed by the Commission 

16 after consultation with the Administrator— 

17 (1) a table of the greenhouse gas emission of 

18 the issuer over the previous year; 

19 (2) a short summary of the nature of such 

20 emissions and— 

21 (A) the estimated financial exposure of the 

22 issuer because of the emissions of the issuer; 

23 and 

24 (B) the potential economic impacts of cli25 mate change on the interests of the issuer; 


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1 (3) a link or address by which to obtain access 

2 to the complete greenhouse gas emission report to 

3 the Administrator under section 4 of this Act; and 

4 (4) a statement of whether or not the issuer 

5 has had such greenhouse gas emission report inde6 pendently verified. 

7 (b) INTERIM INTERPRETIVE RELEASE.— 

8 (1) IN GENERAL.—As soon as practicable after 

9 the date of enactment of this Act, the Commission 

10 shall issue an interpretive release clarifying that 

11 under items 101 and 303 of Regulation S–K of the 

12 Commission under part 229 of title 17, Code of Fed13 eral Regulations (as in effect on the date of enact14 ment of this Act)— 

15 (A) the commitments of the United States 

16 to reduce emissions of global warming pollution 

17 under the United Nations Framework Conven18 tion on Climate Change, done at New York on 

19 May 9, 1992, are considered to be a material 

20 effect; and 

21 (B) global warming constitutes a known 

22 trend. 

23 (2) PERIOD OF EFFECTIVENESS.—The inter24 pretive release issued under paragraph (1) shall reVerDate Aug 31 2005 21:41 Jun 12, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00018 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2651.IH H2651

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1 main in effect until the effective date of the final 

2 regulations promulgated under subsection (a). 

Æ 


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