I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 232 

To provide for the creation of a Federal greenhouse gas registry, and for 

other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 7, 2009 

Ms. BALDWIN (for herself, Mr. INSLEE, Mr. HOLT, and Ms. LEE of California) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on Energy and Commerce 

A BILL 

To provide for the creation of a Federal greenhouse gas 

registry, 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 Reg5 istry Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act: 

8 (1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis9 trator’’ means the Administrator of the Environ10 mental Protection Agency. 


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1 (2) CARBON DIOXIDE EQUIVALENT.—The term 

2 ‘‘carbon dioxide equivalent’’ means, for each green3 house gas, the quantity of the greenhouse gas that 

4 the Administrator determines, pursuant to section 4, 

5 makes the same contribution to global warming as 

6 1 metric ton of carbon dioxide. 

7 (3) CLIMATE REGISTRY.—The term ‘‘Climate 

8 Registry’’ means the greenhouse gas emission reg9 istry jointly established and managed by more than 

10 40 States and Indian tribes to collect greenhouse 

11 gas emission data from entities to support various 

12 greenhouse gas emission reporting and reduction 

13 policies for the member States and Indian tribes. 

14 (4) COVERED ENTITY.—The term ‘‘covered en15 tity’’ means, for each calendar year— 

16 (A) a facility within the electric power sec17 tor that contains a fossil fuel-fired electricity 

18 generating unit or units that together emit 

19 more than 10,000 carbon dioxide equivalents of 

20 greenhouse gas in that year; 

21 (B) an industrial facility that emits more 

22 than 10,000 carbon dioxide equivalents of 

23 greenhouse gas in that year; 

24 (C) a facility that produces, or an entity 

25 that imports or exports, in that year refined or 


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1 semirefined petroleum-based, or coal-based, liq2 uid fuel; 

3 (D) a local distribution company that in 

4 that year delivers natural gas; 

5 (E) to the extent that the Administrator 

6 considers necessary to achieve the purposes de7 scribed in section 3, an entity selling or distrib8 uting electric energy or an independent system 

9 operator; 

10 (F) a facility that produces for sale or dis11 tribution, or an entity that imports, in that year 

12 more than 10,000 carbon dioxide equivalents of 

13 hydrofluorocarbons, perfluorocarbons, sulfur 

14 hexafluoride, any other anthropogenic gas des15 ignated by the Administrator as a greenhouse 

16 gas under section 5, or any combination there17 of; 

18 (G) a site at which carbon dioxide is geo19 logically sequestered on a commercial scale; and 

20 (H) any other entity that the Adminis21 trator determines is appropriate in order to 

22 carry out the purposes set forth in section 3. 

23 (5) FACILITY.—The term ‘‘facility’’ means one 

24 or more buildings, structures, or installations of an 


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1 entity on one or more contiguous or adjacent prop2 erties located in the United States. 

3 (6) GEOLOGICALLY SEQUESTERED.—The term 

4 ‘‘geologically sequestered’’ means the isolation of 

5 greenhouse gases, without reversal, in geological for6 mations, as determined by the Administrator. 

7 (7) GREENHOUSE GAS.—The term ‘‘greenhouse 

8 gas’’ means any of— 

9 (A) carbon dioxide; 

10 (B) methane; 

11 (C) nitrous oxide; 

12 (D) sulfur hexafluoride; 

13 (E) a hydrofluorocarbon; 

14 (F) a perfluorocarbon; or 

15 (G) any other anthropogenic gas des16 ignated by the Administrator as a greenhouse 

17 gas under section 5. 

18 (8) GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSION.—The term 

19 ‘‘greenhouse gas emission’’ means an emission of a 

20 greenhouse gas, including— 

21 (A) stationary combustion source emissions 

22 emitted as a result of combustion of fuels in 

23 stationary equipment, such as boilers, furnaces, 

24 burners, turbines, heaters, incinerators, engines, 

25 flares, and other similar sources; 


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1 (B) process emissions consisting of emis2 sions from chemical or physical processes other 

3 than combustion; 

4 (C) fugitive emissions consisting of inten5 tional and unintentional emissions from equip6 ment leaks, such as joints, seals, packing, and 

7 gaskets, or from piles, pits, cooling towers, and 

8 other similar sources; and 

9 (D) biogenic emissions resulting from bio10 logical processes, such as anaerobic decomposi11 tion, nitrification, and denitrification. 

12 (9) INDUSTRIAL FACILITY.—The term ‘‘indus13 trial facility’’ means— 

14 (A) any facility in the manufacturing sec15 tor (as defined in North American Industrial 

16 Classification System codes 31, 32, and 33); 

17 (B) any natural gas processing plant; and 

18 (C) any other facility that produces petro19 leum-based or coal-based liquid fuel. 

20 (10) LOCAL DISTRIBUTION COMPANY.—The 

21 term ‘‘local distribution company’’ has the meaning 

22 given that term in section 2(17) of the Natural Gas 

23 Policy Act of 1978 (15 U.S.C. 3301(17)). 

24 (11) REVERSAL.—The term ‘‘reversal’’ means 

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1 phere of a significant quantity, as determined by the 

2 Administrator, of greenhouse gas that was seques3 tered. 

4 (12) SEQUESTERED.—The term ‘‘sequestered’’ 

5 means the separation, isolation, or removal of green6 house gases from the atmosphere, as determined by 

7 the Administrator. 

8 SEC. 3. PURPOSES. 

9 The purposes of this Act are— 

10 (1) to establish a Federal greenhouse gas reg11 istry that— 

12 (A) is national in scope; 

13 (B) is complete, consistent, and trans14 parent; and 

15 (C) will collect reliable and accurate data 

16 that can be used by public and private entities 

17 to design and implement efficient and effective 

18 energy security initiatives and greenhouse gas 

19 emission reduction strategies, including a man20 datory, multisector emissions trading scheme or 

21 emissions reduction program; and 

22 (2) to provide the Administrator better direc23 tion and clarity than has been provided in previous 

24 laws with respect to the United States need for 

25 greenhouse gas emission information. 


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1 SEC. 4. DETERMINATION OF CARBON DIOXIDE EQUIVA2 LENT VALUE OF GREENHOUSE GASES. 

3 (a) INITIAL DETERMINATION.—Not later than 90 

4 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Adminis5 trator shall— 

6 (1) determine the quantity of each greenhouse 

7 gas that makes the same contribution to global 

8 warming as 1 metric ton of carbon dioxide; and 

9 (2) publish such determination in the Federal 

10 Register. 

11 (b) METHODOLOGY.—In determining the quantity of 

12 a gas that makes the same contribution to global warming 

13 as 1 metric ton of carbon dioxide under this section or 

14 section 5, the Administrator shall take into account publi15 cations by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate 

16 Change or a successor organization under the United Na17 tions. 

18 SEC. 5. DESIGNATION OF GREENHOUSE GASES. 

19 The Administrator shall— 

20 (1) designate as a greenhouse gas, for purposes 

21 of this Act, any directly emitted anthropogenic gas 

22 that is included in the Inventory of United States 

23 Greenhouse Gases and Sinks, 1 metric ton of which 

24 makes the same or greater contribution to global 

25 warming as 1 metric ton of carbon dioxide, as deter26 mined by the Administrator; and 


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1 (2) publish, and update as necessary, in the 

2 Federal Register such designation, including the 

3 quantity of the gas that the Administrator deter4 mines makes the same contribution to global warm5 ing as 1 metric ton of carbon dioxide. 

6 SEC. 6. REPORTING OF GREENHOUSE GASES. 

7 Not later than July 1, 2011, and annually thereafter, 

8 each covered entity shall report to the Administrator the 

9 greenhouse gas emissions of the covered entity for the 

10 prior calendar year, in accordance with the regulations 

11 issued under section 7. 

12 SEC. 7. REGULATIONS. 

13 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than July 1, 2009, the 

14 Administrator shall issue regulations establishing a Fed15 eral greenhouse gas registry that achieves the purposes de16 scribed in section 3. Such regulations shall— 

17 (1) ensure the completeness, consistency, trans18 parency, accuracy, precision, and reliability of data 

19 submitted by covered entities on— 

20 (A) greenhouse gas emissions in the 

21 United States; and 

22 (B) the production and manufacture in the 

23 United States, and importation into the United 

24 States, of fuels and other products the uses of 

25 which result in greenhouse gas emissions; 


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1 (2) take into account the best practices from 

2 the most recent Federal, State, tribal, and inter3 national protocols for the measurement, accounting, 

4 reporting, and verification of greenhouse gas emis5 sions, including protocols from the Climate Registry 

6 and other mandatory State or multistate authorized 

7 programs; 

8 (3) take into account the latest scientific re9 search; 

10 (4) require that, wherever feasible, submitted 

11 data are monitored using monitoring systems for 

12 fuel use, fuel flow, or emissions, such as continuous 

13 emission monitoring systems or systems of equiva14 lent precision, reliability, accessibility, and timeli15 ness; 

16 (5) require that, if a covered entity is already 

17 using a continuous emission monitoring system to 

18 monitor mass greenhouse gas emissions under a pro19 vision of law in effect as of the date of enactment 

20 of this Act that is consistent with this Act, that sys21 tem be used to monitor submitted data; 

22 (6) require reporting at least annually, begin23 ning with reporting on the emission of greenhouse 

24 gases during calendar year 2010; 


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1 (7) include methods for minimizing double re2 porting and avoiding irreconcilable double reporting 

3 of greenhouse gas emissions; 

4 (8) include protocols to prevent covered entities 

5 from avoiding reporting requirements; 

6 (9) include strict protocols for verification of 

7 submitted data; 

8 (10) establish a means for electronic reporting; 

9 (11) ensure verification and auditing of sub10 mitted data; 

11 (12) establish consistent policies for calculating 

12 carbon content and greenhouse gas emissions for 

13 each type of fossil fuel reported; 

14 (13) provide for immediate public dissemination 

15 on the Internet of all verified data reported under 

16 this Act that are not— 

17 (A) vital to the national security of the 

18 United States, as determined by the President; 

19 or 

20 (B) confidential business information that 

21 cannot be derived from information that is oth22 erwise publically available and that would cause 

23 significant calculable competitive harm if pub24 lished (except that information relating to 

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1 ered to be confidential business information); 

2 and 

3 (14) prescribe methods by which the Adminis4 trator shall, in cases in which satisfactory data are 

5 not submitted to the Administrator for any period of 

6 time— 

7 (A) replace the missing data with a best 

8 estimate of emission levels that may have oc9 curred during the period for which data are 

10 missing, in order to ensure that emissions are 

11 not underreported or overreported and to create 

12 a strong incentive for meeting data monitoring 

13 and reporting requirements; and 

14 (B) take appropriate enforcement action. 

15 (b) INFORMATION GATHERING AUTHORITIES.—For 

16 purposes of carrying out this Act and the regulations 

17 under this section, the Administrator shall have the same 

18 authority as the Administrator has under section 114 of 

19 the Clean Air Act. 

20 SEC. 8. INTERRELATIONSHIP WITH OTHER SYSTEMS. 

21 (a) IN GENERAL.—The regulations issued under sec22 tion 7 shall take into account the work done by the Cli23 mate Registry and other mandatory State or multistate 

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1 ferences in approach between the system established under 

2 the regulations and the respective registries or programs. 

3 (b) NO PREEMPTION.—Nothing in this Act preempts 

4 any State or regional greenhouse gas registry efforts. 

5 SEC. 9. ENFORCEMENT. 

6 (a) CIVIL ACTIONS.—The Administrator may bring 

7 a civil action in a United States district court against any 

8 entity that fails to comply with any requirement promul9 gated pursuant to section 7. 

10 (b) PENALTY.—Any person that has violated or is 

11 violating regulations promulgated pursuant to section 7 

12 shall be subject to a civil penalty of not more than $25,000 

13 per day for each violation. 

14 (c) PENALTY ADJUSTMENT.—For each fiscal year 

15 after the fiscal year in which this Act is enacted, the Ad16 ministrator shall, by regulation, adjust the penalty speci17 fied in subsection (b) to reflect changes for the 12-month 

18 period ending the preceding November 30 in the Con19 sumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers published by 

20 the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the Department of 

21 Labor. 

22 SEC. 10. EFFECT ON OTHER PROVISIONS. 

23 Nothing in this Act, or regulations issued pursuant 

24 to this Act, shall affect or be construed to affect the regu25 latory status of carbon dioxide or any other greenhouse 


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1 gas, or to expand or limit regulatory authority regarding 

2 carbon dioxide or any other greenhouse gas, for purposes 

3 of the Clean Air Act. The previous sentence shall not af4 fect implementation and enforcement of this Act. 

Æ 


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