I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1795 

To provide for the establishment of an Offsets Integrity Advisory Board, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 30, 2009 

Mr. MATHESON introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Energy and Commerce 

A BILL 

To provide for the establishment of an Offsets Integrity 

Advisory Board, 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. OFFSETS INTEGRITY ADVISORY BOARD. 

4 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 30 days after 

5 the date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall 

6 establish an independent Offsets Integrity Advisory 

7 Board. The Advisory Board shall make recommendations 

8 to the Administrator for use in promulgating and revising 

9 regulations on offsets, and for ensuring the overall envi10 ronmental integrity of the offset program. 


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1 (b) MEMBERSHIP.—The Advisory Board shall be 

2 comprised of nine members with relevant expertise. At 

3 least six members of the Advisory Board shall be sci4 entists, and at least one member shall be a member of 

5 the National Academy of Sciences. The Administrator 

6 shall appoint a chair and vice-chair of the Advisory Board, 

7 and membership terms shall be 5 years for all Advisory 

8 Board members. 

9 (c) ACTIVITIES.—The Advisory Board established 

10 pursuant to subsection (a) shall— 

11 (1) provide recommendations, not later than 90 

12 days after the Advisory Board’s establishment and 

13 periodically thereafter, to the Administrator regard14 ing offset project types that should be considered for 

15 eligibility, taking into consideration relevant sci16 entific and other issues, including— 

17 (A) the potential for accurate quantifica18 tion of greenhouse gas reduction, avoidance, or 

19 sequestration for an offset project type; 

20 (B) the potential level of scientific and 

21 measurement uncertainty associated with an 

22 offset project type; and 

23 (C) any beneficial or adverse environ24 mental, public health, welfare, social, economic, 


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1 or energy effects associated with an offset 

2 project type; 

3 (2) provide recommendations to the Adminis4 trator regarding offset methodologies that should be 

5 considered under the offsets regulations, including 

6 methodologies to address the issues of additionality, 

7 activity baselines, performance, leakage, uncertainty, 

8 and permanence; 

9 (3) advise the Administrator, and other relevant 

10 Federal agencies, regarding scientific, technical, and 

11 methodological issues specific to the issuance of 

12 international offset credits; 

13 (4) advise the Administrator of areas in which 

14 further knowledge is required to appraise the ade15 quacy of existing, revised, or proposed methodologies 

16 for offsets, and describe the research efforts nec17 essary to provide the required information; and 

18 (5) advise the Administrator on other ways to 

19 improve or safeguard the environmental integrity of 

20 the offsets program. 

21 (d) SCIENTIFIC REVIEW OF OFFSET PROGRAMS.— 

22 Not later than January 1, 2017, and at five-year intervals 

23 thereafter, the Advisory Board shall submit to the Admin24 istrator and make available to the public an analysis of 

25 relevant scientific and technical information related to the 


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1 offsets program. The Advisory Board shall review ap2 proved and potential offset methodologies, scientific stud3 ies, offset project monitoring, offset project verification re4 ports, and audits, and evaluate the net emissions effects 

5 of implemented offset projects. The Advisory Board shall 

6 recommend changes to offset methodologies, protocols, or 

7 project types, or to the overall offset program, in order 

8 to ensure that offset credits issued by the Administrator 

9 do not compromise the integrity of the emissions cap, and 

10 to avoid or minimize any adverse effects to human health 

11 or the environment. 

12 SEC. 2. PROGRAM REVIEW AND REVISION. 

13 At least once every 5 years, the Administrator shall 

14 review and, based on new information and taking into con15 sideration the recommendations of the Advisory Board, re16 vise— 

17 (1) the methodologies established; 

18 (2) the reversal policies and mechanisms estab19 lished; 

20 (3) measures to improve the accountability of 

21 the offsets program; and 

22 (4) any other requirements established to en23 sure the environmental integrity and effective oper24 ation of the offsets program. 

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