Document ID: EPA-HQ-OAR-2019-0424-0275
Agency: epa
Document Type: Supporting & Related Material
Title: 
Posted Date: 2023-05-22T04:00Z

MEMORANDUM
DATE:  	May 2, 2023
TO:	Docket EPA-HQ-OAR-2019-0424
FROM:  	Jennifer Bohman
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SUBJECT:	Proposed Reporting Determinations for Data Elements Assigned to the Inputs to Emission Equations Data Category in Proposed Supplemental Revisions to the Greenhouse Gas Reporting Rule
      In the rulemaking titled "Revisions and Confidentiality Determinations for Data Elements Under the Greenhouse Gas Reporting Rule; Supplemental notice of proposed rulemaking," the EPA proposes revisions to the current 40 CFR part 98 requirements. These proposed revisions include changes to improve the quality and consistency of the data collected under the rule and that would inform and be relevant to the EPA's carrying out of a wide variety of Clean Air Act provisions, including reporting from additional sectors of the economy. 
      These proposed revisions include amendments to the reporting requirements of 40 CFR part 98, including substantial revisions to existing reporting requirements (i.e., the change requires additional or different data to be reported) and the addition of new data elements.  EPA proposes to designate certain of these new or substantially revised data elements as "Inputs to Emission Equations." The "Inputs to Emission Equations" data category includes data elements that are the inputs to the emission equations used by sources that directly emit GHGs to calculate their annual GHG emissions. The EPA evaluates and organizes data assigned to the "Inputs to Emission Equations" data category into two subcategories. The first subcategory includes "inputs to emission equations" that must be included in the annual report and directly reported to the EPA. The second subcategory includes "inputs to emission equations" that must be entered into e-GGRT's Inputs Verification Tool (IVT) and maintained as verification software records by the submitter; these data elements are not included in the annual report that is submitted to the EPA. 
      EPA's process for evaluating "Inputs to Emissions Equations" was developed in 2011 and includes the following steps:
 Step 1: Determine whether each input is already publicly available.
 Step 2: For inputs that are not publicly available, evaluate whether release of the information is likely to result in substantial competitive harm.
 Step 3: For inputs that are likely to cause substantial competitive harm if disclosed, evaluate potential alternative calculation methods.
 Step 4: For inputs that are likely to cause substantial competitive harm if disclosed, evaluate potential alternative verification methods. 
      As discussed in Section VI.C of the proposed rule, the EPA proposes to assign 31 new or substantially revised data elements to the "Inputs to Emission Equations" data category. EPA evaluated these 31 data elements to determine if they should be directly reported to EPA or if they should be entered into the IVT system. Based on the EPA's evaluation, the EPA found that 12 of these 31 evaluated data elements do not meet the criteria necessary for them to be entered into the IVT system, and, therefore, the EPA is proposing that these 12 data elements be directly reported to the EPA. The EPA considers these "inputs to emission equations" that do not meet the criteria necessary for them to be entered into the IVT system to be "emissions data". "Emissions data" are not eligible for confidential treatment. Therefore, these 12 data elements would  be directly reported to the EPA, and they would be published once received by the EPA without further notice to the submitter. Table 1 lists each of the 12 data elements that EPA proposes would (1) be placed in the inputs to emissions data category and (2) be directly reported to EPA.  For each data element, the table provides the subpart, the 40 CFR part 98 rule citation, a description of the data element, an indication of whether the data element is new or revised, and the EPA's rationale for why the data element would not be eligible for entering into IVT. 
 	Also based on the EPA's evaluation discussed above, the EPA determined that 19 of the 31 evaluated data elements meet the criteria necessary to be entered into the IVT system.  These data elements include information such as quantities of materials produced, quantities of raw materials consumed, and operating characteristics of the reporting facility.  EPA found that these data are not publicly available and otherwise meet the criteria for entry int IVT. The EPA proposes that these 19 data elements be entered into IVT and maintained as verification software records by the submitter rather than being included in the annual report that is submitted to the EPA. A list of these 19 proposed verification software records is provided in Table 2. For each verification software record, the table provides the subpart, the 40 CFR part 98 rule citation, and a description of the verification software record. 
       
      
Table 1. NEW AND SUBSTANTIALLY REVISED DATA ELEMENTS PROPOSED TO BE ASSIGNED TO THE INPUTS TO EMISSION EQUATIONS DATA CATEGORY AND DIRECTLY REPORTED TO EPA
Subpart
Citation in 40 CFR Part 98
Data Element Description
New or Revised
Rationale for the Proposed Reporting Determination
HH
98.346(j)(5)
For landfills with gas collection systems, the number of gas collection systems at the landfill facility.
New
This data element would indicate the number of gas collection systems at the landfill facility. This data element is similar to 40 CFR 98.346(i)(5)(i), the number of destruction devices associated with each measurement location for landfills with gas collection systems.  EPA previously assigned a reporting determination of "directly report" for this similar data element (78 FR 71904, November 29, 2013; Inputs Memo, September 4, 2013). This means that very similar data (i.e., data on the existence and extent of landfill gas collection systems) on the MSW landfill is already publicly available.  In addition, in the December 17, 2012, memorandum "Summary of Evaluation of Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program (GHGRP) Part 98 "Inputs to Emission Equations" Data Elements Deferred Until 2013," the EPA found that MSW landfill data are widely available in the public domain and not actually or customarily treated as confidential by the submitter. For these reasons, the EPA has determined that this new input to an emission equation should be directly reported. 
HH
98.346(j)(6)(iii)
For each gas collection system at a landfill facility, the annual hours the gas collection system was operating normally (excluding periods of shut down or poor operation, such as times when pressure, temperature, or other parameters indicative of operation are outside of normal variances).
Revised
This data element would indicate the annual hours each gas collection system was operating normally at the landfill facility. As documented in the September 4, 2013, memorandum and the November 29, 2013, final rule (78 FR 71904), the EPA determined that the current version of this input to an emission equation in 40 CFR 98.346(i)(5)(ii) should be directly reported to EPA. This proposed revision to 40 CFR 98.346(i)(5)(ii) clarifies that the annual operating hours for each gas collection system excludes periods of shut down or poor operation, such as times when pressure, temperature, or other parameters indicative of operation are outside of normal variances.  This proposed revision would not change the EPA's previous determination; reporting the annual hours the gas collection system was operating normally reveals the same type of information as the annual operating hours of the gas collection system that is currently reported and published. In addition, in the December 17, 2012, memorandum "Summary of Evaluation of Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program (GHGRP) Part 98 "Inputs to Emission Equations" Data Elements Deferred Until 2013," the EPA found that MSW landfill data are widely available in the public domain and not actually or customarily treated as confidential by the submitter. For these reasons, the EPA has determined that this revised input to emission equation should be directly reported. 
HH
98.346(j)(6)(iv)
For each gas collection system at a landfill facility, the number of measurement locations associated with the gas collection system. 
New
This data element would indicate the number of measurement locations associated with each gas collection system at the landfill facility. This data element is similar to the input to an emission equation in 40 CFR 98.346(i)(5)(i) for municipal solid waste landfills, the number of destruction devices associated with each measurement location at the landfill facility, which we previously assigned a reporting determination of "directly report" (78 FR 71904, November 29, 2013; Inputs Memo, September 4, 2013). This means that very similar data (i.e., data about the existence and extent of landfill gas collection systems) is already publicly available.  In addition, in the December 17, 2012, memorandum "Summary of Evaluation of Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program (GHGRP) Part 98 "Inputs to Emission Equations" Data Elements Deferred Until 2013," the EPA found that MSW landfill data are widely available in the public domain and not actually or customarily treated as confidential by the submitter. For these reasons, the EPA has determined that this input to an emission equation should be directly reported.
HH
98.346(j)(7)(iv)
For landfills with gas collection systems for which you have indicated that surface methane concentration measurements were made during the reporting year, the total number of surface methane concentration measurements that exceeded 500 parts per million above background during the reporting year.
New
This data element would indicate the total number of surface methane concentration measurements that exceeded 500 parts per million above background during the reporting year for landfills with gas collection systems. This input to an emission equation is similar to the data element in 40 CFR 98.256(e)(9) for petroleum refineries using flares, number of SSM events exceeding 500,000 scf/day, which is reported to the EPA under 40 CFR 98.256(e)(9) and released to the public. In addition, in the December 17, 2012, memorandum "Summary of Evaluation of Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program (GHGRP) Part 98 "Inputs to Emission Equations" Data Elements Deferred Until 2013," the EPA found that MSW landfill data are widely available in the public domain and not actually or customarily treated as confidential by the submitter. For these reasons, the EPA has determined that this input to an emission equation should be directly reported.

HH
98.346(j)(7)(v)(C)
For landfills with gas collection systems, for each surface methane concentration measurement that exceeded 500 parts per million above background during the reporting year, the measured methane concentration (parts per million by volume). 
New
This data element would indicate the measured methane concentration for each surface methane concentration measurement that exceeded 500 parts per million above background during the reporting year for landfills with gas collection systems. This input to an emission equation is similar to the input to an emission equation in 40 CFR 98.326(g) for underground coal mines, quarterly CH4 concentration for each ventilation monitoring point, which we previously assigned a reporting determination of "directly report" (Inputs Memo, December 17, 2012). In addition, in the December 17, 2012, memorandum "Summary of Evaluation of Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program (GHGRP) Part 98 "Inputs to Emission Equations" Data Elements Deferred Until 2013," the EPA found that MSW landfill data are widely available in the public and not actually or customarily treated as confidential by the submitter.  For these reasons, the EPA has determined that this input to an emission equation should be directly reported.
HH
98.346(j)(7)(v)(D)
For landfills with gas collection systems, for each surface methane concentration measurement that exceeded 500 parts per million above background during the reporting year, the leak duration (days).
New
This data element would indicate the leak duration for each surface methane concentration measurement that exceeded 500 parts per million above background during the reporting year for landfills with gas collection systems. This input to an emission equation is similar to the data element in 40 CFR 98.236(k)(2)(iii) for petroleum and natural gas systems, duration of time that the leak is counted as having occurred for scrubber dump valve leakage vented directly to the atmosphere, which is reported to the EPA under 40 CFR 98.236(k)(2)(iii) and released to the public (79 FR 70351, November 25, 2014; CBI Memo, November 10, 2014). In addition, in the December 17, 2012, memorandum "Summary of Evaluation of Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program (GHGRP) Part 98 "Inputs to Emission Equations" Data Elements Deferred Until 2013," the EPA found that MSW landfill data are widely available in the public domain and not actually or customarily treated as confidential by the submitter. For these reasons, the EPA has determined that this input to an emission equation should be directly reported.   
XX
98.506(g)
For the calcium carbide production facility, the relevant information required by 40 CFR 98.36 for the Tier 4 calculation methodology (CEMS).
New
This data element would require calcium carbide facilities that use the Tier 4 calculation methodology (CEMS) to report the information required under 40 CFR 98.36 for that methodology.  EPA made a reporting determination for an applicable input to an emission equation, 40 CFR 98.36(b)(9)(iii),  in a previous rulemaking.  The existing determination would apply.
YY
98.516(h)
For the caprolactam, production facility, for each N2O abatement technology, the monthly abatement utilization factor. 
New
These data elements would indicate the monthly abatement utilization factor for each N2O abatement technology at the caprolactam, glyoxal, or glyoxylic acid production facility. These inputs to emission equations are similar to the input to an emission equation in 40 CFR 98.56(h) for adipic acid production, the abatement utilization factor for each abatement technology, which we previously assigned a reporting determination of "directly report" (79 FR 63750, October 24, 2014; Inputs Memo, September 2014). This means that similar data (i.e., data on utilization for N2O abatement systems) is publicly available.  For these reasons, the EPA has determined that these proposed new inputs to emission equations should be directly reported.
YY
98.516(h)
For the glyoxal production facility, for each N2O abatement technology, the monthly abatement utilization factor. 
New

YY
98.516(h)
For the glyoxylic acid production facility, for each N2O abatement technology, the monthly abatement utilization factor. 
New

ZZ
98.526(a)
For a ceramics manufacturing facility, the total number of ceramics process units. 
New
This data element would indicate the total number of ceramics process units at a ceramics manufacturing facility. This input to an emission equation is similar to the data element 40 CFR 98.146(b)(8) for glass production, total number of continuous glass melting furnaces, which is reported to the EPA under 40 CFR 98.146(b)(8) and released to the public. In addition, under the proposed rule, ceramics facilities would be reporting process emissions for each process under, and EPA is proposing that those emissions from each process unit would be published.  Therefore, this information would be readily determined from public information. For these reasons, the EPA has determined that this proposed new input to an emission equation should be directly reported.
ZZ
98.526(b)
For a facility containing a ceramics manufacturing process, the relevant information required under 40 CFR 98.36 for the Tier 4 calculation methodology (CEMS).
New
This proposed data element requires ceramics facilities that use the Tier 4 calculation methodology (CEMS) to report the information required under 40 CFR 98.36 for that methodology.  EPA made a reporting determination for an applicable input to an emission equation, 40 CFR 98.36(b)(9)(iii), in a previous rulemaking.  The existing determination would apply.

Table 2. NEW DATA ELEMENTS PROPOSED TO BE ASSIGNED TO THE INPUTS TO EMISSION EQUATIONS DATA CATEGORY, ENTERED INTO IVT, AND MAINTAINED AS VERIFICATION SOFTWARE RECORDS 
Subpart
Citation in 40 CFR Part 98
Verification Software Record
WW
98.497(b)(1)
Monthly mass of green coke fed to the coke calcining unit from facility records (metric tons/year) (Equation WW-1 of 40 CFR 98.493).
WW
98.497(b)(2)
Monthly mass of marketable petroleum coke produced by the coke calcining unit from facility records (metric tons/year) (Equation WW-1 of 40 CFR 98.493).
WW
98.497(b)(3)
Monthly mass of petroleum coke dust removed from the process through the dust collection system of the coke calcining unit from facility records (metric tons/year) (Equation WW-1 of 40 CFR 98.493).
WW
98.497(b)(4)
Average monthly mass fraction carbon content of green coke fed to the coke calcining unit from facility measurement data (metric tons C per metric ton green coke) (Equation WW-1 of 40 CFR 98.493).
WW
98.497(b)(5)
Average monthly mass fraction carbon content of marketable petroleum coke produced by the coke calcining unit from facility measurement data (metric tons C per metric ton petroleum coke) (Equation WW-1 of 40 CFR 98.493).
XX
98.507(d)(1)
Carbon content in reducing agent (percent by weight, expressed as a decimal fraction) (Equation XX-1 of 40 CFR 98.503). 
XX
98.507(d)(2)
Annual mass of reducing agent fed, charged, or otherwise introduced into the calcium carbide process unit (tons) (Equation XX-1 of 40 CFR 98.503).
XX
98.507(d)(3)
Carbon content of carbon electrode (percent by weight, expressed as a decimal fraction) (Equation XX-1 of 40 CFR 98.503). 
XX
98.507(d)(4)
Annual mass of carbon electrode consumed in the calcium carbide process unit (tons) (Equation XX-1 of 40 CFR 98.503). 
XX
98.507(d)(5)
Carbon content in product (percent by weight, expressed as a decimal fraction) (Equation XX-1 of 40 CFR 98.503). 
XX
98.507(d)(6)
Annual mass of product produced/tapped in the calcium carbide process unit (tons) (Equation XX-1 of 40 CFR 98.503). 
XX
98.507(d)(7)
Carbon content in non-product outgoing material (percent by weight, expressed as a decimal fraction) (Equation XX-1 of 40 CFR 98.503). 
XX
98.507(d)(8)
Annual mass of non-product outgoing material removed from calcium carbide process unit (tons) (Equation XX-1 of 40 CFR 98.503). 
YY
98.517(d)(1)
Monthly production quantity of caprolactam from all process lines at the caprolactam, glyoxal, or glyoxylic acid production facility.
YY
98.517(d)(2)
Monthly production quantity of glyoxal from all process lines at the caprolactam, glyoxal, or glyoxylic acid production facility.
YY
98.517(d)(3)
Monthly production quantity of glyoxylic acid from all process lines at the caprolactam, glyoxal, or glyoxylic acid production facility.
ZZ
98.527(d)(1)
Annual average decimal mass fraction of each carbonate-based mineral in each carbonate-based raw material for each ceramics process unit (specify the default value, if used, or the value determined according to 40 CFR 98.524) (percent by weight, expressed as a decimal fraction) (Equation ZZ-1 of 40 CFR 98.523).
ZZ
98.527(d)(2)
Annual mass of each carbonate-based raw material charged to each ceramics process unit (tons) (Equation ZZ-1 of 40 CFR 98.523).
ZZ
98.527(d)(3)
Decimal fraction of calcination achieved for each carbonate-based raw material for each ceramics process unit (specify the default value, if used, or the value determined according to 40 CFR 98.524) (percent by weight, expressed as a decimal fraction) (Equation ZZ-1 40 CFR 98.523).