Code of Maine Rules › 06 - DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION › 096 - DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION - GENERAL › Chapter 167 - TRACKING AND REPORTING GROSS AND NET ANNUAL GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS › Section 096-167-1 - Definitions

Current through 2024-29, July 17, 2024
The following terms, as used in this Chapter, have the
				  following meanings:
A.
Anthropogenic.
"Anthropogenic" means resulting from human
				activity.
B.
Biogenic
				emissions.
"Biogenic emissions" means emissions resulting from the
				combustion, harvest, digestion, fermentation, decomposition or processing of
				biologically based materials (e.g., emissions from municipal solid waste,
				landfills, and biomass and biofuels, such as wood, and ethanol). Biogenic
				emissions also include emissions from the natural carbon cycle.
C.
Blue carbon.
"Blue carbon"
				means carbon that is removed from the atmosphere through plant growth,
				including seaweed, and burial of organic carbon in soil in coastal ecosystems
				such as salt marshes and seagrass beds.
D.
Carbon budget.
"Carbon
				budget" means the compilation of the major pools and fluxes of carbon in
				Maine.
E.
Carbon
				neutrality.
"Carbon neutrality" means the state of net zero carbon
				emissions. Carbon neutrality is achieved by balancing anthropogenic emissions
				of carbon with sequestration of carbon.
F.
CO2
				equivalent emissions (CO2e).
"CO2equivalent emissions" means the amount of GHGs
				emitted in terms of carbon dioxide equivalents. Each type of GHG traps heat in
				the atmosphere differently, with some being far more potent than others.
				Emissions from GHGs other than carbon dioxide are converted to carbon dioxide
				equivalent emissions using GWP values from the "Climate Change 2014: Synthesis
				Report. Contribution of Working Groups I, II and III to the Fifth Assessment
				Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change" [Core Writing Team,
				R.K. Pachauri and L.A. Meyer (eds.)], as published by the Intergovernmental
				Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) (Geneva, Switzerland) in 2015. The GWP values
				from this report are incorporated by reference herein.
NOTE: The report can be accessed at
www.ipcc.ch/report/ar5/syr/
,
				  and copies of the incorporated material are also available from the Department
				  by calling (207) 287-2235.
The mass amount of emissions (e.g., metric tons per year) for
				  each individual GHG is multiplied by the compound-specific GWP, and the
				  individual compound amounts in CO2e are summed to give
				  total GHG emissions in units of CO2e.
G.
Commercial sector.
"Commercial sector" means an energy-consuming sector that consists of
				service-providing facilities and equipment including businesses; federal,
				state, and local governments; and other private and public organizations, such
				as religious, social, or fraternal groups. The commercial sector also includes
				institutional living quarters; sewage treatment facilities; and generators that
				produce electricity and/or useful thermal output primarily to support the
				activities of the above-mentioned commercial establishments. Common uses of
				energy associated with this sector include space heating, water heating, air
				conditioning, lighting, refrigeration, cooking, and running a wide variety of
				other equipment.
H.
EIA.
"EIA" means the U.S. Energy Information
				Administration.
I.
Electric
				power sector.
"Electric power sector" means an energy-consuming sector
				that consists of electricity-only and combined-heat-and-power plants within the
				North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) 22 category whose primary
				business is to sell electricity, or electricity and heat, to the public. This
				sector includes electric utilities and independent power producers.
J.
Emissions inventory.
"Emissions inventory" means a comprehensive statewide estimate of pollutants
				released into the atmosphere.
K.
Fossil fuel.
"Fossil fuel" means natural gas, petroleum, coal, or
				any form of solid, liquid, or gaseous fuel derived from the fossilized remains
				of plants and animals that lived millions of years ago.
L.
Global warming potential
				(GWP).
"
Global warming potential" or "GWP" is
				a
measure of the radiative forcing (heat-absorbing ability) of a
				particular gas relative to that of CO2for a base time
				period after taking into account the decay rate of the gas (the amount removed
				from the atmosphere over a given number of years) relative to that of
				CO2. Global warming potentials used in this rule are
				consistent with the values used in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
				Change Assessment Report.
M.
Greenhouse gas (GHG).
"Greenhouse gas" or "GHG" means any gas that
				is emitted into the air and that the Department determines by rule may
				reasonably be anticipated to cause or contribute to climate change. Greenhouse
				gas includes, but is not limited to, carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide,
				hydrofluorocarbons, nitrogen trifluoride, perfluorocarbons and sulfur
				hexafluoride.
N.
Gross
				greenhouse gas emissions.
"Gross greenhouse gas emissions" means the sum
				of all anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions released to the atmosphere by all
				sources within the State each year, regardless of how much carbon is
				sequestered in the environment.
O.
Heating season.
"Heating season" means the time period from
				October 1 - April 30 each year.
P.
Industrial sector.
"Industrial sector" means an energy-consuming
				sector that consists of all facilities and equipment used for producing,
				processing, or assembling goods. The industrial sector encompasses the
				following types of activity: manufacturing (NAICS codes 31-33); agriculture,
				forestry, fishing and hunting (NAICS code 11); mining, including oil and gas
				extraction (NAICS code 21); and construction (NAICS code 23). Overall energy
				use in this sector is largely for process heat and cooling and powering
				machinery, with lesser amounts used for facility heating, air conditioning, and
				lighting. Fossil fuels are also used as raw material inputs to manufactured
				products. This sector includes generators that produce electricity and/or
				useful thermal output primarily to support the above-mentioned industrial
				activities.
Q.
MAIRIS.
"MAIRIS" means the Maine Air Inventory Reporting Information
				System, the system point source facilities use to submit their annual emissions
				inventories.
R.
Metric
				ton.
"Metric ton" is a metric unit of mass equivalent to 1,000
				kilograms. A metric ton is not the same as a short ton.
S.
NAICS.
"NAICS" means the
				North American Industry Classification System, the system used to categorize
				point-source facilities into sectors (e.g., industrial, electric power, and
				commercial).
T.
Net
				greenhouse gas emissions.
"Net annual greenhouse gas emissions" means
				gross annual anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions less the total amount of
				greenhouse gases absorbed each year by greenhouse gassinks, natural or manmade,
				including, but not limited to, trees, crops, soil, and wetlands within the
				State.
NOTE: The definition of net annual greenhouse gas emissions
				  in
				  38 M.R.S.
				  §574(1-C) does not
				  include manmade carbon sinks. Manmade carbon sinks will be included in this
				  analysis where applicable to most accurately estimate carbon
				  sequestered.
U.
Residential sector.
"Residential sector" means an energy-consuming
				sector that consists of living quarters for private households. Common uses of
				energy associated with this sector include space heating, water heating, air
				conditioning, lighting, refrigeration, cooking, and running a variety of other
				appliances and equipment. The residential sector does not include institutional
				living quarters.
V.
Sector.
"Sector" means a category used to separate the sources of
				greenhouse gas emissions based on the area of the economy in which those
				sources share the same or a related product or service (i.e., residential,
				commercial, industrial, transportation, and electric utilities).
NOTE: The definition of sector in
				  38 M.R.S.
				  §574(2) lists the five
				  sectors astransportation, industrial, commercial, institutional and
				  residential. To be consistent with EPA GHG methodology as well as the SIT, this
				  analysis will combine the institutional and commercial sectors into the
				  commercial sector and break out the electric utilities sector.
W.
SEDS.
"SEDS" means the U.S.
				Energy Information Administration State Energy Data System.
X.
Sequestration of carbon.
"Sequestration of carbon" means the geological or biological or technological
				process of capturing and storing atmospheric carbon dioxide.
Y.
Sink for carbon.
"Sink for
				carbon" or "carbon sink" means any reservoir, natural or manmade, that absorbs
				and stores carbon dioxide from the atmosphere (e.g., forests, vegetation,
				soils, the ocean).
Z.
SIT.
"SIT" means the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA)
				State Inventory Tool, a computer model developed by EPA to estimate
				state-specific greenhouse gas emissions.
AA.
Short ton.
"Short ton" is
				the United States "ton" and is equivalent 2,000 pounds. A short ton is not the
				same as a metric ton. A metric ton, or 1,000 kilograms, is approximately 1.1
				short tons.
BB.
Source
				category.
"Source category" means a category used to define where
				greenhouse gas emissions originate based on the type of process or activity
				producing the greenhouse gases (i.e., industrial processes, agriculture, waste,
				and energy).
CC.
Source of
				carbon.
"Source of carbon" or "source" means any natural or manmade
				producer of chemical compounds containing carbon (e.g, carbon dioxide,
				methane). For example, degradation of plant matter and the burning of fossil
				fuels are a source of carbon to the atmosphere.
DD.
Transportation sector.
"Transportation sector" means an energy-consuming sector that consists of all
				vehicles whose primary purpose is transporting people and/or goods from one
				physical location to another. This sector includes automobiles, trucks, buses,
				motorcycles, and other on-road and off-road vehicles; trains, subways, and
				other rail vehicles; aircraft; and ships, barges, and other waterborne
				vehicles. The transportation sector does not include vehicles whose primary
				purpose is not transportation (e.g., construction cranes and bulldozers,
				farming vehicles, and warehouse tractors and forklifts); those vehicles are
				classified in the sector of their primary use. Natural gas used in the
				operation of natural gas pipelines is included in the transportation sector.