Oregon Administrative Rules › Chapter 340 - DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY › Division 272 - THIRD PARTY VERIFICATION › Section 340-272-0500 - Requirements for Conflict of Interest Evaluation

Current through Register Vol. 63, No. 7, July 1, 2024
(1) Conflict of interest evaluation. Before
			 verification services may begin, each responsible entity must coordinate with
			 the verification body with which it has engaged to perform verification to
			 conduct a conflict of interest evaluation between itself and any verification
			 bodies, verifiers, lead verifiers, sector specific verifiers, independent
			 reviewers, and subcontractors intending to perform verification under the
			 requirements of this division.
(2)
			 High conflict of interest. The potential for a conflict of interest must be
			 deemed to be high where:
(a) The responsible
			 entity and the verification body share any management staff or board of
			 directors membership, or any of the senior management staff of the responsible
			 entity have been employed by the verification body, or vice versa, within the
			 previous five years;
(b) Any
			 employee of the verification body, or any employee of a related entity, or a
			 subcontractor who is a member of the verification team has provided to the
			 responsible entity any of the services in paragraph (A) (B), or (C) of this
			 subsection, as applicable, within the previous five years:
(A) High conflict of interest services
			 provided to any responsible entity:
(i)
			 Designing or providing consultative engineering or technical services in the
			 development and construction of a fuel production facility; or energy
			 efficiency, renewable power, or other projects which explicitly identify
			 greenhouse gas reductions as a benefit;
(ii) Any service related to development of
			 information systems, or consulting on the development of environmental
			 management systems except for systems that will not be part of the verification
			 process and except for accounting software systems;
(iii) Verification services that are not
			 provided in accordance with, or equivalent to, the requirements of this
			 division, unless the systems and data reviewed during those services, as well
			 as the result of those services, will not be part of the verification
			 process;
(iv) Reporting under OAR
			 chapter 340, division 253 or OAR chapter 340, division 215, or uploading data
			 for DEQ, on behalf of the responsible entity;
(v) Bookkeeping and other non-attest services
			 related to accounting records or financial statements, excluding services and
			 results of those services that will not be part of the verification
			 process;
(vi) Directly managing any
			 health, environment, or safety functions for the responsible entity;
(vii) Appraisal services of carbon or
			 greenhouse gas liabilities or assets;
(viii) Brokering in, advising on, or
			 assisting in any way in carbon or greenhouse gas-related markets;
(ix) Appraisal and valuation services, both
			 tangible and intangible;
(x) Any
			 actuarially oriented advisory service involving the determination of amounts
			 recorded in financial statements and related accounts;
(xi) Any internal audit service that has been
			 outsourced by the responsible entity that relates to its internal accounting
			 controls, financial systems, or financial statements, unless the result of
			 those services will not be part of the verification process;
(xii) Fairness opinions and
			 contribution-in-kind reports in which the verification body has provided its
			 opinion on the adequacy of consideration in a transaction, unless the resulting
			 services will not be part of the verification process;
(xiii) Acting as a broker-dealer (registered
			 or unregistered), promoter or underwriter on behalf of the responsible
			 entity;
(xiv) Any legal services;
			 or
(xv) Expert services to the
			 responsible entity, a trade or membership group to which the responsible entity
			 belongs, or a legal representative for the purpose of advocating the
			 responsible entity 's interests in litigation or in a regulatory or
			 administrative proceeding or investigation.
(B) Additional high conflict of interest
			 services provided to a responsible entity subject to OAR chapter 340, division
			 253:
(i) Designing, developing, implementing,
			 reviewing, or maintaining an information or data management system for data
			 submitted under OAR chapter 340, division 253 or OAR chapter 340, division 215
			 unless the review was part of providing independent quality assurance audit
			 services, attestation engagement services, providing verification services
			 according to the U.S. EPA RFS or the EU RED, or third-party engineering reports
			 according to the U.S. EPA RFS;
(ii)
			 Developing CI or fuel transaction data or other greenhouse gas related
			 engineering analysis that includes facility-specific information;
(iii) Designing, developing, implementing,
			 conducting an internal audit, consulting, or maintaining a project to receive
			 CFP project-based credits;
(iv)
			 Preparing or producing CFP fuel pathway application or CFP reporting manuals,
			 handbooks, or procedures specifically for the responsible entity;
(v) Owning, buying, selling, trading, or
			 retiring CFP credits, RINs, or credits in any carbon market; or
(vi) Dealing in or being a promoter of
			 credits on behalf of the responsible entity.
(C) Additional high conflict of interest
			 services provided to a responsible entity subject to OAR chapter 340, division
			 215:
(i) Designing, developing, implementing,
			 reviewing, or maintaining an inventory or information or data management system
			 for facility air emissions, or, where applicable, electricity or fuel
			 transactions, unless the review was part of providing greenhouse gas
			 verification services;
(ii)
			 Developing greenhouse gas emissions factors or other greenhouse gas-related
			 engineering analysis, including developing or reviewing a greenhouse gas
			 analysis for air quality permitting or land use review that includes facility
			 specific information; or
(iii)
			 Preparing or producing greenhouse gas-related manuals, handbooks, or procedures
			 specifically for the responsible entity.
(c) Any member of the verification body or
			 verification team has provided verification services for the responsible entity
			 except within the time periods in which the responsible entity is allowed to
			 use the same verification body or team members as specified under OAR
			 340-272-0100(5); or
(d) Any member
			 of the verification body provides any type of monetary or non-monetary
			 incentive to a responsible entity to secure a verification contract, influence
			 verification documentation, or influence verification findings.