Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Greenhouse Gas Reporting topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
ANR urges stand‑alone greenhouse‑gas reporting rule, flags data gaps and legal questions
Summary
The Agency of Natural Resources recommended creating a standalone greenhouse‑gas reporting program covering fossil fuels in transportation and heating, estimated two staff and ~$300,000 one‑time costs plus $200,000 annual verification/platform costs, and highlighted gaps in biofuel data and legal uncertainties that may require legislative authorization.
Jane Lazarczak of the Climate Action Office presented the Climate Council’s recommendation that Vermont establish a standalone greenhouse‑gas reporting rule to provide the high‑quality data needed to evaluate emission‑reduction policies.
Lazarczak said harmonizing existing datasets across agencies was considered but rejected as the sole approach because of data gaps (notably biofuels), data‑sharing limits and verification challenges. ‘‘We did not feel like harmonization was an appropriate path to pursue at this time in large part because there were shortcomings in the data largely around biofuels,’’ she said.
Scope and entities: ANR recommended at minimum including all fossil fuels used in residential, commercial and industrial (RCI) sectors as well as transportation fuels, and covering fuel suppliers as the reporting entities. The agency proposed excluding the electric sector from this reporting role because electricity data are handled regionally through the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative and the state’s renewable energy standard.
Staffing and costs: Lazarczak described initial resource estimates to stand up the program: two full‑time staff over time, one‑time costs around $300,000, and an increase in base funding of about $200,000 to support third‑party verification and the reporting platform. She said the estimates were informed by conversations with New York and Massachusetts and by discussions with the state’s application development services (ADS) about building a digital platform in‑house versus contracting.
Data limitations and interagency issues: ANR staff explained the tax department provides fuel volumes but not the identities of reporting entities, and DMV data‑sharing agreements will need renewal or statutory support; both agencies and ANR flagged limited capture of biofuel characteristics in current datasets. Lazarczak warned that under‑resourcing a reporting program can produce inequities and poor compliance, citing a reporting program the Public Utility Commission previously stood up that had limited compliance: ‘‘the data as of a year ago was that only 55% of entities that were obligated to report were reporting through the PUC’s program,’’ she said.
Legal authority and statute cleanup: Committee members asked why ANR is seeking legislative authorization rather than relying on existing rulemaking authority. ANR said counsel has reviewed legal challenges other states faced and recommended legislative authorization in part to better defend against litigation; ANR proposed pursuing rulemaking while simultaneously cleaning up statutes that create overlapping or dormant reporting requirements.
Open questions: ANR said it was still reviewing whether to include stationary large‑source reporting and how to treat wood burning in the RCI heating sector. The agency will return with legal staff and more detailed cost and technical plans upon request from the committee.
Ending: ANR committed to providing the committee the memorandum appendices, the most recent greenhouse‑gas inventory link, and to bringing agency attorneys and technical staff for more detailed follow‑up testimony.
