I. Title of the Best Practice

II. Overview of the Best Practice

A. General Description
The Voluntary Reporting of Greenhouse Gases Program is part of an attempt by the U.S. Government to develop innovative, low-cost, and non-regulatory approaches to limit emissions of greenhouse gases. It is one element in an array of such programs introduced in recent years as part of the effort being made by the United States to comply with its national commitment to stabilize emissions of greenhouse gases under the Framework Convention on Climate Change. The Voluntary Reporting Program, developed pursuant to Section 1605(b) of the Energy Policy Act of 1992, established a mechanism by which corporations, government agencies, individuals, trade associations, organizations, etc., can report to the Energy Information Administration (EIA) any actions taken that have or are expected to reduce /avoid emissions of greenhouse gases. This effort also included the development of a reporting framework, forms, instructions, and guidelines, as well as the establishment and maintenance of a public use database, as required by the Energy Policy Act of 1992, containing all the information reported to the Voluntary Reporting of Greenhouse Gases Program (which is also known as the 1605(b) Program).

The principal clauses of Section 1605(b) of the Energy Policy Act required the U.S. Department of Energy, in consultation with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, to issue guidelines for reporting emissions of greenhouse gases. The EIA was then required to develop a reporting framework consistent with the guidelines. The information collected through this voluntary program was to be accessible for public use. The development of the guidelines was assigned to the DOE's Office of Policy, and resulted in the development of a multi-volume set of documents in 1994. The EIA's Office of Integrated Analysis and Forecasting was assigned the responsibility of developing the reporting framework of the voluntary reporting program and supporting/maintaining it, as well as the establishment of a public-use database containing the information reported to the Program.

The program provides private sector entities the opportunity to create a public record of their emission reductions or sequestration achievements. It provides a mechanism for initiating an informed public debate on greenhouse gases and reduction efforts. Reporting to the Program facilitates educational exchanges on the most effective methods to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and allows reporters to demonstrate support for achieving environmental policy goals through voluntary efforts. The Form EIA-1605 is also being used as the official reporting mechanism for a number of voluntary greenhouse gas reduction programs, including the U.S. Department of Energy's Climate Challenge Program and the Environmental Protection Agency's Climate Wise Program.

B. Special Characteristics of the Best Practice
The survey forms implementing these guidelines were first approved in May 1995. The Form EIA-1605EZ is one page in length, in contrast to the Form EIA-1605, which is much more comprehensive in nature and is approximately 50 pages in length, consisting of approximately 1,000 data elements in 75 tables. The design of the form is modular: most reporters will fill out only a small portion of the total form, but the software that supports the form is fully encompassing. The Form EIA-1605EZ ("short form") can be used by reporters who wish to voluntarily provide a brief summary of their greenhouse gas reduction projects and/or report only on specific projects reducing emissions or sequestering carbon in the United States, for the most current reporting cycle year. The Form EIA-1605 ("long form") can be used by reporters who wish to voluntarily:

Create an in-depth public record of their emission reduction efforts that will be more useful for information exchange purposes;
Report emissions, reductions, or sequestration for their entire organization;
Report information for years prior to the current reporting cycle year;
Include information on activities conducted outside the United States; and
Report on commitments to reduce future greenhouse gas emissions.

Reductions reported through the 1605b program includes emissions of all GHGs from 1987 onward, and emission reductions and sequestration achieved from 1991 onwards. Each gas is separately reported.

There are three broad categories of reporting: entity reporting (for a facility or an entire company), project reporting (project-specific emission reductions), and commitments to reduce emissions in the future.

Collateral information is also collected for ten categories of projects. For example, data on energy consumed, saved, fuel switching, operating data, participation in U.S. voluntary programs, and information on estimation methods used.

The program has developed an integrated software system that links the electronic reporting form to data check routes and a public use database.

C. Reasons for Inclusion as a Best Practice
During 1995, the first reporting cycle year of the program, 108 entities submitted reports on greenhouse gas emissions reduction actions in 1994 with corresponding claims of a total of 74 MMTCE reductions. During the 1997 reporting cycle year (reports on actions taken during 1996), these numbers increased to 149 entities and 154 MMTCE reductions. These totals reached 189 entities and reductions of 253 MMTCE, for actions taken during 1998, which were reported to the program during the 1999 reporting cycle year.

It should be noted that the above totals were calculated based strictly on claims of emissions reduction and carbon sequestration, reported on the Forms EIA-1605 and EIA-1605EZ. The Energy Information Administration (EIA) reviews the reported information for plausibility, internal consistency, accuracy of calculation, and comparability with other sources of information, only. The EIA does not validate, authenticate/verify, or certify the information reported. The information reported to the program is provided on a purely voluntary basis, by a group of self-selected participants who are required to self-certify the information contained on their Form EIA-1605 or Form EIA-1605EZ submission.

However, results reported through1605(b) cannot be compared directly to other U.S. reductions reported in these surveys because the Energy Information Administration (EIA) allows participants to report emissions reductions using baselines and calculation methods different from those applied elsewhere. For this reason, EIA keeps an accounting of reports submitted by utilities and other companies, but the United States counts only a fraction of these reported reductions in comprehensive assessments of overall greenhouse gas reductions.

One of the most important purposes of the 1605(b) is data preservation. Reporting to the program allows reporters to archive information on their greenhouse gas emissions and their efforts to reduce these emissions (or offset them by sequestering carbon) in a public database. Data preservation is important to the program's reporters for baseline protection under any future regulatory or market-based scheme to reduce emissions. By preserving data, reporters are seeking to avoid being penalized under any such future scheme for actions to reduce emissions that are undertaken now on a voluntary basis. This has removed, or at least ameliorated, one of the principal barriers to companies undertaking initiatives to reduce present levels of greenhouse gas emissions.

The major contribution of the program has been the development of an accounting framework for categorizing greenhouse gas emissions, emission reductions, and carbon sequestration activities. The property rights pertaining to greenhouse gas emissions and reductions are clouded with uncertainty. While the source of greenhouse gas emissions usually is easily determined, actions that reduce emissions from a given source can involve several different parties any of which could claim ownership of the reduction. For example, an efficient electrical appliance can be designed, manufactured, installed and used by separate parties, but the emission reduction occurs at the stack of the electric utility that provides the power for the appliance.

As EIA does not have the authority to adjudicate between competing claims for emissions and emission reductions, the 1605(b) Program accepts reports on activities from any party. The program's data collection instruments have been designed to identify such duplication so that double counting can be avoided. In addition to asking reporters to identify other parties who could report on the actions included in a report, EIA requires reporters to distinguish between direct and indirect emissions and emission reductions. Direct emissions are from sources owned by the reporter and indirect emissions are from sources affected by the reporters actions but owned by others.

The principal problem associated with the 1605(b) program is to balance the need to collect the detailed information necessary to characterize emissions and emission reducing activities with the burden placed on the voluntary participants. However, the program has overcome this problem in two ways: (1) by developing a relatively simple, easy-to-use electronic reporting system, and (2) by providing technical assistance through a toll-free hotline communication system, to assist reporters with estimating emission reductions and sequestration and with completing the reporting forms.

III. Categorizing the Best Practice

1. Classification(s) (Indicate main classification(s) only.)
( ) Regulatory Approach (Policy approaches-- regulations, incentives, etc.)
( ) Practical Action (Action undertaken independently by a social actor)
( X ) Social Network Mechanism (Cooperative structure)

2. Social Actor(s) Involved (Indicate main social actor(s) only.)
( X ) Citizens
( X ) Central government
( X ) Local government
( X ) Business

3. Sector(s) (Indicate main sector(s) only.)
( X ) Energy
( X ) Household
( X ) Transportation
( X ) Industrial Enterprises
( X ) Other (Non-Industrial) Business
( X ) Agriculture/ Land Use/ Forestry
( X ) Other (Please specify.)

4. Target Greenhouse Gas(es)
( X ) CO2
( X ) CH4
( X ) N2O
( X ) HFC
( X ) PFC
( X ) SF6
( X ) Other All greenhouse gases, including potential precursors such as NOx, CO and VOCs

IV. List of References

http://www.eia.doe.gov/oiaf/1605/frntvrgg.htm
http://www.iea.org/ipcc/invs1.htm

V. Please indicate a person to contact for more information about this Best Practice.

Contact Person:	Arthur Rypinski
Title:	Economist, Office of Integrated Analysis and Forecasting
Organization:	U.S. Department of Energy, Energy Information Administration
Email:	arthur.rypinski@eia.doe.gov
Tel:	202-586-8425
Fax:	202-586-3045
Address:	EI-81, 1000 Independence Avenue SW, Washington, DC 20585 USA

Contact Person:	Stephen Calopedis
Title:	Economist,Office of Integrated Analysis and Forecasting
Organization:	U.S. Department of Energy, Energy Information Administration
Email:	stephen.calopedis@eia.doe.gov
Tel:	202-586-1156
Fax:	202-586-3045
Address:	EI-81, 1000 Independence Avenue SW, Washington, DC 20585