California Companies Should Speak Out on Experience with State Registry

(April 10, 2007) On January 1, 2008, the California Climate Action Registry will officially open its doors to entities outside the state that want to voluntarily report their greenhouse gas emissions to participate in a Multi-State Registry.

The Multi-State Registry is an effort supported by 30 states and tribes across the nation. This group has participated in discussions to standardize best practices in greenhouse gas emission data reporting and establish common protocols and a reporting system.

The state of California created the California Climate Action Registry to encourage businesses and other organizations to voluntarily measure and report their greenhouse gas emissions.

According to the California registry, member states and tribes that have existing mandatory greenhouse gas emissions reporting and reduction programs will work to incorporate the minimum quantification standards developed by the Multi-State Registry into their programs.

This Multi-State Registry will begin operating by supporting voluntary and mandatory programs, but ultimately is intended to support regulatory reduction programs, including allowance tracking and project reporting needs. This new system could facilitate those linkages and help to streamline greenhouse gas project protocols across different state/regional programs.

Two key questions related to the Multi-State Registry are highlighted below.

Origins
● Where did the idea for a national climate registry originate?

The California registry has operated a voluntary greenhouse gas registry since 2001 with more than 200 members, including businesses, state agencies, municipalities, educational institutions and environmental non-profits, among others.

As states in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic, as well as states in the Midwest, began exploring the development of policy-neutral and voluntary greenhouse gas registries, it became clear that a patchwork of registries across the country would hinder efforts to standardize reporting frameworks and create confusion amongst reporters.

In 2006, these states and regions joined together to establish a dialogue to develop a unified greenhouse gas registry.

Impact on Existing Registry
What does the formation of the Multi-State Registry mean for existing members of the California registry?

Details are still being worked out as to how the California registry will roll over into the multi-state registry. The California registry expects the rollover (beginning at the end of 2007) to be optional for member companies, but expects it will be “mandatory” in the next couple of years.

CalChamber policy has highlighted some initial concerns about the rollover and when it will occur:

● Multi-State Registry member companies would be expected to report greenhouse gas emissions data for all facilities nationwide. This raises the question of what happens with companies that have signed onto the California registry to experiment with reporting.

● The timeframe for the rollover. The question is whether member companies will have sufficient time to adjust to a regional/national reporting scheme.

Companies Should Comment
The Multi-State Registry will seek public input during the next few months and finalize its charter and operations later this year. It will be important for California companies to weigh in with the California registry on these issues as it moves to finalize the Multi-State Registry.

Staff Contact: Amisha Patel