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Please consider the following Air Resources Board press release
announcing new measures that address global climate change.  You
can review the release here:
http://www.arb.ca.gov/newsrel/nr120607.htm .
Thank You
Dimitri Stanich

__________________________________________________________________



Release 07-59
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 6, 2007
	  	  	
Stanley Young
916-956-9407
www.arb.ca.gov

Air Board passes two major building blocks in state's effort to
fight global warming

Establishes greenhouse gas reduction goal, and adopts rules for
large facilities to report their greenhouse gas emissions.


EL MONTE, Calif -The Air Resources Board set in place today two
important building blocks in California's fight to slow the
impacts of global warming when it approved a greenhouse gas
emissions limit for 2020 and adopted regulations requiring
mandatory reporting of greenhouse gases for large facilities.

Both items were required under AB32, California's landmark
climate change legislation. AB32, also known as The Global
Warming Solutions Act of 2006, was signed by Governor
Schwarzenegger in September 2006 and requires that California
reduce its greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels by 2020. The
1990 Greenhouse Gas Emissions Level establishes the actual
number of tons of emissions that California is required to
reach. The Board also adopted the state's first-ever rules and
requirements for the largest facilities in California to report
their annual greenhouse gas emissions.

"The items the Board adopted today are a clear demonstration
that we continue to meet our statutory deadlines under AB32.
Thanks to meticulous work by ARB staff, we now have a rock-solid
calculation of the total number of tons of greenhouse gases
emitted by California in 1990 - and a firm goal for us to reach
by 2020," said Chairman Mary Nichols. "The mandatory reporting
requirements are a crucial part of the state's efforts to reach
that goal. We are now giving businesses and industry the clear
guidance they need to calculate and report their greenhouse gas
emissions for their largest facilities."
1990 Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventory-2020 Emissions Limit


California's ARB staff has spent the past year assembling an
inventory of the state's 1990 emissions using a variety of data
sources, including inputs related to fuel combustion, industrial
processes, and agricultural practices. That figure is 427 million
metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent. Preliminary estimates
indicate that 2020 emission projections could be 600 million
tons of carbon dioxide equivalent if no actions are taken to
reduce greenhouse gases-the so-called 'business-as-usual'
scenario. This means that California must prevent 173 million
tons of carbon dioxide equivalent from being emitted by 2020 in
order to meet the 1990 level as required by AB32.

ARB staff used accepted international guidance to develop the
inventory and calculated the total emissions of six greenhouse
gases including carbon dioxide (by far the largest single gas
with 89 percent of the total), methane, nitrous oxide, and three
gases used mainly in industrial applications. Each greenhouse gas
has a different global warming potential. A ton of methane, for
example, has 21 times the global warming potential as a ton of
carbon dioxide. The final figure of 427 million metric tons of
carbon dioxide was arrived at by giving each gas its global
warming potential weight., (By comparison, 200,000 passenger
cars driven for a full year produce about one million tons of
carbon dioxide.)

ARB staff reviewed more than 10,000 separate calculations to
arrive at the total, and efforts included an eight-month review
of a previous inventory for 1990 levels developed by the
California Energy Commission in 2006. Major sectors such as
transportation, electrical power, industry, petroleum refining,
agriculture and forestry included 270 sub-categories, each with
its own data sources and subject-specific calculations.

The inventory revealed that in 1990 transportation, with 35
percent of the state's total emissions, was the largest single
sector, followed by industrial emissions, 24 percent; imported
electricity, 14 percent; in-state electricity generation, 11
percent; residential use, 7 percent; agriculture, 5 percent; and
commercial uses with 3 percent.

A series of early actions, tailpipe regulations and the
development of fuels with less carbon in them are estimated to
provide reductions totaling 66 million tons of carbon dioxide
equivalent. ARB staff are currently developing a Scoping Plan to
develop programs and measures to address the remaining 107
million tons of carbon dioxide equivalent in order to reach the
total of 173 million tons by 2020. That plan will be submitted
to the Board in November, 2008.
Mandatory Reporting Requirements

The mandatory reporting regulations require annual reporting
from the largest facilities in the state, accounting for 94
percent of greenhouse gas emissions from industrial and
commercial stationary sources in California. (Transportation
sources, which account for 38 percent of California's total
greenhouse gas emissions are not covered by these regulations
but will continue to be tracked through existing means.) The
standards and approaches to reporting were developed in close
consultation with the California Climate Action Registry, as
required by the law. The stakeholder process included five
public workshops and 15 technical workgroup meetings, as well as
numerous other meetings and teleconferences and extensive
coordination with other state agencies.

There are about 800 separate sources that fall under the new
reporting rules and include electricity generating facilities,
electricity retail providers and power marketers, oil
refineries, hydrogen plants, cement plants, cogeneration
facilities, and industrial sources that emit over 25,000 tons of
carbon dioxide each year from on-site stationary source
combustions such as large furnaces. This last category includes
a diverse range of facilities such as food processing, glass
container manufacturers, oil and gas production and mineral
processing. Backup generators, schools and hospitals are
excluded from the requirements.

Affected facilities will begin tracking their emissions in 2008,
to be reported beginning in 2009 with a phase-in process to allow
facilities to develop reporting systems and train personnel in
data collection. Emissions for 2008 may be based on best
available emission data. Beginning in 2010, however, emissions
reports will be more rigorous and will be subject to third-party
verification. Verification will take place annually or every
three years, depending on the type of facility. ARB is also
developing a training and accreditation plan for third-party
verifiers.

The Air Resources Board is a department of the California
Environmental Protection Agency. ARB's mission is to promote and
protect public health, welfare, and ecological resources through
effective reduction of air pollutants while recognizing and
considering effects on the economy. The ARB oversees all air
pollution control efforts in California to attain and maintain
health based air quality standards.
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