This House resolution recognizes the importance of the Environmental Protection Agency's Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program. The resolution notes the program was established by EPA in 2009 with direction from Congress and requires large emitters, fuel and industrial gas suppliers, and CO2 injection sites to report greenhouse gas data. The bill text says the program covers reporting of about 3,000,000,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent from over 8,000 facilities, representing about 85 to 90 percent of the country's greenhouse gas emissions. The resolution says the program's data support EPA rulemaking and tools, other federal agency analyses, academic and financial research, and give communities transparent pollution information. The text highlights harms from rolling back the program, including extra costs for States and reduced transparency, and cites public health and environmental justice concerns with specific population and health statistics included in the resolution. The resolution concludes by stating that the House understands the program's importance, recognizes that rollback would undermine progress on public health, environment, scientific integrity, and economic growth, and reaffirms the program's positive impact.
The resolution expresses the House of Representatives' view that the GHG Reporting Program is valuable for public health, environmental protection, and economic decision-making. It emphasizes that public access to facility-level emissions data helps communities, researchers, businesses, and other agencies. The resolution opposes rolling back the program and highlights risks to communities living near large emitters.
No publicly available information on federal costs or budget effects is included in the resolution text. The resolution does state that any rollback of the program would cause States to incur additional costs, but it does not provide cost estimates.
Supporters in the text say the Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program is the most comprehensive and transparent U.S. system for tracking greenhouse gas emissions. They say it provides scientifically accurate data used by EPA and other agencies, helps communities and researchers understand and act on pollution, supports business planning and financial analysis, and protects public health and environmental justice. The resolution states that rolling back the program would erode transparency and harm vulnerable communities.
No publicly available information about opponents' arguments or official objections is included in the resolution text.