The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) has issued a draft regulation to implement a mandatory greenhouse gas (GHG) reporting program in New York. Under the proposed program, many facilities in New York will be required to submit annual reports to the NYSDEC documenting actual GHG emissions for the prior year. The program would begin with the 2026 calendar year with the first annual report due in 2027. The reporting program is the latest step taken by a state agency to advance the goals of the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA), which sets ambitious statewide GHG reduction thresholds for 2030 and 2050.

The applicability thresholds proposed for the program would pull in facilities that emit GHGs as well as certain utility and service providers. All parties subject to reporting requirements are referred to collectively as “reporting entities.” If a source’s annual emissions or activity in any calendar year from 2023 through 2025 meets the applicability thresholds, that source will be considered a reporting entity for the initial 2026 reporting year. Reporting entities must continue to report until their annual emissions or activity falls below the applicability thresholds for three consecutive years. 

As proposed, owners and operators of facilities with emissions over 10,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (MT CO₂e) during a reporting year would be subject to the reporting program. This threshold is significantly lower than the applicability threshold for the United States Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA)’s existing GHG reporting program and is based on 20-year global warming potential (GWP) instead of 100-year GWP. Notably, the GWP of methane is significantly greater on a 20-year basis than on a 100-year basis. Even if your facility has never reported GHG emissions to the U.S. EPA, you may be subject to the reporting rule proposed by the NYSDEC. In addition, suppliers of fossil fuels, waste transporters, electric power entities, suppliers of fertilizer, and facilities that perform anaerobic digestion or store liquid waste would be categorically subject to the program. Some of these reporting entities may need to report all emissions generated due to operations in New York State in total rather than reporting by facility.

Reports submitted pursuant to the proposed program must be compiled using calculation methodologies outlined in the U.S. EPA’s GHG reporting program in 40 CFR Part 98 unless otherwise specified in the rule. Part 98 includes many subparts that provide detailed emissions calculation methodologies for specific industries subject to the program. The alternatives proposed by the NYSDEC to the Part 98 calculation methodologies would apply to fuel combustion sources, fuel suppliers, facilities that produce aluminum cement, glass, and other products, and electric power entities, among others. If your facility generates GHG emissions, we encourage you to review the industry-specific calculation methodologies that may apply to you. 

In general, reporting entities should consider that their NY GHG report would need to use 20-year GWP values instead of 100-year GWP values and would need to include upstream emissions associated with the extraction and transmission of fuel used. In addition to including GHG emissions, each report would also need to include information on a facility’s location and energy usage and a description of why emissions changed from year to year for changes of more than five percent, another key difference from the U.S. EPA’s existing program.

In addition, “large emission sources,” which would include all facilities emitting over 25,000 Mt CO₂e as well as fuel suppliers and waste transporters above the specified activity thresholds, would need to obtain third-party verification of each GHG emissions report. Third-party verifiers would need to meet certain requirements, including submitting a “notice of verification services” to the NYSDEC before working with a reporting entity and avoiding potential conflicts of interest. Reporting entities required to obtain third-party verification should note that no one verification body would be able to be used for more than six consecutive reporting years.

The proposed program references new software to be rolled out by the NYSDEC to facilitate reporting, to be known as the New York State Greenhouse Gas Reporting Tool (NYS e-GGRT). In addition, the NYSDEC plans to release estimation software that facilities could use as a guide to gauge the applicability of the proposed program. Trinity will publish additional information once more details on these tools become available.

The full text of the proposed GHG reporting program, which would be Part 253 to Title 6 of the Codes, Rules, and Regulations of New York (CRR-NY), is available to view online. A fact sheet summarizing the requirements of the proposed rule and an FAQ document have been posted on the NYSDEC’s website. Public comments will be accepted until July 1, 2025. The NYSDEC is also hosting a series of hearings during which members of the public may provide verbal comments.

The proposed Part 253 is detailed and complex and could potentially create additional compliance obligations for your company or facility. Trinity’s experts are closely tracking this program and other developments relating to New York’s CLCPA and would be happy to assist with a preliminary applicability determination or other guidance.