READ FIRST TIME 03/10/03.   

     AN ACT Relating to voluntary registration of greenhouse gas emissions; and adding a new chapter to Title 43 RCW.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1   The purpose of the Washington climate action registry is to assist entities that voluntarily choose to record their greenhouse gas emission inventories in order to gain recognition for emission reductions under any future federal regulatory regime and to trade emission credits. To that end, the Washington climate and rural energy development center may:
     (1) Provide technical and educational resources to registrants;
     (2) Publish basic definitions and protocols and identify organizations qualified to provide technical assistance to registrants;
     (3) Assist registrants, if requested by the registrant, to devise protocols, reporting formats, and verification procedures as may be sought by the registrant to ensure the credibility of the information recorded in the registry; and
     (4) Develop protocols for a specific economic sector that apply to all registrants in that sector if sectorwide protocols are requested by a registrant of that economic sector.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 2   The definitions in this section apply throughout this chapter unless the context clearly requires otherwise.
     (1) "Center" means the Washington climate and rural energy development center established in RCW 28B.30.642.
     (2) "Direct emissions" are emissions from sources, sinks, and activities that an entity owns or has direct or effective control over, such as, but not limited to, on-site combustion and process equipment emissions.
     (3) "Emissions" means the net of release and absorption of greenhouse gases into or from the ambient air.
     (4) "Emissions inventory" means the report of emissions and normalized emissions for a calendar year.
     (5) "Entity" means a for-profit or a nonprofit corporation filing a separate federal income tax return, a city or county, each state government department and agency, and all political subdivisions of the state.
     (6) "Greenhouse gases" means those gaseous constituents of the atmosphere, both natural and anthropogenic, that absorb and emit radiation at wavelengths within the spectrum of infrared radiation emitted by the earth's surface, atmosphere, and clouds.
     (7) "Normalized emissions" means a ratio of emissions per unit time divided by a factor such as, but not limited to, revenues, expenditures, energy use, or production for the same time period and for the same scope as the emissions.
     (8) "Normalized emissions for electrical generation facilities" means a measurement of emissions based on pounds, or the metric equivalent of pounds, of emissions per megawatt hour.
     (9) "Primary greenhouse gas" means carbon dioxide, hydrofluorocarbons, methane, nitrous oxide, perfluorocarbons, and sulfur hexafluoride.
     (10) "Registrant" means an entity that has voluntarily filed with the registry information, notified the center that it intends to record emissions inventories, and has paid the necessary fees.
     (11) "Registry" means the Washington climate action registry.
     (12) "Scope" means the sources, sinks, and activities creating emissions designated by the center.
     (13) "Subsidiary" means an entity effectively under the control of a parent entity, including but not limited to, public and private nonprofit and for-profit corporations, whose board of directors or similar managing authority is composed of a majority of persons appointed by either the legislative or executive authority, or both, of the parent entity. However, each department and independent agency of the state and each municipal electric utility may not be considered a subsidiary of a parent entity for the purpose of this chapter. "Subsidiary" includes entities that are joint ventures with other entities with emissions assigned to the parent entities according to mutual agreement or in the absence of an agreement in proportions determined by the protocols of the registry.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 3   (1) The center may establish and maintain the registry to assist entities that voluntarily register emission inventories in receiving recognition under any future federal regulatory scheme relating to greenhouse gases and trading emissions credits. An entity operating in the state may voluntarily register with the center and use the services of the center.
     (2) The center may: (a) Adopt protocols for defining the scope of emissions inventories, and for measuring, calculating, reporting, and verifying emissions, normalized emissions, and emission inventories; (b) adopt a uniform format for reporting emissions inventories; and (c) maintain a record of verified emissions inventories submitted by active registrants.
     (3) The center may adopt procedures for delisting registrants and adopt fees to: (a) Recover any costs necessary to maintain the registry; (b) develop protocols for a specific economic sector under section 5 of this act; and (c) provide assistance to registrants.
     (4) All records or other information furnished to the registry by a registrant remain the property of the registrant in perpetuity. Nothing in this chapter may be construed to affect in any way the right of privacy and confidentiality of a registrant's records or other information.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 4   (1) A registrant that voluntarily reports its emission inventories with the center may report emissions for which it may seek recognition under any future regulatory scheme or for credit trading.
     (2) Except as provided in section 5 of this act, registrants may:
     (a) File with the registry as an entity and may report emission inventories for subsidiaries, individual facilities, or projects, as a subset of an entity's entire emissions inventory report. A registrant may separately report emissions inventories for subsidiaries, facilities, projects, or portions of the entity in other countries, and it may report emissions inventories for subsidiaries or individual facilities located in the state or report emissions inventory for its entire operations. A registrant's scope may include all activities, sources, and sinks in the state and may include the remainder of the entity in the United States. A registrant may report verified emissions inventories for sequential multiple years after January 1, 1990, from facilities or activities outside the entity for which it claims ownership of the net change in emissions;
     (b) Record an emissions inventory by calendar year. Registrants that have sufficiently complete data for prior years that can be verified may record emissions inventories for consecutive years before the first year for which they report, but not before January 1, 1990;
     (c) Separately identify within their annual emissions inventories any rights or ownership to emissions or emissions credits by year, that have been acquired from or transferred to: (i) Other entities located within or outside the state; or (ii) within the registrant entity, including its subsidiaries, to or from locations outside the state that would not otherwise be included in a registrant's report. An explanatory note may be included in the registry to prior years' data when there is a change in the procedures or protocols by which a registrant's emissions inventories are created. Registrants may record emissions inventories with separately identified adjustments to report any change in scope. Registrants may record verified revised emissions inventories for prior years to conform to current protocols or current scope. Where the scope of the registrant changes significantly during the year, the center may record with the registry for the year in which the scope change occurs an emissions inventory including only the scope of the prior year and shall add an explanatory note to the record;
     (d) Identify and quantify any portion of the emissions inventory that is being reported to any other registry of greenhouse gas emissions, any differences between the reports, and the name and address of the other registry; and
     (e) Hire, at their own expense, a third-party organization or person qualified under this chapter to independently verify and attest to the accuracy of the emission results reported by the registrant to the registry.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 5   If a registrant requests that protocols be developed for the specific economic sector in which the registrant files its emissions inventory, the center shall develop protocols for that specific economic sector. In developing the protocols, the center must take into consideration input from other potential registrants, public and private sector interests, and any source necessary to accomplish the goals of this chapter. Protocols must be developed for defining the scope of emissions inventories, and for measuring, calculating, reporting, and verifying emissions, normalized emissions, and emissions inventories for a specific economic sector. The center may register and record only those inventories of registrants that choose to record greenhouse gas emissions inventories using the protocols developed by the center under this section for a specific economic sector.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 6   (1) The center may develop a procedure for identifying and qualifying third-party organizations or persons who can provide registrants competent technical assistance and advice in any or all of the areas of verifying emission inventories, measuring, monitoring, and calculating greenhouse gas emissions, and identifying appropriate emissions reduction targets. The center may limit its recognition of the organization or person to specific areas of competency. The center may reopen the qualification process periodically to enable new organizations and persons to be added to the list.
     (2) All records or other information furnished to or reviewed by a person under this section remain the property of the registrant in perpetuity. Nothing in this chapter may be construed to affect in any way the right of privacy and confidentiality of a registrant's records or other information.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 7   If a mandatory federal greenhouse gas emissions registry is enacted, the director of the center must report to the legislature as soon as practical on any conflicts with this chapter. The center shall certify the date on which a mandatory federal greenhouse gas registry becomes operational. As of the date certified by the center, the center may no longer accept emissions inventories for registration with the state greenhouse gas emissions registry.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 8   Sections 1 through 7 of this act constitute a new chapter in Title 43 RCW.