GHG reporting deadline fast approaching

March 17th, 2016 by Dakota Software Staff Industry News

Following the passage of the Consolidated Appropriations Act - also known as the annual omnibus spending bill - for the federal financial year 2008 into law, the Environmental Protection Agency has planned to mandate greenhouse gas reporting for large sources and suppliers. The delay of a deadline for the beginning of that program means that although the rule has been on the books for some time, implementation was staggered. Businesses that meet certain EPA criteria must report on their emission levels to help federal agencies determine GHG output across the country and shape future policy initiatives. Emissions at or above 25,000 metric tons of such gases per year require organizations to participate in the EPA's program and the 2015 Greenhouse Gas Reporting Deadline is March 31st and fast approaching.

The difficulties of information gathering and reporting
While the reporting threshold for the EPA's Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program is clear, the requirements around reporting have the potential to be very complicated. Companies that have a duty to report must either directly measure their GHG output at its sources or use a representational model that relies on equations to calculate the total output. The process becomes more detailed and potentially confusing as businesses are not only responsible for the direct production of GHG at their factories and other facilities, but from the products they produce and distribute across the region, country or world.

Whether a business has a dispersed or compact approach to facility placement, gathering the necessary data is noticeably difficult when manual processes are used. Gathering data by hand or with spreadsheets that sit in silos on individual computers means the process is exposed to potential errors from many different angles. Genuine mistakes made by employees, issues with spreadsheets converting data and incorrect calculation formulas and many other possible issues arise. Without the right systems in place for reporting, many businesses face a yearly scramble to gather all of the necessary data, normalize it and submit it.

To contend with this environmental compliance issue, organizations should consider commercial software tools that boost reporting efforts through greater clarity, correctness and reliability. The right platform simplifies reporting requirements and ensures a high level of accuracy in reporting. It also eliminates a large majority of potential errors and mistakes by calculating figures automatically and automating areas of operation where inaccuracies could enter the reporting process. With such a solution in place, businesses become proactive and far more confident in their ability to hit reporting deadlines.