NYSDEC Releases Draft Regulations for Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Emissions Reporting

The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) has proposed new draft regulations requiring certain greenhouse gas (GHG) emission sources to report their emissions data annually, beginning in 2027 for reporting year 2026 emissions. This initiative aims to collect data to inform New York State’s Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA) initiatives. The public comment period for this proposal runs from April 2 to July 1, 2025, with public hearings scheduled virtually and in person.

The proposed reporting program is intended to fill data gaps and ensure that New York can accurately track emissions, particularly in light of potential federal regulatory changes. NYSDEC states that the data collection process will involve an online platform to streamline submissions, and that data already required to be reported under existing State and federal requirements may be incorporated into the reporting platform. Third-party verification would be required for certain large emitters.

Sources required to report information to NYSDEC per the GHG reporting rule are not necessarily or automatically “Obligated Sources” that would be required to comply with future Cap-and-Invest program requirements.  Therefore, there will be more sources that are required to report emissions than are subject to future emission reductions or purchase of allowances through a Cap-and-Invest program, which is currently in development.

The following sources would be required to report emissions data annually to NYSDEC under the proposed regulation:

• Owners and operators of facilities in New York that emit 10,000 metric tons (MT) or more of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) per emissions year. These facilities include electricity generation, stationary combustion, landfills, waste-to-energy, natural gas compressor stations, and other infrastructure;
• Fuel suppliers that provide a quantity of fuel to an end user in New York that generates any amount of GHG emissions per emissions year. This includes suppliers of natural gas, liquid fuels, and petroleum products, liquefied natural gas and compressed natural gas, and coal;
• Waste haulers and transporters (exporters) for which the estimated emissions from solid wastes transported to landfills or combustion facilities outside of New York exceed 10,000 MT CO2e emissions in any year;
• Electric power entities that emit any GHG emissions or import megawatt hours (MWh) into New York;
• Suppliers of agricultural lime and fertilizer that supply a quantity of agricultural lime and fertilizer necessary to generate any GHG emissions per emission year; or
• Anaerobic digestion and liquid storage of waste at facilities, such as wastewater treatment plants and concentrated animal feeding operations, where wastes imported to the facility or generated at the facility in an amount that would generate 10,000 or more MT CO2e per year.

For comparison, NYSDEC’s emission reporting threshold of 10,000 MT CO2e is 60% less than the USEPA’s Mandatory Reporting Rule reporting threshold of 25,000 MT CO2e, which will bring in new sources that have not previously been subject to GHG reporting.  Additionally, the calculation methods used for the NYSDEC proposed reporting program are based on those established under CLCPA (6 NYCRR Part 496), which use a 20-year global warming potential (GWP), rather than the 100-year GWP used by USEPA and other reporting programs.  This results in greater GHG emissions on a MT CO2e basis for facilities that emit methane in particular.

The GHG reporting draft regulation, including supplemental documents and additional information, can be found at NYSDEC’s proposed air regulations webpage.

B&L is actively monitoring the development of this regulation and its potential impact on clients and stakeholders.  As the program evolves, B&L will provide additional updates.  Based on the proposed implementation schedule, the first year of reporting is set for 2026, which means that regulated sectors will need to establish the appropriate data collection processes beginning next year.

For more information regarding GHG reporting and NYSDEC’s CLCPA requirements, contact B&L’s Kyle C. Williams, P.E.