The National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting (Amendment) Bill 2008
The National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting Act 2007 (the Act) establishes a mandatory reporting system for corporate greenhouse gas emissions and energy production and consumption. The first reporting period under the Act commences on 1 July 2008.
Proposed Amendments to the Act
The Australian Government introduced amendments to the Act into Parliament on 26 June 2008. The Amendment Bill proposed the Greenhouse and Energy Data Officer may publish additional information reported by corporations, and a number of minor administrative enhancements to better reflect the original policy intent of the Act.
Proposed amendments have been discussed with stakeholders during 2008. Further information is available at: Further information on the consultation
List of amendments
The (amendments) to the NGER Act:
- Provide the option for corporations to publish information by business unit or subsidiary according to their preference;
- Allow separate publication by government of scope 1 and scope 2 greenhouse gas emissions;
- Allow publication of information by government relating to the methodologies used by corporations to calculate their greenhouse gas emissions (at the corporate group level);
- Clarify the scope of the Minister's power to specify methods for calculating emissions;
- Allow increased flexibility in the requirements for registration applications, including clarifying that a corporation can apply for registration in advance of a threshold being met;
- Clarifies whether provisions apply to the registered controlling corporation or the corporate group (i.e. whether subsidiaries are covered). These include provisions relating to audit, disclosure of information, and direct reporting by contractors;
- Confirm certain definitions (including 'penalty unit', 'business unit', 'scope 1', and 'scope 2'); and
- Allows separate voluntary reporting and publication of greenhouse gas offsets (i.e. splitting offsets from provisions relating to greenhouse gas projects). This provision is subject to the finalisation of government policy in relation to offsets, and requires further regulations to become effective.
Commencement of some provisions delayed
All amendments are now effective except the following items. These items will become effective before the end of March 2009 following the development of regulations:
- definition of business unit;
- revisions to specifications concerning applications for registration (sections 15 and16(4)(b)); and
- revisions to public disclosure provisions (section 24(1).
The amendments have no immediate impact on the National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting Regulations 2008 or the National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting (Measurement) Determination 2008.
