In an effort to find out where greenhouse gas emissions are coming from, the Environmental Protection Agency has issued a final rule, requiring large emitters of heat-trapping emissions, including manufacturers heavy-duty trucks and engines, to report emissions data annually
.

Thanks to lobbying efforts by the trucking industry, trucking companies will NOT be required to report their GHG emissions under the final rule.

For heavy-duty truck and engine manufacturers, the process will begin with model year 2011, mandating reporting of carbon dioxide emissions. For model year 2012, manufacturers will report methane emissions. Manufacturers must report nitrous oxide emissions in 2013, but this only applies to those that use NOx aftertreatment technology.

The initiative is part of a larger reporting requirement that applies to about 85 percent of the nation's greenhouse gas emissions. It will cover fossil fuel and industrial suppliers, motor vehicle and engine manufacturers, and facilities that emit 25,000 metric tons or more of carbon dioxide equivalent per year.

"This is a major step forward in our effort to address the greenhouse gases polluting our skies," said Lisa Jackson, EPA administrator. "The American public, and industry itself, will finally gain critically important knowledge and with this information we can determine how best to reduce those emissions."

The new rule does not apply to manufacturers in the light-duty segment, or to those manufacturers that meet the EPA's definitions of "small business" or "small volume manufacturer" under its existing mobile source emissions regulations.

For more information on the rulemaking, click here.