[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 164 (Thursday, August 24, 1995)]
[Notices]
[Pages 44022-44023]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-21024]
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COUNCIL ON ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY
Review of Climate Change Action Plan
AGENCY: Council on Environmental Quality.
ACTION: Request for public comment; notice of meeting.
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SUMMARY: The Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) is seeking comments
from the public as part of its efforts to review and update the Climate
Change Action Plan (CCAP). CEQ invites interested parties to provide
comments on all aspects of the existing CCAP, and suggestions for its
modification, for consideration by the Council as it conducts its
biennial review of the plan. Comments should be submitted to CEQ at the
address provided below by September 25, 1995.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Stephen R. Seidel, Special Coordinator for Climate Change, Council on
Environmental Quality, 722 Jackson Place, NW, Washington, D.C. 20503.
202-395-3706.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In October 1993, President Clinton announced
this nation's Climate Change Action Plan (CCAP). The CCAP had as its
goal to return greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels by the year
2000. To accomplish this objective, the plan laid out nearly 50
initiatives that relied extensively on innovative voluntary
partnerships between the private sector and government aimed at
producing cost-effective reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. It
primarily focussed on the creation of market incentives, rather than
the imposition of new regulatory measures. The plan was comprehensive
in scope. It covered all major greenhouse gases, contained activities
in all major sectors emitting these compounds, focussed on both
reducing emissions and enhancing sinks, and contained measures aimed at
reducing energy demand and expanding alternative sources of supply. Key
elements of the plan are being undertaken by the Department of Energy,
Department of Transportation, the Department of Agriculture, and the
Environmental Protection Agency.
The CCAP also serves as a key element of the U.S. effort to meet
its obligation to mitigate climate change under the Framework
Convention on Climate Change.
The plan also called for biennial reviews of its implementation to
determine what, if any, revisions might be required. The first such
review of the plan has recently been initiated with a goal of issuing a
report by December of this year. This notice is aimed at soliciting
public comment on the plan and its implementation, and any suggestions
for its modification.
Comments may address any aspect of the CCAP. The following issues
are indicative of those that may be addressed during this review and
for which comment is explicitly encouraged:
--To what extent have individual actions under the CCAP resulted in
actions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions or to enhance sinks? What
modifications in existing actions appear warranted?
--What additional cost-effective opportunities exist to achieve
reductions in emissions or enhancements of sinks of greenhouse gases
prior to the year 2000?
--What actions, not now included in the plan, might be possible that
would achieve significant emission reductions or sink enhancements
after the year 2000? How would they be implemented and what would be
their likely costs and impacts on reducing greenhouse gas emissions or
enhancing sinks?
--To what extent are modifications in the 1990 and 2000 baseline cases
[[Page 44023]]
(assuming no action was taken) required to reflect more recent
information? What impact will such modifications have on the plan?
--Is the general approach of the action plan, which relies extensively
on voluntary measures, appropriate in the near-term or in the period
after the year 2000? What other general approaches exist and what would
be the advantages and disadvantages of any alternative strategies?
--To what extent are modifications in the existing plan's 1990 and 2000
baseline cases (assuming no action was taken) required to reflect more
recent information? What impact will such modifications have on the
plan?
Written comments should be submitted in triplicate by September 25,
1995 to the address specified above. Comments will be kept on file and
available for public inspection at CEQ's offices. A public meeting to
present comments will be held on September 22, 1995 in the Truman Room
at 726 Jackson Place, NW, Washington, DC at 9:00 a.m. Parties
interested in making presentations should contact the CEQ official
listed above ten days prior to the date of the hearing.
Dated: August 21, 1995.
Elisabeth Blaug,
Associate General Counsel, Council on Environmental Quality.
[FR Doc. 95-21024 Filed 8-23-95; 8:45 am]
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