The EPA is seeking public comment on a draft report that analyzes sources of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The report, Inventory of U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks: 1990-2005, will be open for public comment for 30 days after the Federal Register notice is published.

After responding to public comments, the agency will submit, through the U.S. Department of State, the final inventory report to the Secretariat of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, fulfilling its annual requirement as a party to this international treaty. The treaty, ratified by the United States in 1992, sets an overall framework for intergovernmental efforts to tackle the challenge posed by climate change.

The inventory tracks annual greenhouse gas emissions at the national level and presents historical emissions from 1990 to 2005. The inventory also calculates CO2 emissions that are removed from the atmosphere by sinks, for example through the uptake of carbon by forests, vegetation and soils.

The major finding in the draft report, a collaboration of several agencies, was that overall emissions during 2005 increased by less than 1 percent from the previous year. Total 2005 emissions of the six main greenhouse gases, which include CO2, CH4, N2O, hydrofluorocarbons, perfluorocarbons and SF6, were equivalent to 7,262 million metric tons of CO2. The draft report indicates that overall emissions have grown by 16 percent from 1990 to 2005, while the U.S. economy has grown by 55 percent over the same period.

Information on the draft 2007 report and how to submit public comments are available at http://epa.gov/climatechange/emissions/usinventoryreport07.html.