TITLE 12 CONSERVATION AND NATURAL RESOURCES

Section 6. Forest Resources and Other Plant Life, 12-6-1 through 12-6-247.

ARTICLE 5 CARBON SEQUESTRATION REGISTRY

12-6-232. Obligation of commission.

The commission shall do all of the following:

1. Develop a process for qualifying third-party organizations recognized by the state as competent to certify the carbon sequestration results of the types of natural persons or legal entities that may choose to participate in this registry, by doing all of the following:
   1. Developing a list of the minimum technical and organizational capabilities and other qualification standards that approved third-party organizations shall meet. Those qualifications shall include the ability to sign an opinion letter, for which they may be held financially at risk, and certifying the participant-reported carbon sequestration results as provided in this article. Such capabilities and standards for third-party organizations related to certification of carbon sequestration results achieved by sinks in agricultural soils under subparagraph (C) of paragraph (1) of Code Section 12-6-221 shall be adopted by the commission in accordance with the recommendation of the Commissioner of Agriculture;
   2. Publicizing an applications process or otherwise encouraging interested organizations to submit their qualifications for review;
   3. Evaluating applicant organizations according to the list of qualifications described in subparagraph (A) of this paragraph;
   4. Determining specific third-party organizations as qualified to certify participants' actual carbon sequestration results in accordance with this article; and
   5. Periodically updating the list of approved third-party organizations by doing any of the following:
      1. Reviewing the capabilities of approved organizations;
      2. Reviewing applications of organizations seeking to become approved; and
      3. Determining specific organizations to be added to the approved list and specific organizations no longer qualified to perform the duties of this article;
2. Occasionally, and on a random basis, provide for commission employees to accompany third-party organizations on scheduled visits to observe and evaluate, during any certification visit, both the following:
   1. Whether the participant has a program, consistent with commission approved procedures and protocols, in place for the preparation and submittal of the information required under this article; and
   2. The reasonableness of the carbon sequestration information being reported for a sample of estimates or calculations; and
3. Review future international or federal programs related to greenhouse gas emissions and make reasonable efforts to promote consistency between the state program and these programs and to reduce the reporting burden on participants.

(Code 1981, §12-6-232, enacted by Ga. L. 2004, p. 343, § 1; Ga. L. 2012, p. 775, § 12/HB 942.)

The 2012 amendment, effective May 1, 2012, part of an Act to revise, modernize, and correct the Code, revised punctuation in subparagraph (2)(A).