Role of the commission

For purposes of the registry, the commission shall: (1)(A) Adopt rules or regulations specifying acceptable types of carbon sequestration results consistent with paragraph (1) of Code Section 12-6-221 and this paragraph and providing procedures and protocols for the monitoring, estimating, calculating, reporting, and certification of carbon sequestration results for purposes of participation in the registry. (B) Procedures and protocols relative to forestry activities that are reported as a participant’s carbon sequestration results under subparagraph (A) of paragraph (1) of Code Section 12-6-221 shall require, at a minimum, that those forestry activities meet the following criteria in order to be reported as any part of a participant’s carbon sequestration results: (i) Forestry activities shall be based on forest management practices within a defined project area that meet or exceed Georgia’s Best Management Practices for Forestry as published by the commission and that are not the subject of any ongoing remediation or penalty pursuant to judicial or administrative judgment or order for violation of any applicable requirements of federal, state, or local land use laws, regulations, or ordinances. Best management practices and federal, state, or local land use laws, regulations, or ordinances shall be those in effect each time a participant registers a defined project area in the registry; (ii) Forestry activities reported as carbon sequestration results shall reflect the amount of time that net carbon gains are stored; and (iii) Forestry activities shall maintain and promote native forests. (C) Procedures and protocols relative to sinks in agricultural soils that are reported as a participant’s carbon sequestration results 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. (D) The commission shall consider the availability and suitability of simplified techniques and tools when adopting procedures and protocols for the certification of carbon sequestration results. (E) The procedures and protocols adopted by the commission shall include a uniform format for reporting carbon sequestration 743 12-6-224 CONSERVATION & NATURAL RES. 12-6-224.1 results to facilitate their recognition in any future regulatory regime; (2) Qualify third-party organizations that have the capability to certify reported baseline carbon sequestration results and that are capable of certifying the participant reported results as provided in this article; and (3) Encourage organizations and individuals from various sectors of the state’s economy, and those from various geographic regions of the state, to report carbon sequestration results. History. — Code 1981, § 12-6-224, enacted by Ga. L. 2004, p. 343, § 1; Ga. L. 2012, p. 775, § 12/HB 942; Ga. L. 2021, p. 589, § 1/HB 355. Editor’s notes. — Ga. L. 2021, p. 589, § 1/HB 355, reenacted this Code section without change. 12-6-224.1. Sustainable Building Material Technical Advisory Committee; operation and role; abolishment. (a) The director shall establish the Sustainable Building Material Technical Advisory Committee. The advisory committee shall consist of: (1) One representative from the Georgia Institute of Technology with expertise in engineering and architecture; (2) One representative with extensive knowledge of and expertise in the Georgia State Minimum Standard Codes; (3) One representative who is a real estate developer or builder; (4) One representative who works in the field of or has expertise in carbon offset protocol development, including carbon accounting rules such as additionality, baseline, leakage, and permanence, and requirements for monitoring and reporting; (5) One representative who has whole building life cycle assessment expertise; and (6) Up to three at-large representatives. (b) The director shall determine the chairperson of the committee. (c) Prior to the first meeting of the advisory committee, the director shall hold a listening session open to members of the public for the purpose of seeking external input on the rules for the Georgia Carbon Sequestration Registry for building materials. (d) The advisory committee shall serve the director in an advisory capacity in the rule-making process for the establishment of two baselines: 1) one from which carbon sequestration of building materials shall be measured; and 2) one from which the building embodied carbon 744 12-6-224.1 FOREST RESOURCES & OTHER PLANT LIFE 12-6-224.1 shall be measured. The committee shall use the United States Department of Energy’s Commercial Prototype Building Models in effect on January 1, 2021, to establish baseline categories using prototype building occupancies and structural systems. (e) A primary objective of the advisory committee shall be to ensure the interoperability, general alignment, and compatibility of credits derived from the carbon sequestration results of building materials and embodied carbon results with global carbon credit and offset markets, including establishing guidelines for establishing a carbon baseline, additionality, validation, verification, permanence, and co-benefits. (f ) The chairperson shall be responsible for calling all meetings of the advisory committee. The committee may conduct such meetings at such places and at such times as it may deem necessary and convenient to enable it to exercise fully and effectively its powers, perform its duties, and accomplish the objectives and purposes of this article. (g) A majority of the voting members of the advisory committee shall constitute a quorum. The committee shall take no action except by affirmative vote of the majority of those present and voting. (h) Any vacancies on the advisory committee shall be filled in the same manner as the original appointment. (i) Any member of the committee who, during his or her term of appointment, ceases to meet the qualifications required for the original appointment shall be immediately removed from his or her office. (j) The advisory committee shall stand abolished no later than one year from the date upon which the first meeting of the committee takes place. The committee may be reestablished, at the calling of the director, within five years of its creation in order to make recommendations to the director for updating or amending the rules and regulations of the commission. The director shall appoint new members to the reestablished committee in accordance with subsection (a) of this Code section. (k) Appointed members of the advisory committee shall receive a daily expense allowance in an amount the same as that specified in subsection (b) of Code Section 45-7-21, as well as the mileage or transportation allowance authorized for state employees. History. — Code 1981, § 12-6-224.1, enacted by Ga. L. 2021, p. 589, § 1/HB 355. Effective date. — This Code section became effective July 1, 2021. 745 12-6-225 CONSERVATION & NATURAL RES. 12-6-228 12-6-225. Procedures and protocols.