| According to the final
groundrules, the Evaluation Panel is responsible for accepting or rejecting
project submissions for inclusion in the USIJI based on the specific criteria.
The criteria as indicated in the final groundrules appear below. Further
discussion of criteria appears in the preamble to the Federal Register
notice of the final groundrules. In evaluating projects, the Evaluation
Panel consider how a project measures against all criteria as well as how
the project contributes to the purposes of the pilot program. While
failure on any single criterion could keep a project from being approved,
the Evaluation Panel may find relatively poor adherence on one criterion
to be outweighed by excellent adherence on another. Similarly, if a project’s
adherence to all criteria is seen as only barely acceptable, it may not
be approved by the panel.
Project Criteria
Criteria from the final USIJI groundrules
as published in the Federal Register on June 1, 1994:
"Section V: Criteria
A. To be included in the USIJI,
the Evaluation Panel must find that a project submission:
(1) Is acceptable to the
government of the host country
(2) Involves specific measures to
reduce or sequester greenhouse gas emissions initiated as a result of the
U.S. Initiative on Joint Implementation or in reasonable anticipation thereof
(3) Provides data and methodological
information sufficient to establish a baseline of current and future greenhouse
gas emissions:
(a) in the absence of the
specific measures referred to in A.(2) of this section; and
(b) as the result of the specific
measures referred to in A.(2) of this section
(4) Will reduce or sequester greenhouse
gas emissions beyond those referred to in A.(3) of this section, and if
federally funded, is or will by undertaken with funds in excess of those
available for such activities in fiscal year 1993
(5) Contains adequate provisions
for tracking the greenhouse gas emissions reduced or sequestered resulting
from the project, and on a periodic basis, for modifying such estimates
and for comparing actual results with those originally projected
(6) Contains adequate provisions
for external verification of the greenhouse gas emissions reduced or sequestered
by the project
(7) Identifies any associated nongreenhouse
gas environmental impacts/benefits
(8) Provides adequate assurance
that greenhouse gas emissions reduced or sequestered over time will not
be lost or reversed
(9) Provides for annual reports
to the Evaluation Panel on the emissions reduced or sequestered, and on
the share of such emissions attributed to each of the participants, domestic
and foreign, pursuant to the terms of voluntary agreements among project
participants
B. In determining whether to include
projects under the USIJI, the Evaluation Panel shall also consider:
(1) The potential for the
project to lead to changes in greenhouse gas emissions elsewhere
(2) The potential positive and negative
effects of the project apart from its effect on greenhouse gas emissions
reduced or sequestered
(3) Whether the U.S. participants
are emitters of greenhouse gases within the United States and, if so, whether
they are taking measures to reduce or sequester such emissions
(4) Whether efforts are underway
within the host country to ratify or accede to the United Nations Framework
Convention on Climate Change, to develop a national inventory and/or baseline
of greenhouse gas emissions by sources and removals by sinks, and whether
the host country is taking measures to reduce its emissions and enhance
its sinks and reservoirs of greenhouse gases."
The proposal
guidelines offer further information on what the Evaluation Panel
needs to evaluate submissions for inclusion in the USIJI portfolio. In
addition, staff members are available to answer questions regarding the
preparation of proposals and other aspects of the program.
Please keep in mind that the USIJI
is a pilot program that continues to evolve as more is learned about project
evaluation and implementation processes. The groundrules provide for the
Evaluation Panel to develop "operational modalities" to implement the program.
While these guidelines provide some interpretation of the project criteria,
the Evaluation Panel may refine the procedures as the program progresses. |
Copyright © 1999 USIJI
