WASHINGTON, March 18 (UPI) -- The reporting deadline for greenhouse gas emissions by U.S. emitters has been extended to the end of September, the U.S. EPA announced.
The Environmental Protection Agency announced it was extending the March 31 deadline for reporting 2010 data under the greenhouse gas reporting program and said the new deadline was Sept. 30.
"This extension will allow EPA to further test the system that facilities will use to submit data and give industry the opportunity to test the tool, provide feedback and have sufficient time to become familiar with the tool prior to reporting," the agency announced.
The EPA launched its greenhouse gas reporting program in 2009. It requires emitters to report on greenhouse gas data to help guide policy decisions.
The U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee voted on a proposal last week to block the EPA from regulating emissions.
Committee Chairman Rep. Fred Upton, R-Mich., claimed the EPA is made up of "unelected bureaucrats" who are throwing up "roadblocks to domestic energy production."
Many of Upton's Democratic counterparts said the effort would curtail efforts to cut pollution and curtail U.S. energy consumption.
