Part 3Project requirements

Part 3—Project requirements

Summary

The project proponent must specify at least one herd for the project in the section 22 application, and may specify other herds later (these do not extend the crediting period).

A herd is specified by specifying the business operation to which it is attached—the herd consists, at any particular time, of the cattle that are on the livestock inventory of the business operation at that time. A business operation does not need to be a separate legal entity, as long as its associated herd is managed as a discrete set of animals over time that can be clearly identified by auditors in the records of its parent entity.

Each herd has an “assessment day”, which the project proponent must specify in the application (although it may be changed if necessary before the start of the crediting period). Each “assessment year” (the annual cycle for measuring the abatement for the herd) will begin immediately after the assessment day of one calendar year and end on the assessment day of the next. The calculator requires data inputs of the weights of animals present in the herd at the end of an assessment day, and these normally require the weighing of the animals, or of statistically valid samples of the animals, within six weeks before or after the day. (There are alternative provisions for obtaining weights that apply in some circumstances, including where normal mustering is delayed by a natural disturbance). Different herds may have different assessment days. The assessment day for the herd cannot be changed after the first offsets report relating to the herd has been given to the Regulator.

The calculator also requires data inputs of the weights of animals entering or leaving the herd during an assessment year. These may be aggregated monthly.

For each herd, the project proponent must have historical emissions intensity data that enables the baseline data to be calculated. The historical data is calculated for annual cycles that fall within the period of 7 years that ends on the baseline reference date. This is likely to coincide with the assessment day for measuring abatement, but it is not required to.

The majority of the cattle must be in herds that have full historical data (data from 3 full years that are not more than 7 years before the first assessment year of the herd). The baseline emissions of such herds are calculated using the data from that herd only.

The remainder of the herds of the project may have only partial historical data (data from 2 previous years). When calculating the baseline emissions of such a herd, a cap is imposed that is based on historical data from full data herds.

To comply with this determination:

(a) for each herd, the business operation and its livestock inventory must be maintained separately from any others that are part of the project, and have continuity over time; and