Using International Standards to Assess Greenhouse Gases from Transportation

EPA works closely with the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) Working Group 14 under Subcommittee 7 (Greenhouse Gas Management and related activities) of ISO Technical Committee 207 (Environmental Management), ISO/TC 207/SC 7/WG 14 to help standardize GHG accounting for freight and passenger transportation. After three years of collaboration (including convening the international kick-off in November 2019 at the EPA National Vehicle and Fuel Emissions Laboratory at Ann Arbor, Michigan) ISO completed the project in March 2023. The new ISO standard 14083, Quantification and reporting of greenhouse gas emissions arising from transport chain operations, is now available for global adoption. 

The concept for this standard draws from the EPA SmartWay Transport Partnership as well as related methodologies of the Global Logistics Emissions Council, the World Resource Institute, prior ISO projects, and related programs and research efforts in other countries including France and Germany.

This new standard provides a global framework for credible, accurate calculation and evaluation of transportation-related climate pollutants. Such transparency provides market leverage to reduce carbon from goods movement and informs national and international policy. It also helps level the playing field for U.S. businesses competing in the global market. These aims advance EPA’s mission of environmental protection while incorporating a considered balance of stakeholder perspectives. EPA SmartWay worked through the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) and the U.S. Technical Advisory Group (USTAG) to ISO/TC 207/SC 7/WG 14 to conduct outreach to U.S. freight transportation and other stakeholders to include their input.

In addition to contributing significantly to the research and development of the main sections and annexes of the standard, EPA was instrumental in advocating for and leading the development of two key annexes.  First, was an informative annex on black carbon. EPA has strong interest in reducing this potent short-lived climate forcer, both to reduce climate risk and because black carbon is a constituent of particulates emitted by the older diesel fueled vehicles often used in goods movement. Particulate emissions are especially concerning for communities– often disadvantaged or underserved - that tend to live in proximity to freight hubs and routes. Finally, EPA also led the drafting of the annex on hydrofluorocarbons (HFC’s) and devised a methodology to measure HFC emissions within the trip- and hub- based framework of the standard.