FAQs

Certification and Independent Verification

• Must my report be certified?

Yes, you are required to certify the accuracy of the information you report with the signature of a certifying official of the entity. All reports submitted to EIA on Form EIA-1605 must be certified by the Cheif Executive Officer, Agency Head, or the officer or employee of the entity who is responsible for reporting the entity's compliance with environmental regulations. A report submitted on behalf of a household may be certified by one of its adult members.

General Guidelines, §300.10

• Must and independent third party verify my report?

Although DOE encourages reporters to have their annual reports verified by an independent third party, verification is not a requirement for reporting on Form EIA-1605.

Instructions for Form EIA-1605, pp.19
General Guidelines, §300.11

• What requirements must and independent verifier meet in order to be qualified to verify my report?

EIA considers a report to be independently verified if:

• The lead verifier and its team are accredited by one or more independent and nationally-recognized accreditation programs;
• The lead verifier has experience managing an auditing or verification process, including the recruitment and allocation of their individual verifiers, and has been empowered to make decisions relevant to the provision of a verification statement;
• The verifier is not owned in whole or in part by the reporting entity, neither the verifier or any of its members have a financial interest in the operations, support, or consulting services to the reporting entity; and
• All members of a verification team have education, training and/or professional experience that matches the tasks performed by the individual verifiers, as deemed necessary by the verifier accreditation program. All members of the verification team should be familiar with:

• The subject matter covered by the scope of the verification;
  The requirements of the General Guidelines;
• Greenhouse gas emission and emission reduction quantification;
• Data and information auditing sampling methods; and
  Risk assessment and methodologies and materiality analysis procedures.

• What nationally-recognized organizations accredit individual verifiers?

Nationally-recognized organizations that accredit individual verifiers include, but are not limited to the:

• American Institute of Certified Public Accountants;
• American National Standards Institute Registrar Accreditation Board program for Environmental Management System auditors;
• Board of Environmental, Health, and Safety Auditor Certification;
• California Climate Action Registry;
• Clean Development Mechanism Executive Board;
• The Climate Registry's Verification Oversight Panel; and
• United Kingdom Accreditation Scheme.