BERDO Regulations in Phases: Phase 1-2A Approved
December 28, 2022
Written By Yve Torrie, Director of Climate, Energy & Resilience
Passed in October 2021, Boston’s amended Building Emissions and Disclosure Ordinance for existing buildings is known as BERDO 2.0. Throughout 2022, A Better City has engaged members, partners, and the City of Boston’s BERDO team as the regulations for BERDO 2.0 have been drafted, commented on, and approved by the Air Pollution Control Commission (APCC). A previous blogpost provides a summary of the amended Ordinance.
Regulations for BERDO 2.0 are being carried out in phases:
- Phase 1 relates to reporting and data verification requirements and was adopted by the APCC in March 2022 so covered buildings under BERDO could report their verified data. See A Better City’s comments on Phase 1 here.
- Phase 2 relates to the Review Board, blended emissions standards, designating a tenant as owner, change of ownership, renewable energy purchases, emissions factors, and other clarifying regulations. BERDO staff received over 40 comment letters on Phase 2 with most substantive comments related to renewable energy purchases and emissions factors. To allow more time to review the substantive comments on emissions factors and renewable energy purchases, the BERDO team divided Phase 2 into Phases 2a and 2b:
- Phase 2a relates to the Review Board, blended emissions standards, designating a tenant as owner, change of ownership, and other clarifying regulations. These regulations were approved at the December APCC meeting on December 14th. Adopted regulations for Phase 1 and 2a and adopted policies for Phase 1 and 2a have recently been released.
- A draft of Phase 2b regulations and policies were also released at the December APCC meeting; comments are due on January 18, 2023. A Better City is in the process of engaging members for their input so comments can be submitted by the deadline.
- Phase 3 relates to hardship compliance plans, individual compliance schedules, portfolio compliance, Equitable Emissions Investment Fund regulations, and additional regulations as needed to implement and enforce the ordinance. This phase will begin once Phase 2b is completed.
Phase 1
BERDO 2.0 covered buildings—defined as non-residential buildings that are 20,000 square feet or larger, residential buildings that have 15 or more units, and any parcel with multiple buildings that sum to at least 20,000 square feet or 15 units—were required to report to the City and have data verified by a third party by June 15, 2022, with a one-time 6-month extension that could be requested to December 15, 2022.
As of the APCC meeting on December 14, 2022, the following reporting progress was presented:
- 553 verified data reports have been checked and approved by the BERDO team
- 437 data reports are under review by the BERDO team
- 1062 data reports have been sent to a data verifier
- 209 data reports are missing data verification
- 710 covered buildings have not fully reported data
- 1012 covered buildings have not initiated reporting in the BERDO platform
At the December APCC meeting, BERDO staff requested additional extensions be granted for covered buildings for extenuating circumstances until March 1, 2023. The goal of the extension is to ensure all reporters can accurately report and verify their data to plan for compliance with the 2025 emissions standards. These extensions were approved by the APCC.
Phase 2a
Before Phase 2 was divided into 2a and 2b, A Better City submitted comments for consideration during the drafting of Phase 2 regulations as well as comments in response to the draft Phase 2 regulations. As mentioned above, given the substantive nature of the comments received by the BERDO team, especially to emissions factors and renewable energy purchases, Phase 2 was divided in 2a and 2b to allow time to review 2b comments pertaining to emissions factors and renewable energy in more detail. Phase 2a draft regulations were presented at the November APCC meeting, beginning a 21-day comment period. A Better City submitted minor comments to Phase 2a regulations on December 9, 2022.
As a result of comments received, Phase 2a regulations were revised to include:
- Clarification on when and how gross floor area calculations can be used
- An update to the change of ownership notification from 14 to 30 days
- The establishment of a process for the BERDO team to grant approval to report on a basis other than a building level under extenuating circumstances
- Clarification that 3rd party verification is required whenever a blended emissions standard is updated
- Clarification on Review Board nominations by Community-Based Organizations (CBOs) to limit seated Review Board members to two for any one CBO
- The addition of preferences to the two non-CBO nominated, non-City Council Review Board members
Also, within the Phase 2a policies and procedures, policies were added that the Review Board will convene a working group focused on healthcare institutions connected to district energy systems and a commercial real estate working group within 90 days of being seated. Boston residency is not required for these working groups.
Phase 2a regulations and policies and procedures were adopted at the December 14, 2022, APCC meeting. As stated above, comments on Phase 2b are currently underway.
If you have any questions or comments, please contact Yve Torrie.
