(a) A reporting entity must be composed of one or more businesses, public or private institutions or organizations, households, or other entities having operations that annually release emissions, at least in part, in the United States. Entities may be defined by, as appropriate, a certificate of incorporation, corporate charter, corporate filings, tax identification number, or other legal basis of identification recognized under any Federal, State or local law or regulation. If a reporting entity is composed of more than one entity, all of the entities included must be responsible to the same management hierarchy and all entities that have the same management hierarchy must be included in the reporting entity.

(b) All reporting entities are strongly encouraged to define themselves at the highest level of aggregation. To achieve this objective, DOE suggests the use of a corporate-level definition of the entity, based on filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission or institutional charters. While reporting at the highest level of aggregation is encouraged, DOE recognizes that certain businesses and institutions may conclude that reporting at some lower level is desirable. Federal agencies are encouraged to report at the agency or departmental level, but distinct organizational units (such as a Department of the Interior Fish and Wildlife Service National Wildlife Refuge) may report directly if authorized by their department or agency. Once an entity has determined the level of corporate or institutional management at which it will report (e.g., the holding company, subsidiary, regulated stationary source, state government, agency, refuge, etc.), the entity must include all elements of the organization encompassed by that management level and exclude any organizations that are managed separately. For example, if two subsidiaries of a parent company are to be covered by a single report, then all subsidiaries of that parent company must also be included. Similarly, if a company decides to report on the U.S. and Canadian subsidiaries of its North American operations unit, it must also report on any other subsidiaries of its North American unit, such as a Mexican subsidiary.

(c) A name for the defined entity must be specified by all reporters. For entities that intend to register reductions, this should be the name commonly used to represent the activities being reported, as long as it is not also used to refer to substantial activities not covered by the entity's reports. While DOE believes entities should be given considerable flexibility in defining themselves at an appropriate level of aggregation, it is essential that the name assigned to an entity that intends to register reductions corresponds closely to the scope of the operations and emissions covered by its report. If, for example, an individual plant or operating unit is reporting as an entity, it should be given a name that corresponds to the specific plant or unit, and not to the responsible subsidiary or corporate entity. In order to distinguish a parent company from its subsidiaries, the name of the parent company generally should not be incorporated into the name of the reporting subsidiary, but if it is, the name of the parent company usually should be secondary.