Australian Carbon Credit Unit (ACCU) Scheme project proponents need to meet the reporting, monitoring, notification and record-keeping requirements that apply after their crediting period finishes.
Permanence obligations apply to sequestration projects throughout the permanence period, which is either 25 or 100 years.
In the post-crediting period, you must continue to apply the method requirements applicable to your project. The same method applies to your project from the start of the last reporting period in the crediting period. This is regardless of whether the method has subsequently expired, been varied or been revoked.
Failure to meet reporting, monitoring, notification and record-keeping requirements after the end of your project’s crediting period is a serious breach of law. It may expose you to the risk of a civil penalty order being made against you and may affect your fit and proper person status.
Find out about our approach to monitoring post-crediting period obligations.
Reporting
After your project’s crediting period ends, you must continue to submit reports at least once every 5 years until the end of your permanence period.
A regular offsets report ensures the project is meeting its permanence obligations to maintain the carbon sequestration benefits achieved during the project’s crediting period. The ACCU Scheme legislative framework, including your project’s method, will provide specific guidelines on what to include in offsets reports.
- Project overview – a summary of the project, including eligible activities, location and the applicable method.
- Monitoring and maintenance activities – detailed information on the activities undertaken to monitor and maintain the carbon stored by the project. This includes any measures taken to prevent and manage reversal events, such as fire management or pest control.
- Reversal events – documentation of any reversal events that have occurred in the project area, including the nature of the event, the amount of carbon released, and the steps taken to address the issue. This is needed regardless of notification requirements during the permanence period.
- Compliance with permanence plan – evidence that the project is adhering to the permanence plan submitted during the crediting period. This includes updates on any changes to the plan and how these changes are being implemented.
- Supporting evidence or documentation – any additional documents required by the specific method used for the project. This might include maps, geospatial data and audit reports.
We are considering developing an offsets report template form in Online Services to use for project reporting during the post-crediting period.
Ending reporting during the permanence period
For most vegetation methods, you can apply to stop reporting on your sequestration project during the permanence period when it has reached its maximum carbon sequestration capacity.
The maximum carbon sequestration capacity is the full amount of carbon that can be stored in the relevant vegetation under the method by conducting project activities.
If you have a savanna sequestration project or a soil carbon project, you must continue reporting for the duration of the permanence period. This applies as long as your project is registered, even if it has reached maximum carbon sequestration capacity. For these types of projects, you can apply to stop reporting at the end of the permanence period.
You must provide multiple sources of evidence to show that your project has reached maximum carbon sequestration capacity. This evidence should be informed by:
- the project’s current carbon stock calculation, according to method requirements
- the project’s modelled growth curve, if relevant.
The evidence should be supported by a statement of independent expert advice on how the project has reached maximum carbon sequestration capacity, including their on-ground assessment of the project.
You must also provide an explanation of how you will manage any risk of carbon sequestration reversal during the remainder of your project’s permanence period.
We will process your application within 90 days. If we are satisfied that your project has reached its maximum carbon sequestration capacity, we will declare that offsets reporting requirements no longer apply to your project. You will then not be required to submit offsets report for the remainder of your project’s permanence period.
Other monitoring, notification and record-keeping requirements of the method continue to apply even if you are permitted to stop reporting.
Monitoring
You must monitor your project for significant reversal of carbon dioxide removal until the end of the permanence period.
A significant reversal is where stored carbon is released back to the atmosphere from:
- at least 5% of the total project area due to natural disturbance
- 5% of the total project area or 50 hectares (whichever is smaller), due to a person’s action.
As long as your project is registered, you must also monitor it as required by the method – for example, management actions and natural disturbances.
Notifying us
You must notify us within 30 days of changes to the project proponent’s business or trading name, or contact details.
You must notify us within 60 days of:
- becoming aware of a change relating to the operation of the project, such that the project does not meet a requirement set out in sections 27(4)(a) to (c) and (l) of the CFI Act
- becoming aware of an error in your project’s offsets report
- becoming aware of significant reversals of carbon sequestration caused by natural disturbances affecting your project
- an act by the project proponent that causes, or is likely to cause, reversal of the carbon sequestration affecting at least 5% or 50 hectares (whichever is smaller) of the project area
- becoming aware of conduct of a person other than the project proponent that causes, or is likely to cause, a reversal of the carbon sequestration affecting at least 5% or 50 hectares (whichever is smaller) of the project area.
You must notify us within 90 days of:
- the project proponent ceasing to exist or losing legal right
- the project proponent no longer meeting the fit and proper person requirements
- the project becoming inconsistent with a regional natural resource management plan.
You must also meet other notification requirements as set out in your project’s method.
Record keeping
You must make a record of:
- correspondence between the project proponent and the CER relevant to the project
- the project’s offsets reports
- audit reports
- evidence that the project is covered by the method, including details of sequestration activities undertaken for the project
- details of any significant change to the scope or location of the project
- evidence that the project is being run consistently with the eligibility requirements
- evidence that the net abatement amount for each reporting period has been calculated in accordance with the project’s method
- evidence of compliance with monitoring requirements
- data collected while monitoring the project
- evidence of events that affect the carbon abatement, such as disturbance events
- explanation of the project’s ineligible carbon abatement for each reporting period
- other records as required by your project’s method
- evidence of information used to prepare offsets reports.
You are required to retain the record for 7 years after making the record.
Our compliance and enforcement approach
We will use remote sensing and intelligence from other sources for continuous monitoring of sequestration projects, including throughout the project's permanence period.
We may use section 214 or 215 audits for your project if we detect a significant reversal has occurred in your project area, or if there is concern with the level of carbon stores. This may also be needed to ensure compliance with the permanence obligations.
Our enforcement powers apply for the duration of your project’s permanence period, and we will use them in cases where non-compliance has occurred. Find out more about our compliance approach.