| 1 | Objective |
| 1.1 | This policy defines the scope of accreditation and the assessment requirements for the ANAB Accreditation Program for Greenhouse Gas Validation/Verification Bodies. |
| 2 | Definitions |
| 2.1 | ACCREDITATION: Third-party attestation related to a conformity assessment body conveying formal demonstration of its competence to carry out specific conformity assessment tasks. |
| 2.2 | ASSESSMENT: Process undertaken by an accreditation body to assess the competence of a validation and/or verification body based on particular standard(s) and/or other normative documents and for a defined scope of accreditation. |
| 2.3 | COMPETENCE: Demonstrated personal attributes and demonstrated ability to apply knowledge and skills. |
| 2.4 | CRITICAL LOCATION: Where one or more key activities are performed according to ISO 17011 (to include policy formulation, process and/or procedure development, contract review, planning conformity assessment, review, approval and decision on the results of conformity assessments). |
| 2.5 | EXTENDING ACCREDITATION: Process of enlarging the scope of accreditation. |
| 2.6 | FACILITY: Single installation, set of installations or production processes (stationary or mobile), which can be defined within a single geographical boundary, organizational unit or production process. |
| 2.7 | GREENHOUSE GAS INVENTORY: An organization’s greenhouse gas sources, greenhouse gas sinks, GHG emissions and removals. |
| 2.8 | GREENHOUSE GAS PROJECT: Activity or activities that alter the conditions identified in the baseline scenario which cause greenhouse gas emission reductions or greenhouse gas removal enhancements. |
| 2.9 | GREENHOUSE GAS PROGRAM: Voluntary or mandatory international, national, or sub-national system or scheme that registers, accounts or manages GHG emissions, removals, emission reductions or removal enhancements outside the organization or GHG project. |
| 2.10 | ORGANIZATION: Company, corporation, firm, enterprise, authority or institution, or part or combination thereof, whether incorporated or not, public or private, that has its own functions and administration. |
| 2.11 | SCOPE OF ACCREDITATION: Specific conformity assessment services for which accreditation is sought or has been granted. |
| 2.12 | SURVEILLANCE: Set of activities, except reassessment, to monitor the continued fulfillment by accredited CABs of requirements for accreditation. |
| 2.13 | VALIDATION: Systematic, independent and documented process for the evaluation of a GHG assertion in a GHG project plan against agreed criteria to determine if the project plan conforms to the agreed criteria, and its implementation can be expected to result in the proposed GHG emission reductions and removal enhancements as described in the project plan. |
| 2.14 | VERIFICATION: Systematic, independent and documented process for the evaluation of a GHG assertion against agreed verification criteria. |
| 2.15 | VALIDATION OR VERIFICATION BODY: Body that performs validations or verifications of GHG assertions in accordance with ISO 14064-3 and ISO 14065. |
| 2.16 | WITNESSING: Observation of the CAB carrying out conformity assessment services within its scope of accreditation. |
| 3 | Introduction |
| 3.1 | The ANAB GHG Validation/Verification Body (V/VB) Accreditation process has been established and is operated according to ISO/IEC 17011 – Conformity assessment – Requirements for accreditation bodies accrediting conformity assessment bodies. In accordance with ISO/IEC 17011, ANAB must identify the type of activity and the industry sectors and/or product/project categories included in the scope of the accreditation program. |
| 3.2 | The ANAB GHG Program accreditation process consists of the following steps: |
| 3.3 | The applicant V/VB must indicate the activities and sectors for which it seeks accreditation during the application phase of the assessment process. Any activities or sectors that are added following the start of the initial assessment process shall be considered to be an extension of scope and V/VBs must request scope extension to be considered by ANAB as an applicant for these additional activities and sectors. |
| 3.4 | The activities defined by the ANAB GHG Program shall be those activities defined in ISO 14065:2013: |
| a) | verification of assertions related to GHG emissions and removals at the organizational level; |
| b) | verification of assertions related to GHG emission reductions & removals at the project level; |
| c) | validation of assertions related to GHG emission reductions & removals at the project level. |
| 3.5 | A V/VB must demonstrate throughout the initial assessment process that it has performed a competence analysis for each technical area in which it operates. In addition, an applicant V/VB must demonstrate competence in each sector for which it seeks accreditation. As part of this demonstration, a V/VB must undergo one or more onsite assessments and one or more witness assessments as described below. |
| 4 | ANAB GHG V/VB Office Assessments |
| 4.1 | Onsite or office assessments are required for initial assessment, annual surveillance assessments and reassessments. The main office of the V/VB shall be assessed. In addition, at least once within the five-year accreditation cycle, assessments shall be conducted at other critical locations for which one or more of the following key activities are performed or controlled that demonstrate or determine the effectiveness of validation/verification activities related to the scope of accreditation, including: |
| a) | policy formulation; |
| b) | process and/or procedure development; |
| c) | client contract/application review; |
| d) | the process for initial qualification, training and ongoing monitoring of verification/validation personnel records; |
| e) | planning and conducting of validation and verification in accordance with GHG program requirement; and |
| f) | independent review and approval of the internal documentation completed during the validation or verification engagement and the validation/verification statement (opinion). |
| 4.2 | During the office assessment, ANAB assessors evaluate the V/VB's conformance to ISO 14065:2013, ISO 14064-3:2006, and IAF Mandatory Document for the Application of ISO 14065:2013. In cases where the V/VB seeks accreditation to participate in GHG programs, the requirements of the GHG program shall be additional to the requirements of the above. |
| 4.3 | The competence of the V/VB personnel shall be assessed by ANAB using the following approach: |
| a) | interviews of validation and/or verification team leader(s), validators, verifiers, technical experts, and contractors as appropriate; |
| b) | assessing the competence of V/VB personnel on their skills, abilities, experience, and understanding of the sector / subsector as well as the V/VB personnel’s ability to implement ISO 14064-3 in accordance with ISO 14065 and the relevant GHG program requirements for which the V/VB has applied (e.g. validation, verification and sampling plans, assessment of project design documents, validation/verification reports, risk assessments, working papers, management reports, etc.). |
| c) | review of files to assess that the V/VB has procedures and/or processes in place to conduct validation and/or verification of GHG assertions for the relevant GHG program for which they have applied; |
| d) | observation of V/VB personnel conducting validation/verification through ANAB witness assessments. |
| 5 | ANAB GHG V/VB Witness Assessments |
| 5.1 | Witness assessments are required to be completed for both project-level validation/verification and organization-level verification. ANAB shall consider organization-level verification and project-level validation/ verification to be separate and distinct processes. The number of required witness assessments is determined by the scope of the accreditation applied for. In order to streamline the requirements for witness assessments, sectors have been grouped. |
| 6 | Project Validation/Verification Sectors |
| 6.1 | The following six project-level sectors shall be included on the ANAB Application for Accreditation (GHG-FR-704): |
| 1. GHG emission reductions from fuel combustion |
| 2. GHG emission reductions from industrial processes (non-combustion, chemical reaction, fugitive, and other) |
| 3. Land use, Land Use Change and Forestry |
| 4. Carbon Capture and Storage |
| 5. Livestock |
| 6. Waste Handling and Disposal |
| 6.2 | ANAB witness assessment groups: ANAB witnessing requirements are described in Table 1 below. If an applicant is witnessed for validation activities within a given sector, the results of the witness assessment for this sector shall be used to make a recommendation on accreditation for project verification for the same sector. If the applicant V/VB has completed witnessed project verification, accreditation shall not be extended to validation without further evaluation and/or witness assessment(s). A witness assessment for project validation may be waived if the following conditions are met by the V/VB: |
| 6.2.1 | The V/VB has completed both validation and verification for the same project (in such cases where this is allowed) and is able to provide documentation sufficient to demonstrate conformance to ANAB requirements and applicable GHG programs requirements. Such cases are subject to ANAB approval and witness. |
| 6.2.2 | The V/VB has undergone and is accredited for validation (for any ANAB group) and already holds accreditation for verification for the applicable sector group(s). In this case, the V/VB shall apply for extension of scope using VV-FR-708 and paying the $1000 scope extension fee. A recommendation on whether or not to waive the witness assessment shall result from the review of the application for scope extension. This may include recommendations to witness future validations. |
| 6.3 | Many GHG programs recognize ANAB accredited V/VBs. Specified GHG program requirements shall be assessed during both the onsite and witness assessment(s). To apply for accreditation for multiple GHG programs, V/VBs must demonstrate knowledge of the specified GHG program requirements for each sector. A V/VB must undergo a minimum of five project level witness assessments in order to be assessed for accreditation for all listed activities and sector groups (four witness assessments for sector groups and one witness assessment to demonstrate competence in validation activities as a minimum). |
|
| 1 – GHG emission reductions from fuel combustion | - Renewable Energy Production: (hydropower, biomass energy, biomass fuels, geothermal power, solar power, wind energy, fuel cell)
- Energy Efficiency Improvements: (fuel switching, waste heat recovery, cogeneration)
- Transportation
| A witness assessment and demonstrated sub-sector competence are required. Proposed activities for witnessing can be selected from one of the following categories:
Group 1
Group 2
| | 2 - GHG emission reductions from industrial processes (non-combustion, chemical reaction, fugitive and other) | - Ozone Depleting Substances Destruction
- SF6 replacement
- SF6 emission avoidance
- HFC destruction/decomposition
- PFC anode effect mitigation
- production of nitric acid and adipic acid
- Reduced emissions from destruction of N2O in manufacturing
| A witness assessment and demonstrated sub-sector competence are required. Proposed activities for witnessing can be selected from one of the following categories:
Group 2
| | 3 – Land Use and Forestry | Sequestration of carbon due to afforestation, avoided deforestation, sustainable forest management, forest products)
- Soil carbon sequestration (no-till, grass cover)
| A witness assessment and demonstrated sub-sector competence are required for accreditation within this sector. | | 4 – Carbon Capture and Storage | Emissions sources that are injected into underground geological formations (e.g. abandoned oil and gas reservoirs, saline aquifers, or unminable coal seams) | A witness assessment and demonstrated subs-sector competence are required for accreditation within this sector. | | 5 – Livestock | - Methane Collection and Destruction
- Livestock and other anaerobic digester operations
- Agricultural methane emission reduction
- Agricultural carbon emission reduction
| A witness assessment and demonstrated sub-sector competence are required. Proposed activities for witnessing can be selected from one of the following categories:
Group 5 – Livestock
Group 6 – Waste Handling and Disposal
| | 6 – Waste Handling and Disposal | - Capture and destruction of Landfill gas
- Capture and use of Landfill gas (biodigestion, aerobic treatment)
- methane recovery in wastewater treatment
- avoidance of methane production in wastewater treatment
- Coal mine methane
| A witness assessment and demonstrated sub-sector competence are required. Proposed activities for witnessing can be selected from one of the following categories:
Group 5 – Livestock
Group 6 – Waste Handling and Disposal
|
|
| 7 | Organization-level Verification Categories |
| 7.1 | The following organization-level sectors shall be included on the ANAB application for accreditation (GHG-FR-704): |
| 1. General |
| 2. Manufacturing |
| 3. Power Generation |
| 4. Electric Power Transactions |
| 5. Mining and Mineral Production |
| 6. Metals Production |
| 7. Chemical Production |
| 8. Oil and Gas Extraction, Production and Refining, included Petrochemicals |
| 9. Waste |
| 10. Agriculture, Forestry and Other Land Use (AFOLU) |
| 7.2 | The following evidence shall be reviewed by ANAB in order to determine if the scope of accreditation can be extended to include the additional organization-level sectors: |
| a) | demonstration of appropriate resources and personnel to support the Validation/Verification activities for a specific GHG program and relevant organization-level sector; |
| b) | evidence of previous GHG validation/verification or other GHG emissions quantification activities in that sector; |
| c) | demonstrated conformance to ISO 14064-3, as well as GHG Program and Registry requirements for that organization-level sector; |
| d) | demonstrated conformance to industry-specific requirements where applicable; and |
| e) | witness requirements as described below. |
| 7.3 | Witness requirements for organization-level verification: |
| 7.3.1 | For accreditation of organization-level verification ANAB shall apply a tiered approach toward witnessing activities. The following requirements shall apply. See Table 2. |
| a) | demonstration of appropriate resources and personnel to support the validation/verification activities for a specific GHG program and relevant organization-level sector; |
| b) | a witness assessment conducted for a level 3 shall satisfy a level 1 or level 2 category; |
| c) | a witness assessment conducted for a level 2 shall satisfy level 2 and level 1; |
| d) | in the case of Group 4 - Electric Power Transactions and group 10 - AFOLU organization-level verification a witness assessment is required. For AFOLU organization-level verification, a witness assessment may be waived if the V/VB has undergone witness assessment or is currently accredited for group 3 for project-level validation or verification in cases where the V/VB is already accredited for organization-level verification for other sector groups. For accreditation under Group 1 for aviation, ICAO CORSIA, a VVB must undergo an assessment and the granting of accreditation will be qualified subject to a witness assessment. |
| e) | the maximum number of witness assessments required for a V/VB applying for all organization-level groups shall be six; |
| f) | the minimum number shall be two, provided that the selected witness assessment is classified as level 3, and provided that the V/VB demonstrates that they have access to sufficient technical expertise in the relevant sectors for which they are seeking accreditation; |
| g) | the ANAB assessment team shall evaluate competence for all organization-level sectors for which the V/VB seeks accreditation including those sectors not subjected to witness assessment. |
|
| 1 – General | - Organizational inventories (corporate reporters) e.g. public administration, education, transport (ICAO CORSIA for aviation), storage and communications, information technology, state and local government | Level 1 or above | | 2 – Manufacturing | Food products, household goods, textiles, wood products, pulp and paper, basic metals and fabricated metal products, electrical equipment, machinery and equipment, electrical and optical equipment, aerospace, medical devices, rubber and plastic products | Level 2 or above | | 3 – Power Generation | Combustion of natural gas or coal, Transmission and distribution | Level 2 | | 4 – Electric Power Transactions | Purchase transactions, resale transactions, wheeling | Witness assessment required | | 5 – Mining and Mineral Production | Cement production, lime production, glass production, coal, other process uses of carbonates | Level 3 | | 6 – Metals Production | Aluminum, ferroalloy, iron, steel, lead, magnesium, zinc | Level 3 | | 7 – Chemical Production | Adipic acid production, ammonia production, nitric acid production, caprolactam, glyoxal and glyoxylic acid production, carbide production, titanium dioxide production, soda ash production, fluorochemical production | Level 3 | | 8 – Oil and gas extraction, production and refining including petrochemicals | Oil and natural gas production, pipelines, and specialty organic chemical production, refining | Level 3 | | 9 – Waste | Municipal and industrial landfills, manure management systems, wastewater | Level 3 | | 10 – Agriculture, Forestry and Other Land Use (AFOLU) | Removal of CO2 from the atmosphere by Forests and rangelands
Emissions resulting from actions such as decomposition, harvest, conversion/development, fire, and species choice
| Witness assessment required |
|
| 8 | Annual Surveillance Requirements |
| 8.1 | In addition to conducting onsite surveillance at the critical locations of the V/VB, ANAB shall select and notify the accredited V/VB of activities and sectors to be witnessed during the annual surveillance. The approach to the selection of the validation/verification activities to be witnessed shall be risk based. All accredited V/VBs must submit an annual assessment planning tool and provide supporting documentation in accordance with GHG-PR-716. Selection of validation and/or verification activities to be witnessed shall be based on the following factors: |
| 8.1.1 | The complexity of the activities and sectors undertaken by the V/VB, |
| 8.1.2 | The number of validations and/or verifications planned to occur within the ANAB surveillance timeline, |
| 8.1.3 | Whether ANAB assessors have witnessed that particular methodology, sector, or GHG program or activity previously, |
| 8.1.4 | The geographical location of the validations and verifications (a higher number of validations/verifications in another country) Note: ANAB may choose to partner with the local accreditation body in carrying out such witness assessments, |
| 8.1.5 | The approval of new lead validators/verifiers and team members for the accredited program (including subcontractors) and whether ANAB assessors have witnessed these personnel, |
| 8.1.6 | Consideration of the results from previous desk reviews of completed validations and verification as well as witness assessments, and |
| 8.1.7 | Feedback on the performance of V/VBs from GHG programs. |