Safeguard facilities are required to keep their net emissions at or below their emissions baseline.

If a Safeguard facility's emissions exceed their baseline for financial years ending before 1 July 2023, or expect to exceed their baseline, the responsible emitter has options available to manage their excess emissions, including:

• surrendering Australian carbon credit units (ACCUs) to offset emissions
• applying for a multi-year monitoring period (MYMP) to allow additional time to reduce net emissions.

There are a range of enforcement powers available to the Clean Energy Regulator (CER) where a Safeguard facility’s responsible emitter fails to take one of the above actions by the 1 March compliance deadline.

Safeguard data will be published following the compliance deadline. See Key dates for more information.

Online Services is the new front door for scheme participants, replacing the Client Portal (Beta). If you already have a Client Portal account, you can use this to log into Online Services.

Surrendering Australian carbon credit units

For financial years ending before 1 July 2023, Safeguard facilities can surrender ACCUs to reduce their net emissions number and stay below their baseline.

A responsible emitter does not need to have its own Australian National Registry of Emissions Units (ANREU) account in order to surrender ACCUs to meet their Safeguard obligations. Responsible emitters can either:

• surrender ACCUs held within their own ANREU account
• arrange for the surrender of ACCUs from the ANREU account of another person.

See Buying ACCUs for more information.

Apply for a multi-year monitoring period

Where Safeguard facilities are in an excess emissions situation after 1 July 2023 and they have a credible plan to reduce their emissions, they may apply for a MYMP of up to 5 years in length.

MYMPs provides responsible emitters with more time to implement emissions reduction projects so that, by the end of the extended monitoring period, the Safeguard facility’s emissions will be at or below its extended baseline.

Applications for MYMPs must be received by the CER no later than 15 November immediately following the first financial year of the proposed MYMP. See Key dates for more information.

Applications for MYMPs must:

• specify the multi-year period for which the declaration is sought
• specify the amount of covered emissions emitted (or reasonably likely to be emitted) for the proposed first financial year of the declared multi-year period
• outline how the facility plans to reduce its emissions such that, by the end of the extended monitoring period, the facility’s emissions will be at or below its extended baseline. A summary of this plan must also be provided for publication on the CER’s website
• provide an explanation of any known risks that might lead to the facility exceeding its baseline at the end of the MYMP
• be signed by a responsible financial officer for the responsible emitter of the Safeguard facility, or a person authorised by the responsible officer.

The Safeguard Rule provides that the CER may reduce the length of a MYMP where emissions are not being reduced.

At the conclusion of a MYMP, the responsible emitter is required to submit an explanation of how the facility performed against the emissions reduction plan submitted as part of the MYMP application. The explanation must be submitted to the CER by 31 October following the conclusion of the MYMP and will be published on the CER’s website.

The MYMP application form is available in Online Services.

Apply for an exemption

In limited circumstances, Safeguard facilities that are likely to exceed their baselines due to the direct result of a natural disaster or criminal activity may apply to be exempted from their Safeguard obligations.

Applications for exemptions must be received by the CER no later than 31 October immediately following the financial year the Safeguard facility is seeking exemption for. See Key dates for more information.

Applications for exemptions must:

• specify the monitoring period for which an exemption declaration is sought
• specify the natural disaster or criminal activity that impacted the facility, and demonstrate how it directly resulted in the facility’s excess emissions situation
• substantiate the reasonableness of:
• steps taken before the event to mitigate risks that criminal activity or natural disaster could result in an excess (such as industrial design aimed at improving resilience to extreme weather conditions, procedures for greenhouse gas management during natural disasters, security arrangements or emergency shut-down procedures)
• steps taken after the event to mitigate risks that the criminal activity or natural disaster could result in an excess (such as promptly acting to replace damaged emissions reduction equipment, low emissions fuel sources or taking reasonable actions to limit emissions in the remaining part of the applicable monitoring period).

Applications for exemptions will not be approved if the excess emissions situation is an indirect result of the natural disaster or criminal activity (such as where the responsible emitters response to market dynamics caused by the natural disaster or criminal activity results in the excess).

The CER may revoke an exemption declaration if the application is found to contain false or misleading information in relation to a material particular.

See Forms and guidance for more information.