Oregon proposes 10pc cut in fuel carbon intensity
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Napa, 2 October (Argus) — Oregon regulators have
proposed a low-carbon fuel standard (LCFS) that targets a 10pc reduction of the
carbon intensity of the state's transportation fuels by 2025.
Under the proposed rules issued yesterday by the
Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ), the state's clean fuels
standard would begin its compliance obligations in 2016. The authorizing
legislation for Oregon's program expires at the end of next year, and governor
John Kitzhaber (D) has said he will push to extend the authorization in next
year's legislative session.
The proposal comes after Kitzhaber ordered the DEQ to
turn the current, reporting-only program into one with mandatory cuts. The order
came months after the governors of Oregon, California and Washington and the
premier of British Columbia agreed to work together on climate programs,
including establishing or maintaining LCFS regulations, as part of the Pacific
Coast Collaborative.
Oregon's rules are largely harmonized with
California's and include charges for indirect land-use changes for crop-based
biofuels and borrowing a significant number of California's fuel pathways.
The agency is requesting comment on a number of areas
in the proposed rules, from the baseline carbon intensities and its annual
reduction targets to alternative methods for controlling program costs.
Unlike California, Oregon has no oil refineries so it
imports nearly all of its gasoline and diesel from outside the state. Oregon's
carbon intensity targets are lower than California's because it imports most of
its fuel from refineries in Washington that run lighter crude oils than their
California counterparts.
Oregon's gasoline carbon intensity target would start
at 89.08 grams of CO2/megajoule in 2016 and end at 80.36g in 2025, with the
stringency of the targets increasing in the program's latter years. The diesel
target would start at 86.87g CO2e/MJ and decline to 78.38 in 2025.
The proposed rules would place the liability for
invalid credits with the generators of those credits, requiring them to replace
any found to have been generated illegitimately.
The DEQ and its Environmental Quality Commission will
hold an initial public hearing on the program on 6 November, and comments are
due to the agency by 7 November. The proposal is posted at http://www.oregon.gov/deq/RulesandRegulations/Documents/cf2pubnotice.pdf
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