Significant Momentum: CCA Updates for August 2022

As summer draws to a close, there are just four short months until the cap and investment program launches on January 1, 2023, and we are working hard to ensure that businesses and individuals who want to participate in the new allowance market have the necessary tools and resources to do so. Here’s a quick recap of what August had in store for us.

Integrate your contribution

The regulations are still in progress for the Chapter 173-446 WAC to reign. Our official public comment period ended on July 15, 2022 and we spent weeks reading, analyzing and drafting responses to over 1,400 comments submitted by mail, online and at our four official public hearings in June. .

Responses to all comments will be made public in the Concise Explanatory Statement, a document that describes all comments received and why or why a change was made to the rule as a result of those comments. This document, along with the adopted rule language, our rule implementation plan, and other documents will be made public when the rule is adopted.

Based on the feedback received, there will be some minor changes to the rule that will increase the clarity of the final wording when it is adopted in the fall. By law, the rule must be passed by October 1, 2022, and we’re on track to meet that deadline.

You can read all comments submitted in our online comment portal.

Make a marketplace

As we mentioned in last month’s blogwe recently launched a new CCA Auctions and Trading Web Page serve as a hub for information on the cap and investment market platform, trainings for participating companies and individuals, and upcoming auctions (once scheduled).

We recently opened registration for the first three training courses for market participants. These trainings will guide you through the process of opening an account in the Compliance Instrument Tracking System (CITSS) service. A CITSS account is required to buy and sell allowances or offset credits on the cap and invest market. We therefore strongly encourage anyone interested in participating to attend the relevant trainings.

You can register for these courses in the More resources section of the Auctions and Trading webpage, and Subscribe to our email alerts to be informed of new training as soon as it becomes available.

A renewable resource

And the hits just keep coming! Website visits, ie.

On the heels of the new auctions page, we have also just unveiled our new CCA Emissions Reporting Web Pagewhich will serve as a one-stop resource for anyone wishing to understand who should report their emissions and how to do so.

Although ACC’s emissions reporting requirements build on existing regulations governing our Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program (Chapter 173-441 WAC), the CCA also contains certain additional requirements specific to the cap and investment program.

This new webpage will provide information on how companies can report their emissions, when they must do so and how they can access relevant training. In fact, the Emissions Reporting Team has just opened registration for our first training for fuel suppliers — intended for suppliers of fuels other than natural gas, such as diesel, propane and gasoline.

Facilitate feedback

Last month, we mentioned that we would be starting a second public engagement period in the fall for the Initiative to improve air quality in overcrowded communities. This effort is aimed at the section of the Climate Commitment Act that directs Ecology to develop a process to identify overburdened communities heavily impacted by air pollution.

We are currently implementing an inclusive engagement process to reach out to community members across the state. As part of this fall engagement process, we look forward to hearing if our draft process for identifying overburdened communities heavily impacted by air pollution reflects your experiences with air pollution. We developed this draft process using feedback received during the initial engagement period.

Once these communities are identified, Ecology will expand air quality monitoring and develop strategies to reduce air pollution in these identified communities.

More information on this fall engagement process will be available in the coming weeks on the initiative webpage.

Comments are closed.