The California Air Resources Board (ARB) released in July a series of amendments to the regulations governing the state’s landmark greenhouse gas cap-and-trade program. The rule change package, referred to as 15-day rule changes because of the length of the public comment period, made many important changes to the program, including laying out a process for accrediting early action offsets for use in the program.

As a consistent and active stakeholder throughout the rulemaking process, Evolution Markets has provided input to California regulators on market design and offsets policy. Today, we submitted formal, written comments on the proposed AB 32 rule changes.

In general, we are advocating for changes to the amended rules to ensure a steady, early supply of high-quality offsets and establish a process for streamlining the transition of offset projects from Early Action status to ARB-issued credits. We also offer comments on technical issues such as proposed rules for invalidating offsets and the conduct of trading.

These comments are, in part, designed to supplement comments submitted yesterday by the International Emissions Trading Association (IETA), the Coalition for Emission Reduction Policy, and the Carbon Offset Providers Coalition. Evolution Markets fully supports these comments and appreciates their efforts in advocating for an effective carbon trading program in California.

If you have any questions regarding our comments to ARB, implementation of the AB 32 program, or transacting in the emerging California carbon market, please contact our U.S. Carbon Markets team at either uscarbon@evomarkets.com or +1 415.963.9137/+1 914.323.0265.