Or. Admin. R. 340-253-0400

Current through Register Vol. 63, No. 6, June 1, 2024

Section 340-253-0400 - Carbon Intensities

(1) OR-GREET. Carbon intensities for fuels must be calculated using OR-GREET 3.0 or a model approved by DEQ. If a party wishes to use a modified or different lifecycle carbon intensity model, it must be approved by DEQ in advance of an application under OAR 340-253-0450.

(2) DEQ review of carbon intensities. Every three years, or sooner if DEQ determines that new information becomes available that warrants an earlier review, DEQ will review the carbon intensities used in the CFP and must consider, at a minimum, changes to:

(a) The sources of crude and associated factors that affect emissions such as flaring rates, extraction technologies, capture of fugitive emissions, and energy sources;

(b) The sources of natural gas and associated factors that affect emissions such as extraction technologies, capture of fugitive emissions, and energy sources;

(c) Fuel economy standards and energy economy ratios;

(d) GREET, OR-GREET, CA-GREET, GTAP, AEZ-EF or OPGEE;

(e) Methods to calculate lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions;

(f) Methods to quantify indirect land use change; and

(g) Methods to quantify other indirect effects.

(3) Statewide carbon intensities.

(a) Regulated parties, credit generators and aggregators must use the statewide average carbon intensities listed in Tables 3 and 4 under OAR 340-253-8010 and -8010 for the following fuels:

(A) Clear gasoline or the gasoline blendstock of a blended gasoline fuel;

(B) Clear diesel or the diesel blendstock of a blended diesel fuel;

(C) Fossil CNG;

(D) Fossil LNG; and

(E) Fossil LPG.

(b) For electricity suppliers,

(A) The statewide average electricity carbon intensity is calculated annually under OAR 340-253-0470 and posted on the DEQ website.

(B) Credit generators or aggregators may use a carbon intensity different from the statewide average under subsection (b)(A) if:

(i) The utility has applied for an individual carbon intensity under OAR 340-253-0470; or

(ii) The party generates lower carbon electricity at the same location as it is dispensed into a motor vehicle consistent with the conditions of the approved fuel pathway code under OAR 340-253-0470(3).

(c) A hydrogen supplier may use the applicable value in Table 4 under OAR 340-253-8010, or apply for a specific carbon intensity under OAR 340-253-0450.

(4) Carbon intensities for established fuel pathways. Except as provided in sections (3) or (5), regulated parties, credit generators, and aggregators can use a carbon intensity that:

(a) CARB has certified for use in the California Low Carbon Fuel Standard program, as adjusted for fuel transportation distances and indirect land use change, and that has been reviewed and approved by DEQ as being consistent with OR-GREET 3.0; or

(b) Matches the description of a fuel pathway listed in Table 4 under OAR 340-253-8010. For Hydrogen produced using biomethane or renewable power, the producer of the hydrogen will have to demonstrate to DEQ that the value in Table 4 is appropriate for its production facility and must submit attestations on an annual basis that the renewable power and biomethane attributes, as applicable, were not claimed in any other program except for the federal RFS. Any such claims under the federal RFS must be made for the same use and volume of biomethane or its derivatives as it is being claimed for in the CFP, or the claim under the CFP is invalid.

(5) Transition to OR-GREET 3.0.

(a) Pathways certified under OR-GREET or CA-GREET 2.0 will be deactivated by DEQ in the Oregon Fuels Reporting System for reporting after the fourth quarter of 2020. Fuel pathway holders with pathways certified under OR-GREET or CA-GREET 2.0 that wish to keep generating credits from those fuels from January 1, 2021 onward must follow the pathway application and certification process in this rule to obtain a new pathway under OR-GREET 3.0, or request DEQ approval of a CARB-certified CA-GREET 3.0 pathway.

(b) Table 4 pathways. Entities reporting fuels using Table 4 pathways that do not require an application under subsection (a) will have those pathways automatically updated to the OR-GREET 3.0 values on January 1, 2019 for first quarter 2019 reporting.

(c) New pathway applications. DEQ will not consider new applications using OR-GREET 2.0.

(6) Primary alternative fuel pathway classifications. If it is not possible to identify an applicable carbon intensity under either section (3) or (4), then the regulated party, credit generator, or aggregator has the option to develop its own fuel pathway and apply for it to be certified under 340-253-0450. Fuel pathway applications fall into one of two tiers:

(a) Tier 1. Conventionally-produced alternative fuels of a type that have been well-evaluated in the Oregon and California low carbon fuel standards. Tier 1 fuels include:

(A) Starch- and sugar-based ethanol;

(B) Biodiesel produced from conventional feedstocks (plant oils, tallow and related animal wastes and used cooking oil);

(C) Renewable diesel produced from conventional feedstocks (plant oils, tallow and related animal wastes and used cooking oil);

(D) Natural Gas; and

(E) Biomethane from landfills; anaerobic digestion of dairy and swine manure or wastewater sludge; and food, vegetative or other organic waste.

(b) Tier 2. All fuels not included in Tier 1 including but not limited to:

(A) Cellulosic alcohols;

(B) Biomethane from other sources;

(C) Hydrogen;

(D) Renewable hydrocarbons other than renewable diesel produced from conventional feedstocks;

(E) Biogenic feedstocks co-processed at a petroleum refinery

(F) Alternative Jet Fuel;

(G) Renewable propane; and

(H) Tier 1 fuels using innovative methods, including but not limited to carbon capture and sequestration or a process that cannot be accurately modeled using the simplified calculators.

(7) Specified source feedstocks. Fuels that are produced from a specified source feedstock may be eligible for a reduced carbon intensity value when applying under OAR 340-253-0450 so long as they meet all of the following requirements:

(a) Specified source feedstocks are non-primary products of commercial or industrial processes for food, fuel or other consumer products and include, but are not limited to, used cooking oil, animal fats, fish oil, yellow grease, distiller's corn oil, distiller's sorghum oil, brown grease, and other fats, oils, and greases;

(b) The specified source feedstocks are used in pathways for biodiesel; renewable diesel; alternative jet fuel; co-processed refinery products; biomethane supplied using book and claim accounting and claimed as a feedstock for CNG, LNG, L-CNG; or steam-methane reformation produced hydrogen;

(c) Under OAR 340-253-0450(9)(d), any feedstock can be designated as a specified source feedstock if requested by a supplier using site-specific carbon intensity data or if it is specified in a pathway approval condition; and

(d) Chain-of-custody evidence must be used to demonstrate the proper characterization and accuracy of the quantity of the specified source feedstocks going into a fuel production facility or claimed as biomethane, subject to all of the following provisions:

(A) Chain-of-custody evidence must be provided to the verifier and to DEQ upon request;

(B) Joint applicants may assume responsibility for different portions of the chain-of-custody evidence;

(C) Fuel pathway applicants using specified source feedstocks must maintain either:

(i) Delivery records that show shipments of feedstock type and quantity directly from the point of origin to the fuel production facility; or

(ii) Information from material balance or energy balance systems that control and record the assignment of input characteristics to output quantities at relevant points along the feedstock supply chain between the point of origin and the fuel production facility; and

(e) In order to maintain the pathway, the fuel production and any joint applicant must meet the following requirements:

(A) Maintain records of the type and quantity of feedstock obtained from each supplier, including feedstock transaction records, feedstock transfer documents pursuant to (f), weighbridge tickets, bills of lading or other documentation for all incoming and outgoing feedstocks;

(B) Maintain records used for material balance and energy balance calculations; and

(C) Ensure DEQ staff and verifier access to audit feedstock suppliers to demonstrate proper accounting of attributes and conformance with certified CI data.

(8) The carbon intensity value certified under OAR 340-253-0450, including any margin of safety requested by the fuel producer, is the maximum carbon intensity value that a fuel can be reported in the CFP. The actual operational carbon intensity of a fuel will be calculated from the most recent production data covering 24 months of the fuel production facility's operation. Registered parties shall not report fuel sales under any CFP carbon intensity unless the actual operational carbon intensity is equal to or less than the certified CI.

(9) Fuel producers labeling fuel sold in Oregon with a carbon intensity under the CFP and registered entities using those labeled carbon intensities to report in the Oregon Fuels Reporting System, must ensure that the fuel so labeled and reported will be found to have an actual operational lifecycle carbon intensity equal to or below its certified carbon intensity.

Or. Admin. R. 340-253-0400

DEQ 8-2012, f. & cert. ef. 12-11-12; DEQ 15-2013(Temp), f. 12-20-13, cert. ef. 1-1-14 thru 6-30-14; DEQ 8-2014, f. & cert. ef. 6-26-14; DEQ 3-2015, f. 1-8-15, cert. ef. 2/1/2015; DEQ 13-2015, f. 12-10-15, cert. ef. 1/1/2016; DEQ 27-2017, amend filed 11/17/2017, effective 11/17/2017; DEQ 199-2018, amend filed 11/16/2018, effective 1/1/2019; DEQ 14-2020, amend filed 05/07/2020, effective 5/7/2020; DEQ 7-2021, amend filed 03/26/2021, effective 3/26/2021; DEQ 17-2022, amend filed 09/23/2022, effective 1/1/2023

Statutory/Other Authority: ORS 468.020, 468A.266, 468A.268 & 468A.277

Statutes/Other Implemented: ORS 468.020 & ORS 468A.265 through 468A.277