55 East 52nd Street

New York, New York 10055

BY ELECTRONIC TRANSMISSION

Submission No. 23-155

November 2, 2023

Mr. Christopher J. Kirkpatrick

Secretary of the Commission

Office of the Secretariat

Commodity Futures Trading Commission

Three Lafayette Centre

1155 21st Street, NW

Washington, DC 20581

Re: Amendments to California Carbon Allowance Advance Auction Clearing Price Futures

and Related Amendments

Submission Pursuant to Section 5c(c)(1) of the Act and Regulation 40.6(a)

Dear Mr. Kirkpatrick:

Pursuant to Section 5c(c)(1) of the Commodity Exchange Act, as amended, and Commission 

Regulation 40.6(a), ICE Futures U.S., Inc. (“Exchange”) self-certifies amendments to Rule 18.D.049 in

Subchapter D to Chapter 18 of the Exchange Rulebook. Specifically, the amendments provided in Exhibit 

A change the eligible futures contract underlying the California Carbon Allowance Advance Auction 

Clearing Price (“ACA”) futures contract from a CCA non-Vintage Specific futures contract to a CCA 

Vintage Specific futures contract, with a vintage three years advanced from the current calendar year and 

an expiry month following the month the auction is held. As an example, the amended February 2024

ACA contract would expire into a March 2024 California Carbon Allowance Specific Vintage 2027 Future 

(“CCV”), as opposed to a March 2024 California Carbon Allowance Vintage 2027 Future (“CB7”).1

The Exchange currently lists trade at auction settlement contracts which allow market participants 

to establish positions in CCA markets priced at a differential to the California Air Resources Board’s 

quarterly auctions. At expiration of the auction settlement contracts, a position-holder receives a position 

in the contract underlying the auction settlement contract (currently vintage non-specific futures) at the 

relevant settlement price of the applicable auction. The change provided in Exhibit A allows market 

participants additional granularity regarding pricing of advanced auctions, as the ACA contract’s

settlement price is derived from the auction clearing price for the specific vintage of the advanced 

California Carbon Allowances (i.e. the same instruments underlying the applicable futures contracts).

1 The Exchange’s CCV futures are currently pending self-certification (see Submission No. 23-148) and are scheduled to be 

listed for trading on December 11, 2023.
In addition to the amendments provided in Exhibit A, the Exchange self-certifies amendments to 

Resolution No. 2 of Chapter 18, to align the position aggregation requirements for the ACA contract with 

the applicable CCA Vintage Specific futures contract. Positions held in the ACA contract are aggregated 

with the eligible CCA futures contract. The amendments align the aggregation requirements and require 

position aggregation with the applicable CCA Vintage Specific futures contract. Such amendments are

provided in Exhibit B. All other aspects of the applicable product’s terms and conditions remain 

unchanged. 

The Exchange will make the amendments described herein effective on December 11, 2023, or no 

sooner than 10 business days after receipt of this submission by the Commission. The changes will be 

applicable for the February 2024 ACA contract, and all subsequent expirations, however, no expirations 

of the ACA contract currently have open interest.

Certifications

The Exchange is not aware of any opposing views to the amendments and certifies that the 

amendments to the product’s terms and conditions and Exchange rulebook comply with the requirements 

of the Act and the rules and regulations promulgated thereunder. The Exchange has reviewed the 

designated contract market core principles ("Core Principles") as set forth in the Act and has determined 

that the amendments comply with the following relevant Core Principles:

COMPLIANCE WITH RULES

The terms and conditions of the applicable CCA futures contract are set forth in Subchapter D of 

Chapter 18 of the Exchange Rulebook, and will be enforced by the Exchange. In addition, trading 

of the contract continues to be subject to all relevant Exchange rules which are enforced by the 

Market Regulation Department. 

AVAILABILITY OF GENERAL INFORMATION

The amended terms and conditions of the applicable CCA futures contract will be available on the 

Exchange’s website for public view.

CONTRACTS NOT READILY SUBJECT TO MANIPULATION

The applicable CCA futures contract is not readily subject to manipulation as it is based on 

established and liquid underlying cash markets. In addition, trading of the contract continues to

be monitored by the Market Regulation Department. 

FINANCIAL INTEGRITY OF CONTRACTS

The applicable CCA futures contract will continue to be cleared by ICE Clear Europe, a registered 

derivatives clearing organization subject to Commission regulation, and carried by registered 

futures commission merchants qualified to handle customer business. 

The Exchange further certifies that, concurrent with this filing, a copy of this submission was 

posted on the Exchange’s website, which may be accessed at (https://www.theice.com/futuresus/regulation). If you have any questions or need further information, please contact me at 312-836-6745

or at patrick.swartzer@ice.com.
Sincerely,

Patrick Swartzer

Director

Market Regulation

Enc.

cc: Division of Market Oversight

New York Regional Office
Exhibit A

(In the text of the amendments below, additions are shown underscored 

and deletions are lined through.)

18.D.049 California Carbon Allowance Advance Auction Clearing Price

Contract Description: The California Carbon Allowance Advance Auction Clearing Price contract is a cleared 

market for California Carbon Allowance (CCA) futures contracts at a premium or discount to the Advance 

Auction Settlement Price as published by the California Air Resources Board.

Contract Symbol: ACA 

Settlement Method: 1 ACA contract expires into an eligible California Carbon Allowances futures contract

Contract Size: 1 California Carbon Allowances futures contract

Currency: USD

Minimum Price Fluctuation: The price quotation convention shall be One cent ($0.01) per California Carbon 

Allowance; Price may be positive or negative; minimum price fluctuation may vary by trade type. Please see 

Table in Resolution 1 to this Chapter 18.

Listing Cycle: The Exchange may list contracts for trade on the standard listing cycle of February, May, August 

and November out two years. The Exchange may list any other calendar month contract sets off the standardcycle listing schedule.

Last Trading Day: Trading shall cease at 3:00 p.m. (EPT) on the day on which the Joint Auction Summary 

Results Report (“Report”) for the specified auction is scheduled to be released. Trading may be extended until 

3:00 p.m. of the day that is the Last Trading Day for the eligible CCA futures contract (defined below) if the 

release of the Report is delayed for any reason. In the event that no Report is released due to cancellation of the 

auction, or release of the Report is delayed beyond the extension of trading permitted by the preceding sentence of 

this paragraph, the Last Trading Day will be determined by the Exchange as follows: (a) if notice of the auction 

cancellation or delay is issued by the California Air Resources Board on or prior to the 15th day of a calendar 

month, then trading shall cease at 3:00 p.m. (EPT) on the last Business Day of such month and (b) if such notice 

is given by the California Air Resources Board after the 15th calendar day of a month, then trading shall cease at 

3:00 p.m. (EPT) on the tenth (10th) Business Day of the next calendar month. 

Deliverable Instruments: All parties with open positions at expiry will establish equivalent long or short futures 

positions in the eligible CCA Vintage Specific futures contract on the Final Settlement Day. The eligible CCA 

futures contract is the CCA Vintage Specific futures contract with a vintage three years advanced from the current 

calendar year and an expiry month following the month the auction is held. 

Open positions in the eligible CCA futures contract shall be priced at the respective [Current] Advance Auction 

Settlement Price as published by the California Air Resources Board in the Report. In the event that an auction is 

cancelled, or the release of the Report is delayed beyond the extension of trading permitted by this Rule, or no 

[Current] Advance Auction Settlement Price is published in the Report, an alternative settlement price that is 

equal to the higher of the applicable Auction Reserve Price published by the California Air Resources Board, and 

the settlement price of the eligible CCA futures contract on the Final Settlement Day, shall be determined by the 

Exchange. 
Final Settlement Day: Final Settlement Day will be the day which is the Last Trading Day.

MIC CODE: IFED

CLEARING VENUE: ICEU

[REMAINDER OF RULEBOOK UNCHANGED]
Exhibit B

Rule Contract Name

Commodity 

Code Market Type

Contract 

Size Unit of Trading

Spot Month 

Limit

Single Month 

Accountability 

Level

All Month 

Accountability 

Level

Aggregate 

1 (Positive 

Correlation)

18.D.049 California Carbon Allowance Advance Auction Clearing 

Price ACA Physical Environmental 1

California 

Carbon 

Allowances 

futures contract

[25,000]4,500 [25,000]4,500 [30,000]4,500 [CB6]CCV1

18.D.024 California Carbon Allowance Specific Vintage 2027

Future CCV

Physical 

Environmental 1,000

California 

Carbon 

Allowances

4,500 4,500 4,500 CCV

1Demonstrates the current iteration of product aggregation, however, subsequent expirations’ aggregation requirements will be applicable to relevant vintage-year.

[REMAINDER OF RESOLUTION UNCHANGED]