California Code of Regulations › Title 17 - Public Health › Division 3 - Air Resources › Chapter 1 - Air Resources Board › Subchapter 10 - Climate Change › Article 4 - Regulations to Achieve Greenhouse Gas Emission Reductions › Subarticle 7 - Low Carbon Fuel Standard › Section 95488.7 - Tier 2 Fuel Pathway Application Requirements and Certification Process

Current through Register 2024 Notice Reg. No. 28, July 12, 2024
(a)
Documentation Required for Tier 2 Pathways.
A fuel pathway
						applicant may apply for a Tier 2 pathway using the provisions set forth in this
						section. After satisfying all requirements for pathway and facility
						registration in 95488.2, the applicant must submit the following information to
						the Executive Officer for consideration of a Tier 2 pathway CI:
(1)
CA-GREET Model.
A copy
						of the CA-GREET3.0 spreadsheet prepared for the life cycle analysis of the
						proposed fuel pathway. Tier 2 pathway carbon intensities must be calculated
						using the CA-GREET3.0 model, with the most current 24 months of operational
						data, unless the Executive Officer has approved the use of a method or model
						that the Executive Officer has determined is at least equivalent to the
						calculation methodology used by CA-GREET3.0. The CA-GREET3.0 model shall
						include appropriate LUC or other indirect carbon intensity modifier from Table
						6 when applicable.
(2)
Life
						Cycle Analysis Report.
A life cycle analysis report that describes the
						full fuel life cycle, and describes in detail the calculation of the fuel
						pathway CI. The report shall contain sufficient detail to allow the Board's
						staff to replicate the CI calculated by the applicant. All inputs to, and
						outputs from, the fuel production process that contribute to the life cycle CI
						must be described in the life cycle analysis report. These inputs and outputs
						must then be fully accounted for in the calculation of the fuel pathway CI. The
						life cycle analysis report shall include the following information:
(A) A detailed description of the full fuel
						production process. The description shall include:
1. A description of the full well-to-wheels
						fuel life cycle, including the locations where each primary step in the fuel
						life cycle occurs. This description shall identify where the system boundary
						was established for the purposes of performing the life cycle analysis on the
						proposed pathway. The discussion of the system boundary shall be accompanied by
						a schematic depicting the system boundary. That schematic shall show all
						feedstock and fuel production units that are included in the system boundary,
						as well as all material and energy flows across the system boundary. Any
						feedstock or fuel production units that have been excluded from the system must
						be shown on the schematic, and must be explicitly discussed in the narrative
						description of the full fuel life cycle.
2. A description of all fuel production
						feedstocks used, including all pre-processing to which feedstocks are subject.
						For fuels utilizing agricultural crops for feedstocks, the description shall
						include the agricultural practices used to produce those crops. This discussion
						shall cover energy and chemical use, typical crop yields, feedstock harvesting,
						transport modes and distances, storage, and pre-processing (such as drying or
						oil extraction).
3. A description
						of all material inputs to the production process not covered in 2, above. These
						include, but are not limited to enzymes, nutrients, chemicals, catalysts, and
						microorganisms.
4. A description of
						the transportation modes used throughout the fuel life cycle. This discussion
						must identify origins and destinations, cargo carrying capacities, fuel shares,
						and the distances traveled for each transport mode.
5. A description of all facilities and
						process units involved in the production of fuel under the proposed
						pathway.
6. A list of all
						combustion-powered equipment, along with their respective capacities, sizes, or
						rated power, and type and amount of fuel combusted, throughout all phases of
						the fuel life cycle over which the fuel pathway applicant exercises
						control.
7. A quantitative
						discussion of the thermal and electrical energy consumption that occurs
						throughout all phases of the fuel life cycle over which the applicant exercises
						control. All fuels used (natural gas, biogas, coal, biomass, etc.) must be
						identified and use rates quantified. The regional electrical energy generation
						fuel mix used in the CA-GREET3.0 analysis must be identified. Internally
						generated power such as cogeneration and combined heat and power must also be
						described. All fuel pathway applicants using grid electricity must choose
						electrical generation energy mixes from among the subregions in CA-GREET3.0, if
						applicable. The options include the 26 subregions defined in eGRID2014v2, and a
						national grid mix for Brazil and Canada. Applicants whose fuel production
						facilities or feedstock source regions are located in an area for which there
						is no corresponding subregion included in CA-GREET3.0 must enter user-defined
						energy resources and submit the source of the data utilized to the Executive
						Officer for approval.
8. A
						description of all co-products, byproducts, and waste products associated with
						production of the fuel. That description shall extend to all processing, such
						as drying of distiller's grains, applied to these materials after they leave
						the fuel production process, including processing that occurs after ownership
						of the materials passes to other parties. Moreover, if a co-product credit is
						claimed for a co- or by-product, that credit must reflect all
						post-fuel-production processing steps covered by this section. If a co-product
						(e.g., electricity) is exported across the fence line, details of the quantity
						of energy transferred on a daily basis must be monitored using data systems
						with electronic archival.
(B) A detailed description of the calculation
						of the pathway CI. This description must provide clear, detailed, and
						quantitative information on process inputs and outputs, energy consumption,
						greenhouse gas emissions generation, and the final pathway carbon intensity, as
						calculated using CA-GREET3.0. Important intermediate values in each of the
						primary life cycle stages shall be shown. Those stages include but are not
						limited to feedstock production and transport; fuel production, fuel transport,
						and dispensing; co-product production, transport and use; waste generation,
						treatment and disposal; and fuel use in a vehicle. This description shall
						include, at a minimum:
1. A table showing all
						CA-GREET3.0 input values entered by the applicant. The worksheet, row, and
						column locations of the cells into which these inputs were entered shall be
						identified. In combination with the modifications identified in subsection
						(B)2. below, this table shall enable the Executive Officer to enter the
						reported inputs into a copy of CA-GREET3.0 and to replicate the carbon
						intensity results reported in the application.
2. A detailed discussion of all modifications
						other than those covered by subsection (B)1. above, made to the CA-GREET3.0
						spreadsheet. This discussion shall allow the Executive Officer to duplicate all
						such modifications and, in combination with the inputs identified in subsection
						(B)1. above, replicate the carbon intensity results reported in the
						application.
3. Documentation of
						all CA-GREET3.0 values used in the carbon intensity calculation
						process.
4. A detailed description
						of all supporting calculations that were performed outside of the CA-GREET3.0
						spreadsheet.
(C)
						Descriptions of all co-located facilities, which in any way utilize outputs
						from, or provide inputs to, the fuel production facility. Such co-located
						facilities include but are not limited to cogeneration facilities, facilities
						that otherwise provide heat or electrical energy to the fuel production
						process, facilities that process or utilize co-products such as distillers
						grains with solubles, and facilities which provide or pre-process feedstocks or
						thermal energy fuels. If energy is supplied to the fuel production facility by
						a co-located cogeneration plant and that plant also supplies energy to other
						facilities, those other facilities must be identified and described. For
						facilities that are co-located with other production facilities or utilize
						multiple processing operations in addition to fuel production, demonstration of
						energy use should conform to section
						95488.6(a)(2)(D).
(D) A list of references covering all
						information sources used in the preparation of the life cycle analysis. All
						reference citations in the application shall include standard in-text
						parenthetical citations stating the author's last name and date of publication.
						Each in-text citation shall correspond to complete publication information
						provided in the list of references. Complete publication information shall at a
						minimum, identify the author(s), title of the referenced document (and of the
						article within that document, if applicable), publisher, publication date, and
						pages cited. For internet citations, the reference shall include the universal
						resource locator (URL) address of the citation, as well as the date the web
						site was last accessed.
(E) One or
						more process flow diagrams that, singly or collectively, depict the complete
						fuel production process. Each piece of equipment or stream appearing on the
						process flow diagram shall include data on its energy and materials balance,
						along with any other critical information such as operating temperature, pH,
						rated capacity, etc.
(F) A copy of
						the federal Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) Third Party Engineering Review Report
						required pursuant to 40 CFR part 80.1450 , if available. If the RFS engineering
						report is not available, the Life Cycle Analysis Report shall explain why it is
						not available.
(G) A copy of the
						federal Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) Fuel Producer Co-products Report as
						required pursuant to 40 CFR
						80.1451(b)(1)(ii)(M)-(N), if
						available.
(3)
Tier 2 Pathways for EER-Adjusted Carbon Intensity.
Applicants
						supplying fuel for a transportation application that is not included in Table 5
						may apply for an EER-adjusted carbon intensity for reporting and credit
						generation purposes.
(A)
Documentation Requirements.
To request an EER-adjusted carbon
						intensity, the applicant must provide the following in addition to subsections
						(1) and (2) above:
1. A letter of intent to
						request an EER-adjusted CI and why the EER values provided in Table 5 do not
						apply.
2. Supplemental information
						including a detailed description of the methodology used, all assumptions made,
						and all data and references used for calculation of the proposed EER-adjusted
						CI value. The methodology used must compare the useful output from the
						alternative fuel technology to that of comparable conventional fuel
						technology.
3. If the applicant
						plans to use a Lookup Table pathway to request an EER-adjusted CI then
						subsections (1) and (2) above do not
						apply.