Washington Administrative Code › Title 173 - Ecology, Department of (See also Titles 197, 317, 372, and 508) › Chapter 173-446 - Climate Commitment Act program rule › COMPLIANCE INSTRUMENT TRANSACTIONS › Section 173-446-400 - Compliance instruments transactions-General information

Current through Register Vol. 24-14, July 15, 2024
(1) A compliance
				instrument can satisfy a covered or opt-in entity's compliance obligation
				arising from the emission of one metric ton of carbon dioxide equivalent in one
				calendar year. A compliance instrument does not expire, and may be held or
				banked. Once surrendered, a compliance instrument must be retired and never
				used, traded, or transferred again.
(2) By 5:00 p.m. Pacific Time November 1st of
				2024 and each year thereafter, each covered entity and opt-in entity must have
				in its compliance account sufficient compliance instruments of former vintage
				years to cover at least 30 percent of its covered emissions for the previous
				calendar year. Except as provided in subsections (4) and (5) of this section,
				allowances used for this annual compliance requirement must be of the vintage
				of the year the emissions occurred or any year prior to that year.
(3) By 5:00 p.m. Pacific Time November 1st of
				the year following the final year of each compliance period, each covered
				entity and each opt-in entity must have transferred to its compliance account
				at least one compliance instrument for each metric ton of covered emissions of
				carbon dioxide equivalent emitted by that party during the compliance period.
				Except as provided in subsections (4) and (5) of this section, allowances used
				for compliance under this provision must be of the vintage of any year of the
				compliance period or of any prior year.
(4) When using allowances for compliance,
				EITE facilities may provide future vintage allowances obtained as described in
				WAC 173-446-260 in the process of reconciling their compliance obligation for a
				given year with their actual production data for that year.
(5) Allowances obtained from the allowance
				price containment reserve may be used for compliance at any time.
(6) Allowances may be obtained by direct
				distribution of no cost allowances from ecology, by purchase at auction, or by
				purchase, trade, or transfer from other parties owning allowances.
(7) A compliance instrument may be traded
				only among covered entities, opt-in entities, and general market participants
				registered with ecology or with an external GHG ETS to which Washington has
				linked.
(8) A registered entity may
				only hold compliance instruments for its own use and may not hold compliance
				instruments on behalf of another party having an interest in or control of the
				compliance instruments.
(9) Only
				compliance instruments recorded in a holding account may be traded. Once in a
				compliance account, compliance instruments may not be traded or sold, but may
				only be removed by ecology.
(10)
				Qualifying transfers of no cost allowances from an electric utility to an
				electrical generating facility may follow the process in WAC
				173-446-425.
(11) Deferred
				compliance requirement for electricity exported to an external GHG emissions
				trading program for first compliance period. For any portion of covered
				emissions from a first jurisdictional deliverer in Washington state exported
				from Washington and imported into an external GHG emissions trading program, as
				demonstrated to ecology's satisfaction through means established under chapter
				173-441 WAC, the requirements of subsection (2) of this section do not apply.
				Only the requirements of subsection (3) of this section apply to that portion
				of covered emissions. This deferral is only in effect for the first compliance
				period, and for subsequent compliance periods subsections (2) and (3) both
				apply.