California Air Resources Board

Sacramento — The California Air Resources Board (CARB) today announced all parties covered by the state’s cap-and-trade greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction program have met their annual compliance obligations. This means that each facility covered by cap-and-trade has surrendered 30 percent of its overall obligation for 2016. The remainder of each facility’s compliance obligation will need to be turned in next year, at the end of the three-year 2015-2017 compliance period.

“100-percent compliance helps keep California on track to meet the state’s 2020 and 2030 GHG reduction goals,” said CARB Executive Officer Richard Corey. “This is also further proof that cap-and-trade is now part of the fabric of the California economy.”

The cap-and-trade program is one of several major GHG emissions reduction programs developed under AB 32 (the 2006 Global Warming Solutions Act). AB 32 requires the state to reduce GHG emissions back to 1990 levels by 2020. Other AB 32 programs work in tandem with cap-and-trade to reduce emissions across the economy. Those other programs include the Low Carbon Fuel Standard, the Renewables Portfolio Standard and the Advanced Clean Cars program.

These programs also provide the foundation for achieving California’s 2030 GHG reduction target of an additional 40 percent below 1990 levels. Currently cap-and-trade’s covered parties must reduce their GHG emissions two to three percent annually.

Beginning in 2021 those reductions will need to ramp up. The 2030 Scoping Plan now being finalized will explain the future roles of the AB 32 programs as well as new GHG reduction programs. The Scoping Plan will also weave together California’s groundbreaking GHG reduction rules with those for reducing smog and airborne toxins. This includes a particular focus on the state’s disadvantaged communities, which in many cases experience greater exposure to harmful air pollution and suffer disproportionately from the impacts of climate change.

Information on Cap-and-Trade compliance is available.