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 95488.4 - Relationship of Pathway Carbon Intensities to Units of Fuel Sold in California

(a) LCFS CIs represent the life cycle greenhouse gas emissions, expressed in a per-megajoule of finished-fuel energy basis, associated with long-term, steady-state fuel production operations. Actual CIs vary over time due to a variety of factors, including but not limited to seasonality, feedstock properties, plant maintenance, and unplanned interruptions and shutdowns. A fuel production operation will not be found to be in violation of its certified pathway based on CI unless a CI calculated from production data covering 24 months of operations is higher than the certified CI reported for that fuel in the LRT-CBTS system. A fuel pathway applicant may add a conservative margin of safety, of a magnitude determined by the applicant, to increase the certified CI above the operational CI calculated based on the data submitted in the initial fuel pathway application, to account for potential process variability and diminish the risk of non-compliance with the certified CI. Fuel producers labeling fuel sold in California with LCFS CIs (in product transfer or similar documents), and fuel reporting entities using those CIs to report the fuel in the LRT-CBTS system, must ensure that the fuel so labeled and so reported will be found to have a life cycle CI, as calculated from production data covering 24 months of operation, that is equal to or less than the CIs reported in the LRT-CBTS system and on product transfer documents. Fuel reporting entities shall not report fuel sales under any LCFS CI unless the actual CI of that fuel, calculated as described in this subarticle, is equal to or less than the LCFS CI under which sales of that fuel are reported in the LRT-CBTS system.

(b) General Rule. Except as provided in subdivision (c) below, fuel producers and fuel reporting entities covered by this regulation order must associate a CI with each unit of fuel sold in California. In general, fuel producers and fuel reporting entities shall assign all units of fuel produced while a given set of production parameters is in effect the same CI, regardless whether those units will be sold in California. For example, where a producer uses both biogas and natural gas as process fuel, the producer shall assign all units produced a single CI that reflects the mix of process fuels used to produce those units; the producer shall not assign the units destined for the California market a CI associated only with the use of biogas.

A producer or fuel reporting entity may assign a different certified CI only when one or more production parameters changes. Following that change, all units produced while the new set of production parameters is in effect have the new CI, regardless of whether those units will be sold in California.

(c) Exceptions. Under the following two sets of conditions, a producer or fuel reporting entity may assign different CIs to portions of the fuel produced while a given set of production parameters is in effect. Those conditions are:

(d) How to Use the Multiple Feedstock Exception. When two or more feedstocks are being simultaneously fed into the production process, the producer or fuel reporting entity shall associate a portion of the fuel produced with each feedstock, using the production facility's average production yield and one of the methods provided in section 95491(d)(1)(C). The producer or fuel reporting entity must then label each feedstock-specific subdivision of the total fuel quantity produced with the certified CI associated with that feedstock.

(e) How to use the Multiple Co-Product Exception. When two or more co-products are being simultaneously produced, the producer or fuel reporting entity may label the fuel associated with those co-products one of two ways: