California climate regulators unveiled a resolution Wednesday that would have them add a vote on whether to directly regulate methane from dairies to a planned Friday vote on a hot-button fuel program.
The California Air Resources Board posted a resolution Wednesday that the board will weigh Friday when it votes on changes to the low-carbon fuel standard, its emissions trading program for lowering transportation fuels.
The resolution would require the agency to prepare a first-ever plan for directly regulating methane from dairies, in line with a 2016 law, S.B. 1383, that exempted the sector from having to control its methane until 2024. Rule development would begin in 2025 and the board would vote by 2028 to have the rule in effect by 2030.
In a nod to Republicans’ concerns that the LCFS will increase gasoline prices, the resolution would also hedge on planned amendments to the LCFS by noting that the board may amend the rules again if they “ultimately accelerate cost burdens on California consumers.” And it directs CARB and the California Energy Commission to assess the program’s impacts on retail gas prices annually.
