The California Air Resources Board on Feb. 18 announced that amendments to its Low Carbon Fuel Standard program that were approved in November 2024 have been put on hold following the California Office of Administrative Law’s decision to disapprove the amendments due to clarity issues.

In a notice posted to its website, CARB indicated that OAL on Feb. 18 sent the agency a Notice of Disapproval of Regulatory Action on the LCFS amendments pursuant to Government Code section 11349.3. The notice explains that OAL cited inconsistencies of specific regulatory amendment provisions with the clarity standard in Government Code section 11349(c). That section of California law addresses the definition of “clarity” in the context of state regulations, requiring regulations to be written or displayed so that the meaning of the regulations will be easily understood by the people directly affected by them. CARB said it expects to receive more information from OAL detailing its reasons for the decision soon. 

According to the notice, CARB staff plan to address the concerns raised by OAL and resubmit the LCFS amendments to the agency. Under California regulations, CARB is able to rewrite and resubmit the amendments to OAL within 120 days of OAL’s written decision. Any substantive modifications to the amendments will be released for public comment. 

In the meantime, CARB said it will continue to implement the current version of the LCFS regulation, which came into force in July 2020.

CARB on Nov. 8 approved updates to its LCSF that aim to reduce the carbon intensity of the state’s transportation fuel by 30% by 2030 and by 90% by 2045. The updates also include a variety of technical changes to the LCFS program, including those requiring fuel producers to track crop-based and forestry-based feedstocks to their point of origin; requiring independent feedstock certification to ensure biomass-based diesel and sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) feedstocks are not undermining natural carbon stocks; changes prohibiting palm-derived fuels from receiving credits; a cap on the use of soybean oil, canola oil and sunflower oil in the production of LCFS-compliant biodiesel diesel fuels; and updates that phase out avoided methane crediting associated with the use of biomethane as a combustion fuel but extend the use of biomethane for renewable hydrogen.

CARB submitted the final regulatory package to OAL on Jan. 3. OAL on Feb. 18 notified CARB of its intention to disapprove the LCFS amendments. A full copy of CARB’s Feb. 18 notice is available on the agency’s website.