December 10, 2015
BY The National Biodiesel Board
On Dec. 9 the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality Commission voted unanimously to finalize the state’s clean fuels program (CFP). Oregon becomes the third jurisdiction on the West Coast—following California and British Columbia—to implement a comprehensive low carbon fuels policy for transportation. The policy is modeled closely after the California low carbon fuel standard and will reduce greenhouse gas emissions 10 percent by 2025.
“Biodiesel is the most sustainable fuel on the planet,” said Don Scott, National Biodiesel Board director of sustainability. “We expect to play a major role in the Oregon program, just like we have in California and British Columbia.”
Oregon’s announcement leaves Washington as the only state on the West Coast without a program to reduce GHG emissions.
Rather than conducting its own lifecycle analysis, Oregon will generally use the values created in California, which have concluded that biodiesel decreases GHG emissions by 50 to 80 percent.
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“We are pleased that a regional carbon market has developed on the West Coast and that Oregon will primarily be using California values,” Scott said. “This should improve the efficiency and liquidity of the programs.”
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The U.S. EPA on July 8 hosted virtual public hearing to gather input on the agency’s recently released proposed rule to set 2026 and 2027 RFS RVOs. Members of the biofuel industry were among those to offer testimony during the event.
The USDA’s Risk Management Agency is implementing multiple changes to the Camelina pilot insurance program for the 2026 and succeeding crop years. The changes will expand coverage options and provide greater flexibility for producers.
President Trump on July 4 signed the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act.” The legislation extends and updates the 45Z credit and revives a tax credit benefiting small biodiesel producers but repeals several other bioenergy-related tax incentives.
CARB on June 27 announced amendments to the state’s LCFS regulations will take effect beginning on July 1. The amended regulations were approved by the agency in November 2024, but implementation was delayed due to regulatory clarity issues.
SAF Magazine and the Commercial Aviation Alternative Fuels Initiative announced the preliminary agenda for the North American SAF Conference and Expo, being held Sept. 22-24 at the Minneapolis Convention Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota.