CARB Proposes Cap-And-Trade Extension

On July 12, 2016, the California Air Resources Board ("CARB") issued a Preliminary Draft Proposed Regulation Order and Staff Report, which would amend California's cap-and-trade regulations, 17 C.C.R. §§ 95801 et seq., to achieve greenhouse gas reductions of 40 percent from 1990 levels by 2030, as called for by Governor Brown in Executive Order B-30-15. Among other things, the proposed amendments would extend the major provisions of the cap-and-trade program to beyond 2020 (the program's current expiration date), establish emission caps from 2021 to 2030, enable California's compliance with federal requirements under the Clean Power Plan, allow for the extension of allowance allocation, and continue cap-and-trade linkage with other jurisdictions.