Government prior to use. Sources: Auditor General Alberta 2011; Alberta Government 2012, 2013, 2013b; BNEF 2013; Environment and Sustainable Resource Development website; International Institute for Sustainable Development 2011; Specified Gas Emitters Regulation 2007. Scheme Description Eligibility and Additionality Baseline setting coverage United The ARB ARB offset Emissions Baselines in the Compliance credits are reductions used ARB offset California Offset scheme issued by ARB for compliance scheme are mostly Air is a crediting and are the only are required to and Resources mechanism that type of offset be beyond what some are specified Board is credit that can would otherwise at the facility (ARB) complementary be used to meet be required by level. Compliance to the compliance law, regulation, Offset Californian obligations for or legally Methodologies scheme Cap-and-Trade liable entities. binding mandate, include scheme, which and that exceeds standardized commenced in The program a conservative methods for 2013. includes older determining scenario. Californian project baselines Liable entities offset scheme for each project under the credits which For each type. The may be proposed project, standardized scheme are cancelled and tests are applied baseline required to transitioned to to determine methodologies reduce their ARB offset whether the reflect a emissions, or credits: activity is conservative acquire additional to estimate of allowances or a early action local, state, or business-as-usual. limited number federal offset of offset credits credits - regulation. Baseline (up to eight per voluntary quantifications are cent of total offset Each individual specified for the compliance credits that methodology four obligation) to were issued also tests for methodologies. comply with the under additionality by Each baseline is program. approved establishing if measured early action the activity is differently ARB Offset common practice depending on the credits represent in the applicable specifics of the verified registry geographic area. emissions offset For instance,
Government prior to use. Sources: Auditor General Alberta 2011; Alberta Government 2012, 2013, 2013b; BNEF 2013; Environment and Sustainable Resource Development website; International Institute for Sustainable Development 2011; Specified Gas Emitters Regulation 2007. Scheme Description Eligibility and coverage Additionality Baseline setting United Air Resources Board (ARB) Compliance Offset scheme The ARB Compliance Offset scheme is a crediting mechanism that is complementary to the Californian Cap-and-Trade scheme, which commenced in 2013. Liable entities under the scheme are required to reduce their emissions, or acquire allowances or a limited number of offset credits (up to eight per cent of total compliance obligation) to comply with the program. ARB Offset credits represent verified emissions ARB offset credits are issued by ARB and are the only type of offset credit that can be used to meet compliance obligations for liable entities. The program includes older Californian offset scheme credits which may be cancelled and transitioned to ARB offset credits: early action offset credits - voluntary offset credits that were issued under approved early action registry offset Emissions reductions used for compliance are required to be beyond what would otherwise be required by law, regulation, or legally binding mandate, and that exceeds a conservative scenario. For each proposed project, tests are applied to determine whether the activity is additional to local, state, or federal regulation. Each individual methodology also tests for additionality by establishing if the activity is common practice in the applicable geographic area. For instance, Baselines in the ARB offset scheme are mostly and some are specified at the facility level. Methodologies include standardized methods for determining project baselines for each project type. The standardized baseline methodologies reflect a conservative estimate of business-as-usual. Baseline quantifications are specified for the four methodologies. Each baseline is measured differently depending on the specifics of the California
CCA_CFIStudyPublicReportHTMLAppendixA.docx