Clean Fuel Programs

Clean fuel programs along the West Coast aim to curb carbon pollution from transportation. California, Oregon, and British Columbia previously adopted clean fuel standards; Washington’s new Clean Fuel Standard will work in concert with these state/provincial standards to achieve these shared goals.

On this page you can learn more about:

Washington’s Clean Fuel Standard

The Clean Fuel Standard (final rule) will curb carbon pollution from transportation, which accounts for almost 45% of statewide GHG emissions in Washington. This program is administered by the Dept. of Ecology. Read more on Ecology’s website.

By requiring fuel suppliers to reduce the carbon intensity of transportation fuels, the Clean Fuel Standard is projected to cut statewide GHG emissions by 4.3 million metric tons a year by 2038, and it will stimulate economic development in low carbon fuel production.

Washington’s Clean Fuel Standard will work beside the Climate Commitment Act to target the largest source of emissions in Washington. The Clean Fuel Standard requires fuel suppliers to gradually reduce the carbon intensity of transportation fuels to 20 percent below 2017 levels by 2038. There are several ways for fuel suppliers to achieve these reductions, including:

  • Improving the efficiency of their fuel production processes
  • Producing and/or blending low-carbon biofuels into the fuel they sell (see our factsheet, Renewable Diesel Fuel)
  • Purchasing credits generated by low-carbon fuel providers, including electric vehicle charging providers

Washington’s Clean Fuel Program was a focus of the July 2022 meeting of the Alternative Fuels & Vehicles Technical Assistance Group. The meeting recording is available here:

Clean Fuel Standard Fuel Supply Forecast

The WA Dept. of Commerce is responsible for developing "a periodic fuel supply forecast to project the availability of fuels to Washington necessary for compliance with clean fuels program requirements” (RCW 70A.535.100). Commerce contracted with Berkeley Research Group to perform the forecast. A summary of these findings is provided on the Commerce website.

Washington Fuel Forecast Deliverable (DRAFT) (Excel)

Webcasts about Clean Fuel Program Services

In both the public and private sectors, owners and providers of EV charging services or hydrogen fueling for fuel-cell vehicles may be eligible to produce and sell clean fuel credits through Washington’s Clean Fuel Program. Such credits can be a valuable source of funds to support investments in new EVs and/or new EV charging/fueling stations. To earn these credits, Ecology has created a registry to track the creation and sale of credits in the program.

Because of the perceived and often real complexity of environmental services registries and markets, such as the Clean Fuel Program, many public and private entities look to professional third-party service providers to assist with or manage the registration, data collection, reporting, credit monitoring, and market sales in the Clean Fuel Program. We offer these webcasts from two such third-party companies to help fleet managers get acquainted with the credit administration, consulting, and brokering services such companies provide to assist with clean fuel program implementation.

Oregon’s Clean Fuels Program

Oregon’s Clean Fuels Program is addressing the state’s contribution to global climate change by reducing GHG emissions from Oregon’s transportation fuels. The program is on track to achieve a 10% GHG reduction by 2025. Since the program began in 2016, its progress can be summarized in three outcomes:

  • Companies producing biofuels are making those fuels more cleanly and delivering them in greater volumes.
  • The transition to biofuels and electricity are reducing tailpipe pollution and improving public health of Oregonians.
  • The transition away from fossil fuels has spurred innovation and investments without impacting the price at the pump.

For more details, see the Clean Fuels Program Overview and Clean Fuels Program Review to the 2022 Legislature. The Environmental Quality Commission recently extended and expanded the program’s targets to make the state’s transportation fuel supplies 20% cleaner by 2030 and 37% cleaner by 2035.

Joint Office of Energy and Transportation

The Joint Office of Energy and Transportation was created through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) to facilitate collaboration between the U.S. Department of Energy and the U.S. Department of Transportation. The Joint Office aligns resources and expertise across the two departments to facilitate implementation of the BIL. This includes providing guidance to programs deploying EV charging networks, zero-emission fueling infrastructure, and zero-emission transit and school buses.

The Joint Office provides targeted Technical Assistance for states and communities, tribal nations, school districts, and transit agencies.