Department of Ecology State of Washington

CCA Market Notice: Order of Adoption (CR-103) Signed for Cap-and-Invest Program Updates and Linkage Rulemaking

Washington Department of Ecology sent this bulletin at 09/17/2026 02:09 PM PDT

CCA Market Notices are sent by the Department of Ecology to notify market participants and other interested parties about information that may affect Washington’s Cap-and-Invest market.

Today, Director Casey Sixkiller signed the Order of Adoption (CR-103) for the Cap-and-Invest Program Updates and Linkage rulemaking. The CR-103 will be filed with the Washington Office of the Code Reviser on September 23, 2026, along with publication of the Rule Implementation Plan and the Final Regulatory Analysis. A Tribal Letter and Notice to Interested Parties will also be sent at that time. The rule will be effective October 24, 2026.

Ecology is adopting amendments to the Climate Commitment Act Program Rule (chapter 173-446 WAC) and the Reporting of Emissions of Greenhouse Gases Rule (chapter 173-441 WAC) to make improvements to the implementation of the Cap-and-Invest Program, facilitate the linkage of Washington’s carbon market with the California-Québec carbon market, and make other necessary updates including updates required to reflect amendments to the Climate Commitment Act (CCA) (chapter 70A.65 RCW).

These regulatory changes make Washington's market compatible with the California-Québec market. With these regulatory updates, Washington will officially be ready to link. This rulemaking also includes other important updates to the Cap-and-Invest Program, such as establishing future allowance budgets and implementing recent legislation.

The final rule language for Chapter 173-441 WAC and Chapter 173-446 WAC is now available on the Cap-and-Invest Program Updates and Linkage rulemaking webpage.

Some of the changes Ecology made to the final rule in response to public comments include:

Universal changes: Minimized administrative burden; clarified rule language, dates and timelines, terminology, definitions, and requirements for all reporters and Cap-and-Invest market participants

Changes to no-cost allocation:
- Adjusted the timing, consignment and allocation of regular and administrative no-cost allowances for electric utilities
- Clarified timeframes and criteria for Ecology to consider adjustments to emissions-intensive trade-exposed industries’ (EITEs) allocation baselines
- Clarified annual consignment requirements for natural gas utilities
Reporting provisions:
- Revised time range for revisions due to substantive errors from over-reporting and clarified the thresholds for when errors must be corrected
- Clarified provision for electricity balancing authorities (entities responsible for balancing electricity generation and consumption in specific geographic regions of the state) to provide written authorization for the e-tag authority to share electricity sector data with Ecology to verify reported emissions and specifying the scope of data shared
- Adjusted reporting provisions relating to biofuels

A detailed list of changes made, the full rationale for such changes, and Ecology’s response to all public comments will be included in the Concise Explanatory Statement, which will be published by October 1, 2026.