Oregon’s Clean Fuels Program (CFP) was initiated in 2009 when Oregon passed HB 2186, empowering the Oregon Environmental Quality Commission (EQC) to “adopt by rule low carbon fuel standards for gasoline, diesel and fuels used as substitutes for gasoline or diesel.” The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) did exactly that when, in 2015, it adopted the CFP, modeled after California’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS). The CFP became effective the following year. The original goal of the CFP was to reduce the average amount of lifecycle greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions per unit of energy by a minimum of 10% below 2015 levels by 2025. The goal is technology-neutral and applies to the average of Oregon’s in-state, on-road transportation fuels with exemptions for fuels used in small volumes or for agriculture and logging.
Implemented in 2016, five years after California’s LCFS, the CFP has evolved over time. In 2022, the EQC approved a significant expansion of the CFP, setting more stringent benchmark standards (20% carbon intensity (CI) reduction by 2030 and 37% by 2035), which took effect January 1, 2023.
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