{"AmendmentNumber":"103","ParentBillNumber":"H5562","Bill":null,"Sponsor":{"Id":"CMM1","Name":"Christopher M. Markey","Type":1,"Details":"https://malegislature.gov/api/GeneralCourts/194/LegislativeMembers/CMM1","ResponseDate":"2026-07-06T14:11:53.823"},"Category":null,"Action":"Consolidated","RollCall":[],"Title":"An Amendment Establishing a Massachusetts Clean Fuel Standard","Branch":"House","RedraftNumber":null,"IsFurther":false,"GeneralCourtNumber":194,"Text":"Mr. Markey of Dartmouth moves to amend the bill by inserting after the last section the following new section: 165\r\n\"SECTION 165. Chapter 25A of the General Laws is hereby amended by inserting after section 15 the following section: 16\r\nSection 16. (a) As used in this section, the following words shall have the following meanings unless the context clearly requires otherwise:\r\n\"Carbon intensity\", the quantity of greenhouse gas emissions, expressed in grams of carbon dioxide equivalent, associated with the full lifecycle of a fuel, per unit of fuel energy, calculated in accordance with the methodology established by the department.\r\n\"Clean fuel standard\", a performance standard that requires a reduction in the average carbon intensity of transportation fuels sold, supplied, or offered for sale in the commonwealth over time.\r\n\"Department\", the department of energy resources.\r\n\"Deficiency credit\", a tradeable credit generated when a fuel producer or importer supplies transportation fuel with a carbon intensity below the applicable standard.\r\n\"Fuel pathway\", the lifecycle of a transportation fuel from feedstock production through end use, including extraction, production, transportation, distribution, and combustion.\r\n\"Transportation fuel\", any fuel used to propel a motor vehicle, vessel, vessel, aircraft, or locomotive, including but not limited to gasoline, diesel fuel, ethanol, biodiesel, renewable natural gas, hydrogen, and electricity.\r\n(b) The department shall establish, by regulation, a clean fuel standard for the commonwealth. The clean fuel standard shall:\r\n(1) require regulated parties to ensure that the average carbon intensity of transportation fuels they sell, supply, or offer for sale in the commonwealth meets or is below an annual carbon intensity benchmark established by the department;\r\n(2) establish a declining carbon intensity benchmark for transportation fuels that achieves a reduction in carbon intensity of not less than 20 per cent below 2026 levels by 2030, not less than 30 per cent below 2026 levels by 2035, and not less than 45 per cent below 2026 levels by 2040;\r\n(3) establish a system of tradeable credits and deficits, whereby a regulated party that supplies fuel with a carbon intensity below the applicable benchmark generates credits, and a regulated party that supplies fuel with a carbon intensity above the applicable benchmark incurs deficits, which must be offset by credits;\r\n(4) apply to producers, importers, and blenders of transportation fuels sold, supplied, or offered for sale in the commonwealth;\r\n(5) incorporate electricity, hydrogen, renewable natural gas, sustainable aviation fuel, and other low-carbon and zero-carbon transportation fuels as eligible pathways for credit generation;\r\n(6) ensure that electric vehicle charging, including residential, commercial, and public charging, is eligible for credit generation under the standard;\r\n(7) establish a methodology for calculating lifecycle carbon intensity consistent with the best available science, including the standards developed by the California Air Resources Board under the California Low Carbon Fuel Standard, with modifications appropriate to the commonwealth's fuel supply, vehicle fleet, and electricity grid;\r\n(8) provide that not less than 20 per cent of credit revenues generated by state-owned entities or public authorities under this section shall be directed to transportation electrification projects, clean fuel infrastructure, and climate resilience investments in environmental justice communities and gateway municipalities as defined in section 3A of chapter 23A; and\r\n(9) establish enforcement mechanisms, compliance pathways, and penalties for failure to meet the annual carbon intensity benchmark.\r\n(c) The department shall promulgate regulations necessary to implement this section not later than 18 months after the effective date of this act. In developing such regulations, the department shall:\r\n(1) consult with the department of transportation, the department of environmental protection, the Massachusetts clean energy center, the executive office of energy and environmental affairs, regulated parties, environmental justice advocates, and the public;\r\n(2) conduct not less than 3 public hearings, including not less than 1 hearing in a gateway municipality;\r\n(3) consider the standards, methodologies, and implementation experience of states that have adopted low carbon fuel standards, including California, Oregon, and Washington; and\r\n(4) ensure that the standard is technology-neutral and does not prescribe specific fuels or technologies.\r\n(d) The department shall establish a credit trading system that allows regulated parties to buy, sell, and bank credits generated under this section. The credit trading system shall be transparent, publicly accessible, and designed to minimize transaction costs and market manipulation.\r\n(e) Beginning not later than January 1 of the second year following promulgation of final regulations under this section, and annually thereafter, the department shall report to the governor, the senate president, the speaker of the house of representatives, and the clerks of the senate and house of representatives on: (i) the average carbon intensity of transportation fuels sold in the commonwealth; (ii) the volume of credits generated and retired; (iii) the environmental and economic impacts of the standard; and (iv) recommended adjustments to the carbon intensity benchmarks.\r\n(f) Nothing in this section shall be construed to limit the authority of the department of environmental protection under chapter 21N or any other provision of law.\"\r\n\r\n"}