W. States Petroleum Ass'n v. Envtl. Quality Comm'n

439 P.3d 459, 296 Or. App. 298
CourtCourt of Appeals of Oregon
DecidedFebruary 27, 2019
DocketA158944 (Control); A161442
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 439 P.3d 459 (W. States Petroleum Ass'n v. Envtl. Quality Comm'n) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Oregon primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
W. States Petroleum Ass'n v. Envtl. Quality Comm'n, 439 P.3d 459, 296 Or. App. 298 (Or. Ct. App. 2019).

Opinion

SHORR, J.

*461*300Petitioners challenge the validity of the administrative rules adopted by respondent Environmental Quality Commission (EQC) that address low carbon fuel standards ( OAR 340-253-0000 to 340-253-8080 ).1 See ORS 183.400(1) (providing jurisdiction in the Court of Appeals over petitions challenging the validity of administrative rules). They raise two arguments. First, they claim that EQC failed to evaluate certain factors that the Oregon legislature required EQC to evaluate when the legislature gave EQC the authority to adopt rules for low carbon fuel standards. Second, they claim that the adopted rules violate Article IX, section 3a, of the Oregon Constitution because the rules constitute a tax on motor vehicle fuel and the resulting tax revenue is not exclusively used for the construction and maintenance of public roads and roadside rest areas.2 We conclude that (1) EQC did evaluate the appropriate criteria when adopting and, in one instance, later readopting and amending the challenged rules and (2) the rules adopted by EQC do not result in a tax on motor vehicle fuel and, as a result, are not subject to Article IX, section 3a. Hence, we reject petitioners' challenges and hold that the EQC rules are valid.

THE LOW CARBON FUELS STANDARDS PROGRAM

We begin with a brief background of the statute that authorized EQC to adopt low carbon fuel standards (LCFS) and then turn to a discussion of the resulting rules. In 2009, the Oregon legislature authorized EQC to "adopt [by rule] low carbon fuel standards for gasoline, diesel and fuels used as substitutes for gasoline or diesel." ORS 468A.266(1)(a).3

*301The legislature's expressed intention was to reduce over time the greenhouse gas emissions caused by fuels in the Oregon transportation sector. ORS 468A.200(8). The legislature directed EQC to consider the low carbon fuel standards of other states before adopting Oregon's standards. ORS 468A.266(3). Significant to petitioners' arguments, the legislature also directed that, "[i]n adopting rules under this section, the [EQC] shall evaluate" the following:

"(a) Safety, feasibility, net reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and cost-effectiveness;
"(b) Potential adverse impacts to public health and the environment, including but not limited to air quality, water quality and the generation and disposal of waste in this state;
"(c) Flexible implementation approaches to minimize compliance costs; and
"(d) Technical and economic studies of comparable greenhouse gas emissions reduction measures implemented in other states and any other studies as determined by the commission."

*462ORS 468A.266(5). The legislation had certain automatic sunset provisions, including one that repealed EQC's above-stated authority to adopt LCFS rules, which had a sunset date on December 31, 2015. Or. Laws 2009, ch. 754, § 8. However, before that date, the legislature repealed those sunset provisions. Or. Laws 2015, ch. 4, § 1.

EQC adopted the LCFS rules in separate phases. In 2012, EQC adopted "Phase I" of the program. In early and late 2015, EQC adopted "Phase II" of the program. As we will discuss below, in 2017, after briefing and argument was concluded in this appeal, EQC readopted all of the Phase II rules with substantial amendments. We refer to all of the rules, together, as the "LCFS rules."

*302The Phase I rules required "regulated parties" and those that opted into the program to register, keep records, report the carbon intensity of the fuels that they produce or import, and calculate surpluses and shortfalls against certain baseline carbon intensity values. OAR 340-253-0000(4) (Dec. 11, 2012).4 EQC's intention with Phase I was to gather information about the fuels and carbon intensity of fuels produced and imported into Oregon. Id. The ultimate goal, however, was to create a program that would "reduce the average amount of lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions per unit of fuel energy used in Oregon by a minimum of 10 percent below 2010 levels over a 10-year period." OAR 340-253-0000(2) (Dec. 11, 2012).

The Phase II rules implemented the plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions over a 10-year period. Ultimately, EQC adopted schedules that require the average carbon intensity of a regulated party's gasoline or diesel to meet a standard that gradually decreased 10 percent from the baseline in 2015 to the standard in 2025. OAR 340-253-8010 ; OAR 340-253-8020. The Phase II rules require that regulated parties demonstrate compliance with the program by calculating credits and deficits generated by the fuels they produce or import, and generally to balance those credits and deficits at the end of each compliance period. OAR 340-253-1030. Credits are created by producing or importing fuels that have carbon intensities below the annual standard, while deficits are created by producing or importing fuels that have carbon intensities above the annual standard. OAR 340-253-1000(5)(a)-(b). The rules establish an online tracking system that tracks compliance with the program and facilitates the trade of credits between regulated parties, credit generators that opt into the program, and credit brokers (later called aggregators) who assist in trades. OAR 340-253-0620 (Feb. 1, 2015). The system facilitates credit trading between those parties with credits and those with deficits, along with the brokers who facilitate such trades, to allow for balancing and compliance at the *303end of each compliance period. OAR 340-253-1050 (Feb. 1, 2015). It also serves as a marketplace for the purchase and sale of credits. Id .

In December 2015, EQC amended the Phase II rules. The amendments increased the baseline carbon intensity of gasoline and diesel fuels, such that importers of those fuels would need more credits if they only imported those fuels. It also increased the credit generation potential of some alternative fuels or fuel substitutes, such as corn ethanol, while decreasing the potential for others, such as soybean biodiesel. The amendments generally established new values, or new procedures for determining values, for other fuels, such as mixed fuels, electricity generators, and alternative fuels. OAR 340-253-0400(3)-(5) (Jan. 1, 2016).

As may be clear from the foregoing discussion, under the LCFS fuel program, fuel producers and importers are not required to sell only fuels that meet the annual fuel standards.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
439 P.3d 459, 296 Or. App. 298, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/w-states-petroleum-assn-v-envtl-quality-commn-orctapp-2019.