Climate Commitment Act (CCA) auctions and trading

Businesses that are covered under the Climate Commitment Act (CCA) must obtain compliance instruments equal to their covered emissions.

There are two types of compliance instruments, each equal to one metric ton of carbon dioxide:

Emissions allowances (which are issued by Ecology)
Offset credits (which come from investing in projects that help reduce carbon in the atmosphere)

Participating businesses can get emissions allowances by:

Purchasing them from Ecology at quarterly auctions.
Trading with other cap-and-invest program participants.
Receiving them directly from Ecology (for certain businesses, per the CCA).

Cap-and-invest help desks

Auction platform registration or emails with market-sensitve information: RegistrarCCA@ecy.wa.gov (secure) or 360-407-6296
General questions about cap-and-invest auctions and trading market: CCAAuctions@ecy.wa.gov
Emissions reporting and verification: GHGReporting@ecy.wa.gov

For any other questions about the cap-and-invest program, or for media requests, please direct inquires to the point of contact found at the bottom of this page.

Auction and trading platform information

In December 2021, Washington joined the Western Climate Initiative, Inc. (WCI), the nonprofit that provides the auction platform for the linked programs in California and Québec, as well as the stand-alone program in Nova Scotia.

We will hold the first of our quarterly auctions in the second half of February 2023. To participate in an auction or trade allowances, businesses and individuals must first set up an account in the Compliance Instrument Tracking System Service (CITSS).

The Compliance Instrument Tracking System Service (CITSS) is an online platform that is used for greenhouse gas (GHG) cap-and-trade programs like the ones in California, Québec, and now Washington. CITSS provides accounts for market participants to hold and trade compliance instruments (emissions allowances and offset credits).

CITSS is used to:

Register entities participating in Washington’s cap-and-invest program
Track the ownership of compliance instruments
Enable and record compliance instrument transfers
Help entities stay in compliance with program requirements
Help keep the market functional, safe, and secure

You can find resources, trainings, and forms needed to register in CITSS and particpate in auctions on our Auctions Trainings and Resources page.

Program compliance

At the end of each four-year compliance period, participating emitters must submit "compliance instruments" — emissions allowances and offset credits, if applicable — equal to their covered emissions for all four years.

In addition, by November 1 of each year, participants must submit compliance instruments equal to 30% of their emissions for the prior year. At the end of the four-year compliance period, businesses must submit allowances to cover the remaining 70% of their total emissions for the entire period.

For example, in the first compliance period (2023-2026) the compliance schedule looks like this:

Nov. 1, 2024: 30% of 2023 emissions
Nov. 1, 2025: 30% of 2024 emissions
Nov. 1, 2026: 30% of 2025 emissions
Nov. 1, 2027: 30% of 2026 emissions, plus the remaining 70% of all 2023-2026 emissions

More resources

Starting in 2023, we'll host four auctions a year, each consisting of a single round of bidding by auction participants. We'll provide public notice of each auction date at least 60 days in advance.

2023 Auction Notices

We will continue to post additional forms and resources to help cap-and-invest participants register for and use the CITSS system and auction platform. The following resources will be posted on our Trainings and resources page, once available:

CITSS resources:

Additional account management forms
Facility management forms
Information about data security

Once our auctions have begun in 2023, we'll provide data to the public about:

Auction settlement prices and results
Auction proceeds
Allowances in each holding account

This information won't be available until after the first auction in the first quarter of 2023. You can check this web page after the auction for market data and sign up to receive auction and trading updates via email.

Contact information

Claire Boyte-White
CCA Communications Specialist
claire.boyte-white@ecy.wa.gov
360-764-6124

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