Public hearing and webinar

There is another meeting on March 5 at 10 a.m. with the same content. Read more on our linkage agreement informational document or the linkage webpage.

Background

As directed by the Climate Commitment Act (CCA), Ecology is seeking to link Washington’s Cap-and-Invest carbon market with the California-Québec market. Through linkage, we can further our combined efforts to fight climate change and reduce air pollution. We’ll start discussing a potential linkage agreement soon, and we’d like your input.

A linkage agreement is just one piece of the linkage puzzle. In order to link, we’ll also need to finish making regulatory changes that make our markets compatible, complete two Environmental Justice Assessments, and do a final assessment of how linkage would affect Washington’s communities, economy, and climate goals. California and Québec will have to take certain steps, too, like changing their program rules to make it possible to link with Washington.

The linkage agreement sets expectations for information sharing, cooperation, and accounting. It’s non-binding and doesn't create new regulations or change existing ones (that can only be done through legislation and rulemaking).