WAC 173-424-810

(1) General. The annual third-party verification requirements set forth in this chapter apply beginning in 2028, using operational data from calendar year 2027 for fuel transactions data and operational data from calendar year 2026 and 2027 for fuel pathway reports. Quarterly review conducted as part of annual verification services that meet the requirements of this chapter may begin in 2028 for reports with data for the year 2027. Until the start of the annual third-party verification program in 2028, ecology may require separate third-party verification, as necessary, in order to validate and verify the carbon intensity of fuel pathways, according to:

(a) The principles, requirements, guidelines, and procedures in ISO 14067; or

(b) The requirements adopted in the California low carbon fuel standard program under California Code of Regulations Title 17, §§ 95500 through 95502.

(2) Each responsible entity must:

(a) Engage the services of a verification body to perform verification under this chapter;

(b) Do the following before verification services begin:

(i) Conduct a conflict of interest evaluation in coordination with the verification body and develop a conflict of interest mitigation plan, if needed, according to WAC 173-424-850.  Ensure both a complete and accurate conflict of interest evaluation and conflict of interest mitigation plan, as applicable, are submitted to ecology, and receive from ecology approval in writing to proceed with verification services;

(ii) Submit to ecology the report that is to be verified and attest that the data and information submitted to ecology in the report is true, accurate, and complete;

(iii) Ensure that a verification statement is submitted to ecology from the verification body for each report identified under WAC 173-424-820 by the deadline specified under subsection (3) of this section; and

(iv) Ensure the requirements of this chapter are met including, but not limited to, ensuring that verification services are provided in compliance with the requirements of WAC 173-424-830 and that a potential for a conflict of interest is evaluated, monitored, and mitigated according to WAC 173-424-850.

(3) Verification deadlines.

(a) Each responsible entity must ensure that a positive, qualified positive, or adverse verification statement is received by ecology from a verification body on or before September 15th of the year a report is submitted, for the following reports, for any CFP report as applicable under WAC 173-424-820.

(b) Ecology may extend verification deadlines in (a) of this subsection as necessary and will issue notice of any extensions.

(4) Requirements for full or less intensive verification for certain responsible entities.

(a) Full verification must be provided for all verification services required under this chapter, unless less intensive verification is permitted under (b) or (c)(ii) of this subsection.

(b) Responsible entities required to engage the services of a verification body to perform annual verification of CFS quarterly reports under WAC 173-424-820(3) may engage the services of a verification body to provide less intensive verification in place of full verification, for up to two years out of every three-year period, if:

(i) There has not been a change in the verification body;

(ii) A positive verification statement was issued for the previous year; and

(iii) No change of operational control of the responsible entity occurred in the previous year.

(c) Notwithstanding (b) of this subsection, a verification body may choose to provide full verification, at its discretion, if it is deemed necessary to reach reasonable assurance. This may include instances where the responsible entity has made changes in sources, significant changes in emissions, significant changes in data management systems, or any combination therein, occurred compared to the previous year, based on the professional judgment of the verification body. The verification body must provide reasons why it opted for full verification to the responsible entity and to ecology.

(5) Verification body and verifier rotation requirements.

(a) A responsible entity must not use the same verification body or verifier(s) to perform verification for a period of more than six consecutive years.

The six-year period begins on the execution date of the entity's first contract for any validation or verification under this chapter and ends on the date the final verification statement is submitted. The six-year limit does not reset upon a change in ownership or operational control of the entity required to contract for validation or verification services.

(b) A responsible entity must wait at least three years before re-engaging the previous verification body or verifier(s) to perform verification.

(c) If a reporting entity is required to select a new verification body to verify a report or fuel pathway application that has been set aside according to WAC 173-424-830 (3)(d)(ii), the reporting entity may continue to contract for verification services with its current verification body, subject to the six-year time limit, unless the verification body's approval to provide those services has been modified, suspended, or revoked by ecology under WAC 173-424-840(10).