Low Carbon Fuel Standards
A Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) is a policy initiative to reduce the life cycle greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions associated with transportation fuels. In the absence of a federal LCFS framework, states have begun to advance their own LCFSs. While federal legislation or EPA regulation could limit the proliferation of state-based LCFSs, it is unlikely that a federal LCFS will contain a provision to preempt state LCFSs.
A requirement to lower the carbon intensity of diesel fuel could adversely impact the trucking industry. The most direct impact of the LCFS would be a potential increase in the price of diesel fuel stemming from the requirement to use higher cost alternative fuels. LCFS also have the potential to create operational challenges for fleets, especially if alternative fuels do not comply with existing diesel fuel specifications (i.e., ASTM-D975). Finally, a LCFS could adversely impact U.S. energy security, as certain high carbon sources of diesel fuel are declared off-limits (e.g., Canadian oil sands, petroleum derived from oil shale, coal-to-liquids fuels).