About The Registry

Senate Bill (SB) 27 (Skinner, 2021) calls on the California Natural Resources Agency (CNRA) to establish the California Carbon Sequestration and Climate Resiliency Project Registry. The Registry is a centralized, publicly accessible database with detailed information about natural and working lands-based and direct air capture projects but in no way regulates those projects, creates any entitlement, or guarantees grant eligibility. Specifically, the legislation provides two paths by which natural and working lands-based and direct air capture projects may be listed. Natural and working lands-based projects include actions such as those contained in the Natural and Working Lands Climate Smart Strategy, California’s Climate Change Scoping Plan, and the California Climate Adaptation Strategy. The Registry is governed by the California Code of Regulations Section [forthcoming].

Backers

All private and public entities are eligible to fund or finance projects listed on the Registry. Backers may fund or finance less than the full amount of the project. In these cases, backers can only claim benefits equal to the proportion of the project they backed. Projects listed on the Registry have successfully met all requirements called for in SB 27. The information provided allows backers to conduct their own due diligence and evaluate project opportunities according to any additional criteria and monitoring requirements they may have. Ready to back a project on the Registry?

Project Proponents

SB 27 allows for projects to be listed on the Registry in one of two ways. The first path (Pathway A) allows projects to be listed if they applied for, and met all requirements for, state programs funded from the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund (GGRF) or other funding sources, but were not funded due to a lack of sufficient funding. Projects that sought state funds are subject to further minimum requirements set by the California Air Resources Board (CARB). The second path (Pathway B) allows proponents of projects in California to apply to CNRA to have a project listed on the Registry. SB 27 includes several minimum criteria for projects to be listed under this path, including quantification of expected carbon removal benefits. Projects will be removed from the Registry’s eligible project listing once they are funded. Projects must provide monitoring and reporting data on carbon removal benefits over time to CNRA.

SB 27 prohibits projects listed on the Registry from creating credits for market-based compliance mechanisms developed or administered by CARB pursuant to the California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006. Projects listed on the Registry also cannot be used by any state or private entity to offset a statutory or regulatory obligation to reduce emissions under that Act. Ready to list a project on the Registry?