Washington released a draft forest offset rule, and there’s a lot to like

The Clean Air Task Force (CATF) supports the Washington Department of Ecology's draft forest offset rule, which introduces more rigorous standards for carbon credit calculation and verification. Key proposed changes include recalculating baselines every 10 years, increasing the default market leakage rate from 20% to 40%, and using spatially explicit risk data for buffer pool contributions. While CATF praises these steps toward transparency and conservatism, it recommends further improvements, such as adopting empirical dynamic baselines, removing buffer pool contribution caps for fire and biotic risks, and moving away from real estate appraisals for avoided conversion projects to ensure credits represent actual CO2 reductions.

• The Washington Department of Ecology's draft rule proposes updating the baseline for improved forest management projects every 10 years, replacing the current system where baselines can remain fixed for decades.
• The proposed rule increases the default market leakage deduction from 20% to 40% to better account for timber harvests shifting from project areas to other forests.
• To mitigate risks from fire, pests, or disease, the draft rule suggests setting buffer pool contributions using spatially explicit risk data that is updated over time.
• The draft rule aims to prevent the overcrediting of highly stocked forests by limiting credits for projects where initial carbon stocks fall outside the 90% confidence interval for regional common practice averages.
• The Washington State Cap-and-Invest Program, established by the Climate Commitment Act in January 2023, allows offsets for up to 8% of emissions initially, decreasing to 6% after 2027.

APA

Sanders-DeMott, R. (2025). Washington released a draft forest offset rule, and there’s a lot to like. Clean Air Task Force. https://www.catf.us/2025/08/washington-released-a-draft-forest-offset-rule-and-theres-a-lot-to-like/

Chicago

Sanders-DeMott, Rebecca. Washington released a draft forest offset rule, and there’s a lot to like. Clean Air Task Force, 2025. https://www.catf.us/2025/08/washington-released-a-draft-forest-offset-rule-and-theres-a-lot-to-like/.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |last1=Sanders-DeMott |first1=Rebecca |title=Washington released a draft forest offset rule, and there’s a lot to like |publisher=Clean Air Task Force |date=19 August 2025 |url=https://www.catf.us/2025/08/washington-released-a-draft-forest-offset-rule-and-theres-a-lot-to-like/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{sandersdemott2025washington, author = {Sanders-DeMott, Rebecca}, title = {{Washington released a draft forest offset rule, and there’s a lot to like}}, publisher = {Clean Air Task Force}, year = {2025}, month = aug, url = {https://www.catf.us/2025/08/washington-released-a-draft-forest-offset-rule-and-theres-a-lot-to-like/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }