Department of Ecology
Committees, Boards, and Workgroups

Working group description and purpose

The U.S. Forest Offset Protocol Technical Working Group is comprised of individuals with expertise in the development, registration, verification, or analysis of compliance or voluntary forest offset projects. As part of the WAC 173-446 Offsets Rulemaking, Ecology is considering revisions and additions to offset protocols adopted in WAC 173-446. The purpose of this working group is to help inform Ecology’s proposals related to revisions to the adopted California’s Air Resources Board (CARB) Compliance Offset Protocol – U.S. Forest Projects – June 25, 2015. The working group will provide input on a series of potential revisions under consideration sourced from CARB's 2021 Offset Taskforce Report, voluntary offset market protocols, and public comments received during this rulemaking.

Meeting schedule

The working group will meet the first Tuesday of the month from 9 - 11 a.m. (PT) from July to Dec. 2024.

• Upcoming meeting dates are Aug. 6, Sept. 3, Oct. 1, Nov. 5, and Dec. 3.
• Past meeting recordings: July 2

The meetings will be open to the public to view and there will include an opportunity to provide relevant public comment. Register to join the Zoom webinar.

Working Group Members

• Grayson Badgley, Research Scientist - CarbonPlan
• Felipe Casarim, Natural Climate Solutions Manager, Centre of Excellence - Low Carbon Solutions, bp
• Tani Colbert-Sangree, Project Manager- Greenhouse Gas Management Institute
• Kathleen Farley Wolf, Forest Carbon Program Manager - King County Department of Natural Resources and Parks
• David Ford, Principal - L&C Carbon
• Steve Hinton, Conservation Scientist - Tulalip Tribes
• Theresa Keith, Forestry Policy Advisor - Washington State Department of Natural Resources
• Jeremy Koslowski, Forest Carbon Partnerships; The Climate Trust
• Edward Mann, Executive Director - Global Forest Carbon, Inc
• Ed Murphy, Director of Forest Systems - Sierra Pacific Industries
• John Nickerson, Consulting Forester - Dogwood Springs Forestry
• Ben Parkhurst, Vice President - Technical Development of Natural Climate Solutions, Anew Climate
• Jonathan Pomp, Technical Director - Green Assets, Inc.
• Jon Remucal, Director of Nature-Based Solutions - Climate Action Reserve
• Mike Warjone, President - US Forestry, Port Blakely
• Chao Wu, Postdoctoral Scholar - University of Utah
• Sheldon Zakreski, Principal - Living Sky Carbon Solutions

Provide input on the protocols

Non-working group members may provide comments through our public comment form on the rulemaking. The informal comment period is open until Sept. 27, 2024. 

Additional working groups

• Ozone Depleting Substances Technical Working Group (April - June)
• Blue Carbon Offset Technical Working Group (projected to begin in the Fall)

Ecology is forming an Environmental Justice Offset Working Group that is expected to begin meeting in the summer. This group will help inform environmental justice considerations related to any proposed protocol changes. Members of this group will not need to have knowledge about offsets or the Climate Commitment Act, and we will instead seek members with lived or professional experience with environmental justice and injustice. 

To stay informed about the applications for the other working groups, please subscribe to our Cap-and-Invest Offsets email list and check out our Cap-and-invest Offsets webpage.

Resources

• Cap-and-invest offsets webpage
• Chapter 173-446 WAC – Cap-and-invest offsets rulemaking webpage
• WAC-174-446-505: Requirements for compliance offset protocols
• Public comments on the rulemaking

Working Group Contact

Jordan Wildish, Offsets Lead Planner
CCAOffsets@ecy.wa.gov