Portland Rejects Delay in Diesel Phase Out

By: Gosia Wozniacka
Source: oregonlive.com (TNS)

Portland leaders say the city does not plan to roll back its signature climate policy on replacing diesel with renewable fuels, despite a push to do so from an industry-dominated advisory group.

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The policy, a first-in-the-nation standard critical to reducing emissions and harmful particulate matter pollution, was adopted by the Portland City Council in 2022. Aimed at medium and heavy trucks, it phases out the sale of petroleum diesel in the city by 2030, gradually replacing it with diesel blended with renewable fuels—also known as biofuels—at increasingly higher increments.

The rollback recommended earlier this month by the Renewable Fuels Standards Advisory Committee, the advisory board, would have allowed trucks to continue to emit black carbon, or “soot,” at a higher level and for longer than under the original plan.

In a memo released on Tuesday, the city’s Planning and Sustainability director, Eric Engstrom, said Portland should not slow down or weaken the policy’s implementation. The city administrator, Michael Jordan, accepted Engstrom’s recommendations and will enforce the policy as currently written, officials said. That means beginning next year, diesel fuel in Portland must contain 50% biofuel.

“While we appreciate the (advisory committee’s) concerns about volatility and uncertainty in the Oregon fuels market, BPS believes there is reason to stay the course, while closely monitoring market conditions and moving forward cautiously,” Engstrom wrote.

Read also: Renewable diesel holds promise for fleet sustainability.

As part of the policy, a 15%-biofuels blend requirement began in 2024, a 50% blend will be required by 2026 and a 99% blend by 2030. Medium and heavy trucks affected by the policy include delivery trucks, school and transit buses, dump trucks, tractor trailers and cement mixers.

The Renewable Fuels Standards Advisory Committee, created by the city to advise Engstrom on technical and economic issues related to the renewable fuel supply, recommended the city reduce the 2026 biofuel percentage requirement from 50% to 20% and delay implementation until 2028 or 2030.

Because the policy is aimed at Portland fuel retailers only, trucks can bypass the blend requirement – and potentially higher prices—by filling up in any other place outside Portland city limits.

Engstrom said the city also won’t suspend the strict restrictions on the type of feedstocks used to make renewable fuels—a standard that three years ago was hailed as the most innovative, emission-reducing part of Portland’s diesel phase-out. The advisory committee had asked the city to suspend those restrictions for at least two years.

In his decision, Engstrom said the feedstock restrictions are “core to the original policy intent” and must be preserved because they ensure the policy delivers on promised carbon reductions. Feedstocks made from virgin agricultural products and food crops—such as soybean, canola and palm oils—have been linked to much higher carbon emissions, displacing food production and causing deforestation and are not allowed under Portland’s policy.

If sudden market changes such as diesel price spikes occur, the city can suspend compliance with program requirements for up to 180 days via emergency rules, Engstrom wrote.

Engstrom did accept the advisory committee’s recommendation to align the feedstock restrictions with the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality’s model. The resulting changes would be “minor” and “unlikely to meaningfully change the type of feedstocks that can be used,” said Elliott Kozuch, spokesperson with Portland’s office of Community and Economic Development.

Environmental groups praised Engstrom’s decisions but continued to express misgivings about the city’s increased reliance on biofuels. The groups said they would prefer the city instead focus on boosting public transportation and prioritizing electrification via more charging infrastructure and grants for electric bikes and cars.

“We’re pleased that the city didn’t bow to pressure from the fossil fuel industry in this instance, but we still have serious concerns about the actual carbon emissions reductions that can be expected from renewable fuels and biofuels,” said Nick Caleb, an attorney with the Breach Collective, a statewide climate justice advocacy organization.

What’s more, said Caleb, storing biofuels at the Critical Energy Infrastructure Hub, a 6-mile stretch on the northwest bank of the Willamette River that’s prone to liquefaction during a mega-earthquake, is just as dangerous as storing fossil fuel products such as diesel.

“We don’t believe that continually adding risks to the community and environment from storing increasing amounts of renewable fuels in NW Portland is worth the tradeoffs of, in the best case scenario, modest carbon emissions reductions,” Caleb said.

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