In this subtitle, the following terms have the meanings indicated. Terms Defined. “Account number” means the identification number given to each CO2 account. “Administrator” means the Administrator of the United States Environmental Protection Agency or the Administrator's authorized representative. “Allocate” means to distribute and record CO2 allowances in: A CO2 budget unit's compliance account; A set-aside account; or The consumer energy efficiency account. “Allocation year” means a calendar year for which CO2 allowances are allocated. “Alternate CO2 authorized account representative” means: For a CO2 budget source, the alternate individual who is authorized by the owners and operators of the source to represent and legally bind them in matters pertaining to this subtitle; or For a general account, the alternate individual who is authorized to transfer or otherwise dispose of CO2 allowances held in the general account. “Anaerobic digester” means a device that promotes the decomposition of organic material to simple organics and gaseous biogas products, in the absence of elemental oxygen, usually accomplished by means of controlling temperature and volume, and including a methane recovery system. “Anaerobic digestion” means the decomposition of organic material, including manure, brought about through the action of microorganisms in the absence of elemental oxygen. “Anaerobic storage” means the storage of organic material in an oxygen-free environment, or under oxygen-free conditions, including, holding tanks, ponds, and lagoons. “ANSI” means the American National Standards Institute. “Applicant” means a person who submits an application to qualify for participation in a CO2 allowance auction. “Attribute” means a characteristic associated with electricity generated using a particular renewable fuel, such as its generation date, facility geographic location, unit vintage, emissions output, fuel, state program eligibility, or other characteristic that can be identified, accounted for, and tracked. “Attribute credit” means the attributes related to one megawatt-hour of electricity generation. “Auction” means a sale conducted by the Department in which CO2 allowances are made available to eligible categories of bidders for sale and purchase. “Auction advisory committee” means a committee comprised of the Secretary of the Environment, the Director of the Maryland Energy Administration, and a commissioner of the Maryland Public Service Commission, or their designees. “Auction clearing price” means the price per CO2 allowance at which all CO2 allowances offered for sale in the auction will be sold. “Automated data acquisition and handling system (DAHS)” means that component of a continuous emissions monitoring system, or other approved emissions monitoring system, designed to interpret and convert individual output signals from pollutant concentration monitors, flow monitors, diluent gas monitors, and other component parts of the monitoring system to produce a continuous record of the measured parameters. “Bidder” means a person who is participating or may potentially participate in an auction of CO2 allowances. “Billing meter” means a measurement device used to measure electric or thermal output for commercial billing under a contract where the owners of the facility selling the electric or thermal output must be different from the owners of the party purchasing the electric or thermal output. “Biogas” means gas resulting from the decomposition of organic matter under anaerobic conditions where the principle constituents are methane and carbon dioxide. “Clean generation” means, in the context of the Clean Generation Set-aside Account, electricity produced by the combustion of fossil fuels at a CO2 budget unit that has implemented measures to reduce the emission of air pollutants resulting from the CO2 budget unit's production of electricity. “Clean Generation Set-aside Account” means a general account established by the Department from which allowances are awarded to CO2 budget units and CO2 budget sources that: Commence operation after January 1, 2009; and Engage in clean generation. Climate Action Plan. “Climate action plan” means a written plan submitted to the Department by a CO2 budget source that identifies and analyzes its CO2e emission reduction or sequestration strategies and plans. “Climate action plan” includes, but is not limited to, the following components: Baseline data and forecasts for on-site CO2e emissions; Short and long term goals for reducing or sequestering CO2e emissions; Identification of CO2e emission reduction or sequestration techniques and strategies that the CO2 budget source will implement and the timetable for implementation; and An estimate of the CO2e emissions reductions that will result from the implementation of the emission reduction or sequestration techniques and strategies identified pursuant to §B(18-1)(b)(iii) of this regulation. “Closed auction” means an auction where a specified number of CO2 allowances are made available for sale and purchase only to the owners or operators of a budget unit. “CO2 allowance” means the limited authorization to emit up to 1 ton of CO2 and does not constitute a property right. “CO2 allowance auction website” means a website that includes information including, but not limited to: The date and time of an auction; The number of CO2 allowances to be available for purchase at auction; The categories of participants that are able to bid on the available allowances at auction; and Other information that the Department determines may be pertinent to the auction. “CO2 allowance contingency account” means an account administered by the Department to hold the following CO2 allowances: Previously auctioned but unsold allowances; Unretired or unallocated CO2 allowances from the Set-aside Accounts; or Any other CO2 allowances as identified by the auction advisory committee. “CO2 allowance deduction” means the permanent withdrawal of CO2 allowances from a CO2 compliance account for each ton of CO2 emitted from a CO2 budget unit during a control period or interim control period. “CO2 allowances held” means the CO2 allowances recorded or submitted to be recorded in a CO2 account. “CO2 allowance retirement account” means a general account administered by the Department to hold CO2 allowances that have been permanently retired from the Voluntary Renewable Set-aside Account or the CO2 Allowance Contingency Account. “CO2 allowance tracking system or COATS” means the system that records allocations, deductions, and transfers of CO2 allowances which may also be used to track CO2 allowance prices, and emissions from affected sources. “CO2 allowance transfer deadline means the deadline by which CO2 allowances must be submitted for recordation in a CO2 budget source’s compliance account for the source to meet the requirements of COMAR 26.09.02.03K for a control period or interim control period, occurring at: Midnight of the March 1 after the end of the relevant control period or interim control period; or If the relevant March 1 is not a business day, the deadline is midnight of the first business day thereafter. “CO2 authorized account representative” means: For a CO2 budget source, the individual who is authorized by the owners and operators of the source to represent and legally bind them in matters pertaining to this subtitle; or For a general account, the individual who is authorized to transfer or otherwise dispose of CO2 allowances held in the general account. “CO2 budget emissions limitation” means the tonnage equivalent of the CO2 allowances available for compliance deduction for a CO2 budget source for a control period or twice the CO2 allowances available for an interim control period. “CO2 budget permit” means a permit issued to a CO2 budget source or CO2 budget unit that specifies the requirements applicable to the source or to each CO2 budget unit, and to the owners and operators and the CO2 authorized account representative of the CO2 budget source or CO2 budget unit. “CO2 budget source” means a source that includes one or more CO2 budget units. “CO2 budget system” means two or more CO2 budget sources subject to this subtitle that are owned, operated, or controlled by the same person. “CO2 budget unit” means fossil fuel fired fuel-burning equipment that, after January 1, 2005, serves a generator with a nameplate capacity of 25 megawatts or greater. “CO2 cost containment reserve tier 1 allowance or CO2 CCR tier 1 allowance” means a CO2 allowance that is offered for sale at an auction by the Department for the purpose of containing the cost of CO2 allowances, subject to the requirements of §B(34-2) of this regulation, and is separate from, and additional to, a CO2 allowance allocated from the Maryland CO2 Budget Trading Program budgets. “CO2 cost containment reserve tier 2 allowance or CO2 CCR tier 2 allowance” means a CO2 allowance that is offered for sale at an auction by the Department for the purpose of containing the cost of CO2 allowances, subject to the requirements of §B(34-3) of this regulation, and is separate from, and additional to, a CO 2 allowance allocated from the Maryland CO2 Budget Trading Program budgets. “CO2 cost containment reserve tier 1 trigger price, or CCR tier 1 trigger price” means the minimum price at which CO2 CCR tier 1 allowances are offered for sale by the Department at an auction, and shall be: $19.50 per CO2 allowance for calendar year 2027; and Each calendar year thereafter, the CCR tier 1 trigger price shall be 1.07 multiplied by the CCR tier 1 trigger price from the previous calendar year, rounded to the nearest whole cent as follows: $20.87 for 2028; $22.33 for 2029; $23.89 for 2030; $25.56 for 2031; $27.35 for 2032; $29.26 for 2033; $31.31 for 2034; $33.50 for 2035; $35.85 for 2036; and $38.36 for 2037. “CO2 cost containment reserve tier 2 trigger price, or CCR tier 2 trigger price” means the minimum price at which CO2 CCR tier 2 allowances are offered for sale by the Department at an auction, and shall be: $29.25 per CO2 allowance for calendar year 2027; and Each calendar year thereafter, the CCR tier 2 trigger price shall be 1.07 multiplied by the CCR tier 2 trigger price from the previous calendar year, rounded to the nearest whole cent as follows: $31.30 for 2028; $33.49 for 2029; $35.83 for 2030; $38.34 for 2031; $41.02 for 2032; $43.89 for 2033; $46.96 for 2034; $50.25 for 2035; $53.77 for 2036; and $57.53 for 2037. “CO2 emissions factor” means the average release rate of carbon dioxide (CO2) from electrical generation units that supply electricity to the PJM region relative to the total megawatt hours (MwH) supplied as expressed in pounds CO2 per MwH or metric ton of CO2 per MwH. “CO2 emission offset project” means: A historical project that allowed the Department to determine how many CO2 offset allowances to record to a sponsor’s general account related specific emission reductions outside of the electricity sector; Can no longer be approved for the Maryland CO2 Budget Trading Program; and CO2 offset allowances created before January 1, 2027 are eligible to meet the compliance deduction and subject to the relevant compliance deduction limitations. “CO2 equivalent (CO2e)” means the quantity of a given greenhouse gas, other than CO2, multiplied by its global warming potential (GWP). “CO2 offset allowance” means a CO2 allowance that is: Determined by the Department to have been recorded, by a participating state prior to January 1, 2027, in the general account of the sponsor of a CO 2 emissions offset project; and Is subject to the relevant compliance deduction limitations. “Combined cycle system” means a system comprised of one or more combustion turbines, heat recovery steam generators, and steam turbines configured to improve overall efficiency of electricity generation or steam production. “Combined heat and power unit, CHP unit, or cogeneration unit” means an electric generating unit that uses a steam-generating unit or stationary combustion turbine to simultaneously produce both electric (or mechanical) and useful thermal output from the same primary energy facility. “Combustion turbine” means an enclosed fossil or other fuel-fired device comprised of a compressor, a combustor, and a turbine in which the flue gas resulting from the combustion of fuel in the combustor passes through the turbine to rotate the turbine. “Commence commercial operation” means: For a unit that serves a generator, the date the unit begins to produce steam, gas, or other heated medium used to generate electricity for sale or use, including test generation; For a CO2 budget unit, the date the unit begins operation; or For a unit that is not a CO2 budget unit, the date the unit begins commercial operation which is the date when the unit becomes a CO2 budget unit. “Commence operation” means to begin any mechanical, chemical, or electronic process, including start-up of a unit's combustion chamber, determined as follows: For a unit that begins operation and is subsequently modified, reconstructed, or repowered, the date for the CO2 budget unit remains the same; or For a unit that is not a CO2 budget unit on the date of commencement of operation, the date the unit becomes a CO2 budget unit. “Compliance account” means a budget source's CO2 account in which the CO2 allowances are held and made available for use by the source for a control period or interim control period for the purpose of meeting the source's CO2 budget emissions limitation. “Consumer energy efficiency account” means a general account established by the Department from which allowances will be sold or distributed in order to provide funds to encourage and foster the following: Promotion of energy efficiency measures; Direct mitigation of electricity ratepayer impacts attributable to the implementation of this subtitle; Promotion of renewable or non-carbon-emitting energy technologies; Stimulation or reward of investment in the development of innovative carbon emissions abatement technologies with significant carbon reduction potential; and Funding to implement this subtitle. “Continuous emissions monitoring system (CEMS)” means the equipment used to sample, analyze, measure, and provide a permanent record of stack parameters and pollutant concentrations. “Control period” means a 3-calendar year time period beginning January 1, 2009, to December 31, 2011, and each subsequent 3-year period. “Current vintage year” means a CO2 allowance that was originated in the current calendar year. “Department” means the Department of the Environment or its designated agent. "Early Applicant” means an eligible CO2 budget unit that commences operation prior to or on December 31, 2017. “Electricity supplier” has the meaning given that term in Public Utility Companies Article, §1-101(j), Annotated Code of Maryland. “Electronic submission agent” means one or more persons designated by the authorized account representative or the alternate authorized account representative of a compliance or general account to have the authority to provide information electronically. Eligible Biomass. “Eligible biomass” means sustainably harvested woody and herbaceous fuel that is available on a renewable or recurring basis. “Eligible biomass” includes: Dedicated energy crops and trees; Agricultural food and feed crop residues; Aquatic plants; Unadulterated wood and wood residues; Animal wastes; Other clean organic wastes not mixed with other solid wastes; Biogas; and Other neat liquid biofuels derived from the fuel sources. “Eligible biomass” does not include old growth timber. “Emission containment reserve account” means a general account established by the Department for the purpose of withholding CO2 allowances from sale at an auction by the Department for the purpose of additional emission reduction in the event of lower than anticipated emission reduction costs. “Excess emissions” means the tons of CO2 emitted by a CO2 budget unit during a control period that exceeds the CO2 budget emissions limitation for the source. “Excess interim emissions” means, during an interim control period, the amount in tons of CO2 emitted by a CO2 budget source that exceeds 50 percent of the CO2-budget emissions limitation for the source. Fossil Fuel-Fired. “Fossil fuel-fired” means, for a unit that commenced operation before January 1, 2005, the combustion of fossil fuel alone or in combination with any other fuel where the fossil fuel combusted comprises, or is projected to comprise, more than 50 percent of the annual heat input on a Btu basis during any year. “Fossil fuel-fired” means, for a unit that commenced or commences operation on or after January 1, 2005, the combustion of fossil fuel alone or in combination with any other fuel, where the fossil fuel combusted comprises, or is projected to comprise, more than 5 percent of the annual heat input on a Btu basis during any year. “Fund” means any fund authorized by the legislature to hold proceeds from the auction of CO2 allowances for any of the uses identified in this subtitle. “GATS” means the Generation Attribute Tracking System of PJM Environmental Information Services, Inc. “GATS reserve subaccount” means a repository in a GATS account that is designed for one-way transfers of certificates, such as RECs, for removal from circulation, as with retirement. “General account” means a CO2 account that is not a compliance account. “Gross generation” means the electrical output in megawatts at the terminals of the generator. “Independent verifier” means an individual that has been approved to conduct verification activities. “Interim control period” means a 1-calendar-year time period, during each of the first and second calendar years of each 3-year control period, further defined as follows: The first interim control period begins on January 1, 2015 and ends on December 31, 2015, inclusive; The second interim control period begins on January 1, 2016, and ends on December 31, 2016, inclusive; and Each successive 3-year control period will include two interim control periods, comprised of each of the first 2 calendar years of that control period. “Life-of-the-unit contractual arrangement” means a unit participation power sales agreement under which a customer reserves, or is entitled to receive, a specified amount or percentage of nameplate capacity or associated energy from any specified unit pursuant to a contract: For the life of the unit; For a cumulative term of not less than 30 years, including contracts that permit an election for early termination; or For a period equal to or greater than 25 years or 70 percent of the economic useful life of the unit determined as of the time the unit is built, with option rights to purchase or release some portion of the nameplate capacity and associated energy generated by the unit at the end of the period. “Long Term Contract Price” shall be: $2.00 in calendar year 2014; and For each calendar year thereafter, the LTCP from the previous year multiplied by 1.025, rounded to the nearest whole cent. “Limited Industrial Exemption” means industrial generators of at least 25 megawatts which have taken a permit condition that limits the unit’s annual electrical output to the electric grid to less than or equal to 10 percent of its annual gross generation. “Long Term Contract Set-aside Account” means a general account established by the Department from which allowances will be awarded to CO2 budget units with long term contracts after demonstration by the budget unit that purchasing allowances equal to the budget unit’s CO2 emissions will affect the financial viability of the plant. “Market penetration rate” means a measure of the diffusion of a technology, product, or practice in a defined market, as represented by: The percentage of annual sales for a product or practice; A percentage of the existing installed stock for a product or category of products; or The percentage of existing installed stock that utilizes a practice. “Maryland CO2 Budget Trading Program base budget” is specified in COMAR 26.09.02.03A, and does not include CO2 CCR tier 1 and CO2 CCR tier 2 allowances offered for sale at an auction: “Minimum reserve price” shall be, except for CO2 CCR tier 1 and CO2 CCR tier 2 allowances: $9.00 in calendar year 2027; and For each calendar year thereafter, the minimum reserve price from the previous calendar year multiplied by 1.07, rounded to the nearest whole cent as follows: $9.63 for 2028; $10.30 for 2029; $11.02 for 2030; $11.79 for 2031; $12.62 for 2032; $13.50 for 2033; $14.45 for 2034; $15.46 for 2035; $16.54 for 2036; and $17.70 for 2037. “Nameplate capacity” means the maximum electrical output, in megawatts, that a generator can sustain over a specified period of time when not restricted by seasonal or other deratings as measured in accordance with the United States Department of Energy standards. Net-Electric Output. “Net-electric output” means the amount of gross generation the generator(s) produce, as measured at the generator terminals, less the electricity used to operate the plant (i.e., auxiliary loads), including but not limited to the following: Output from steam turbine(s); Combustion turbine(s); Gas expander(s); and Other generator types deemed fit by the Department. Such uses include fuel handling equipment, pumps, fans, pollution control equipment, other electricity needs, and transformer losses as measured at the transmission side of the step up transformer (e.g., the point of sale). “Non-CO2 budget unit” means a unit that does not serve a generator with a nameplate capacity equal to or greater than 25 megawatts. “Non-early Applicant” means an eligible CO2 budget unit that commences operation after December 31, 2017. “Off-site” means a location that is not contiguous with the property where the anaerobic digester is located. “Open auction” means an auction where a specified number of CO2 allowances are made available for purchase by any authorized auction participant, including owners or operators of budget units, environmental groups, brokers, and investment facilities. “Participating state” means a state that has established corresponding regulations as part of the CO2 Budget Trading Program. “Permanently retired” means allowances or credits that have been placed in a retirement account and rendered unusable. “Person” means an individual, receiver, trustee, guardian, personal representative, fiduciary, or representative of any kind and any firm, partnership, association or corporation, or other entity including any public or municipal corporation and any agency, bureau, department, or instrumentality of federal, State, or local government. “PJM Environmental Information Services, Inc. (EIS)” means the entity that owns and operates the GATS. “PJM region” means the control area administered by the PJM Interconnection, Inc., as the area may change from time to time. “Regional-type anaerobic digester” means an anaerobic digester using feedstock from more than one agricultural operation, or importing feedstock from more than one agricultural operation, commonly referred to as a community digester or centralized digester. “Renewable energy” has the meaning given that term in Public Utility Companies Article, §7-701(l) and (m), Annotated Code of Maryland. “Renewable energy credit (REC)” has the meaning given that term in Public Utility Companies Article, §7-701(i), Annotated Code of Maryland, and is created or acquired pursuant Public Utility Companies Article, Title 7, Subtitle 7, Annotated Code of Maryland. “Renewable energy facility” has the meaning given that term in COMAR 20.61.01.03B(11). “Renewable energy portfolio standard (RPS)” has the meaning given that term in Public Utility Companies Article, §7-701(j), Annotated Code of Maryland. “Renewable on-site generator” has the meaning given that term in the Public Utility Companies Article §7-701(k), Annotated Code of Maryland. “Renewable portfolio standard” means the renewable energy portfolio standard. “Reserve price” means the minimum acceptable price at which a CO2 allowance will be sold in a given auction, defined as either the minimum reserve price, the CCR tier 1 trigger price, or the CCR tier 2 trigger price. “Retail marketer” means, for the purposes of the voluntary renewable set-aside account, a person who provides renewable energy or renewable energy attribute credits to a retail customer through a retail sales transaction, or a person who provides to a retail customer the service of procuring and retiring renewable energy attribute credits on the customer’s behalf. “Serial number” means the unique identification number assigned to each CO2 allowance. “Ton or tonnage” means any “short ton”, or 2,000 pounds. For the purpose of determining compliance with the CO2 requirements of Regulations .04 and .05 of this chapter, total CO2 emissions for a control period and each interim control period shall be calculated as the sum of all recorded hourly emissions (or the tonnage equivalent of the recorded hourly emissions rates) in accordance with COMAR 26.09.02.10 and .11: with Any remaining fraction of a ton equal to or greater than 0.50 ton deemed to equal 1 ton; Any fraction of a ton less than 0.50 ton deemed to equal zero tons; and A short ton is equal to 0.9072 metric tons. “Total solids” means the total of all solids in a sample, including the total suspended solids, total dissolved solids, and volatile suspended solids. “Transmission or distribution entity” means the assets and equipment used to transmit and distribute electricity from an electric generator to the electrical load of a customer, including all related assets and equipment located within the service territory of the entity, as specified by the applicable state regulatory agency. “Unsold allowance” means a CO2 allowance that has been offered for sale in an auction conducted by the Department, but not sold. “Vintage year” means the calendar year that a CO2 allowance was originated. “Volatile solids” means the fraction of total solids that is comprised primarily of organic matter. “Voluntary renewable CO2 emissions factor” means the average release rate of carbon dioxide (CO2) from the fossil fuel electrical generation units that supply electricity to the PJM region relative to the total megawatt hours (MwH) supplied as expressed in pounds of CO2 per MwH or metric ton of CO2 per MwH. “Voluntary renewable energy purchase” means the purchase of electricity from renewable energy generation or renewable energy attribute credits by a retail electricity customer on a voluntary basis where the purchase may not be used by the generator or purchaser to meet any regulatory mandate, such as a renewable portfolio standard. “Voluntary renewable set-aside account” means a general account established by the Department from which allowances will be permanently retired based upon documented purchases of voluntary renewable energy by ratepayers in Maryland.