RSBAs new technology, research and sustainability issues emerge, the RSB works with its members to adapt the Standard. The RSB is a full member of the ISEAL alliance and has a formal process for how the RSB Standard is developed, adapted and reviewed by its members.
All major modifications require a formal consultation, in line with the ISEAL Codes of Good Practice, and approval by the RSB members.
1st public consultation: Was held from 25 May – 25 July 2017
2nd public consultation: Was held from 10th August – 10th December
1st RSB chamber consultation: Was held in October 2017
Expert consultation: Was held from 26th March – 7th May 2018
2nd RSB chamber consultation : Was held in September 2018
3rd RSB chamber consultation : Was held in November 2018
Approval by Assembly of Delegates: December 2018
The RSB Standard for Advanced Products enables producers of non-energy use products and their intermediates to demonstrate sustainable practices throughout their supply chain.
RSB certified Advanced Products are products that:
-are sustainably produced – processing along the entire supply chain is in line with sustainable practices as described in the RSB Principles & Criteria, and
-mitigate climate change – system greenhouse gas emissions in the defined production are reduced or avoided compared to the fossil reference product, and
-reduce the risk of fossil depletion – the use of fossil resources in the defined production system is reduced compared to the fossil reference product.
The standard review process was fully in line with the ISEAL requirements on standard-setting and includes consultation with the public and RSB members, followed by the approval from the RSB Assembly of Delegates.
The approved Advanced Products Standard can be found here.
Please find a summary of the process here.
Public consultation: Was held from April 30 – June 30, 2016
Technical Working Group: Was held from March 2017 – December 2017
Approval by Assembly of Delegates: December 2017
RSB invited the public to contribute to the revision of the RSB Standard for end-of-life products, by-products and residues which defines how operators may use these feedstocks for biofuel or advanced fuels production.
This RSB Standard covers specific terminology relevant for this context, defines applicable sustainability criteria and sets out requirements for traceability.
The review process was fully in line with the ISEAL requirements on standard-setting and includes consultation with the public and RSB members, followed by the approval from the RSB Assembly of Delegates.
The approved RSB Standard for Advanced Fuels can be found here.
Please find a summary of the process here.
Public consultation: Was held from January 28 – March 28, 2015
Approval by Assembly of Delegates: Approved
Results of the public consultation were fed into the discussions among RSB members over the Version 3.0 of the P&Cs, which was approved by the RSB Assembly of Delegates in 2016, following the ISEAL Standard-setting Code (www.isealalliance.org).
Terms of Reference for P&Cs revision
The RSB Principles & Criteria represent the core of the RSB certification system. They describe the environmental and social requirements to be met by certified operators to ensure a sustainable production of biomass and biomaterials.
Please contact the RSB Secretariat for a synopsis showing all comments received and how RSB addressed them in the new version of the standard.
Synopsis of Consultation: Comments Received / Narrative
In November 2009, the RSB Steering Board approved Version One of the RSB Principles & Criteria (P&Cs) and the Certification System for pilot testing after public regional outreaches and extensive consultation of the RSB Chambers.
While the P&Cs describe the sustainability requirements that biofuel operators have to comply with the Certification System defines the rules to enable operators to make verifiable claims of compliance with the RSB. This system covers the entire biofuel supply chain and establishes mechanisms for chain of custody management, for claims and communications, and for a few other issues. The RSB Standard system includes additional documents, such as indicators, guidance and guidelines that provide operators and auditors direction during implementation of the standards.
Since the beginning of 2010, the RSB Standard is being field tested through several pilot projects in the Americas, Africa, Asia, and Europe. As decided by the Steering Board in November 2009, the feedback coming from these projects was used to revise and improve the RSB Standard (Version 1.1).Version 1.1 focuses on removing duplications of requirements and resolving contradictions between requirements.
Where pilot projects revealed opportunities for clarification, the Secretariat developed appropriate rewording. It also includes new wording for Principle 3, which reflects the consensus achieved by the Steering Board on Greenhouse gas calculation and threshold.
A one-month public consultation on Version 1.1 was conducted between the 8th of September and the 8th of October 2010. Participants were invited to submit their remarks and suggestions on the Principles & Criteria and associated Guidance by email and on the Bioenergy Wiki www.bioenergywiki.net. As established in the rules of the consultation, all comments are publicly available.
Almost 200 comments and suggestions were received from more than 35 organisations!
In the downloads section alongside this is the summary of changes from Version One to Version 2, including synopsis of the public consultation on Version 1.1, the background documents for the consultation and the compilation of comments received.
Summary of Changes from Version One to Version 2 + synopsis of consultation on Version 1.1
Please note that some comments and suggestions may have not be taken into consideration for the following reasons:
The RSB seeks to be an operational certification standard and begin to issue its first compliance certificates in early 2011. The adoption of Version 2 of the RSB Standard is not the end of the standard development process, but rather the beginning of an evolving standard reflecting current technical, environmental and social realities. The biofuel sector is rapidly changing and the RSB will continue to be open and flexible to integrating new information and technology developments into the Standard to stay relevant into the next decade and beyond. Consequently, regular reviews and new rounds of public consultation on Version 2 will be organised in the future, following ISEAL Code of Conduct.
The RSB Standard is regularly reviewed, and RSB continues to work on streamlining all the components.
We help companies ensure sustainable production through a unique combination of characteristics.
RSB has a two week call for public comment period for any RSB certification applicant.
The RSB worked with partners in the USA to develop a protocol to assist auditors and producers in assessing the volumes of corn stover that can be removed from fields without having a detrimental impact on the ecosystem. Stakeholders involved in the development of the protocol included the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), NRCS Soil Science Division, the USDA Agricultural Research Service as well as US-based industrial and NGO participants.
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