General
By supporting Verra’s investment in a digitalization initiative, these fee changes will help Verra optimize its project review processes and increase transparency and responsiveness.
All the program-specific fee schedules have now been consolidated into a single Verra program fee schedule that lists the fees associated with all services Verra provides.
These fee changes aim to support the execution and achievement of all of Verra’s strategic priorities, which include those related to monitoring and strengthening VVB performance across all Verra standards programs. Read about Verra’s VVB Performance Monitoring Program (PMP) to learn more about the efforts currently underway.
The Verra Registry operates using the GMT zone. All processing dates described in the fee schedule and in the FAQs below will be effective starting at midnight GMT on the specified date.
Registry Account Fees
The new account fees will be effective on January 1, 2025.
No, the account maintenance fee is payable in full with no prorating when a new account is approved and will be subsequently invoiced on the anniversary of the account approval date each year.
The account opening fee is a one-time fee that covers the cost of registering a new account and conducting a “Know Your Customer” (KYC) review. The account maintenance fee is an annual fee that covers the cost of maintaining and updating the account throughout the calendar year.
Yes, all existing account holders will receive an invoice reflecting the updated fee ($750) for the 2025 account maintenance fee on the anniversary date of their account approval. This is a change from the previous policy, where the account maintenance fee was charged annually on January 1.
Yes, all new account holders will receive an invoice for their 2025 account maintenance fee at the updated rate ($750 per year) once their account opening fee invoice is paid and their account is fully activated.
VCS Program Fees
The VCS Program fees will be implemented in stages, with some fees effective December 1, 2024, and others effective January 1, 2025. Please refer to the fee schedule for more details.
No, the account holder will not receive a new invoice and should pay their original VCU issuance levy fee invoice.
It depends. VCS projects that requested verification review before the announcement of the fee changes (October 16, 2024) but have not been approved as of January 1, 2025, will pay the $0.20 VCU issuance levy for issuance requests that are submitted within 30 days of verification approval. To be eligible for this treatment, their VCS status must have been changed to “verification approval requested” in the registry on or before October 16, 2024, and the issuance request has to be submitted within 30 calendar days of the verification approval date in the registry. All issuance requests submitted after 30 days of verification approval will require payment of the updated fee of $0.23 per VCU.
Yes. Projects located in LDCs will not have to pay the new VCU issuance levy ($0.23) until July 1, 2025. All invoices for issuance requests generated between now and July 1, 2025, will reflect a VCU issuance levy of $0.20. Account holders will see an “adjustment factor” on their invoices to discount their invoices to the $0.20 VCU issuance levy.
No. Starting on January 1, 2025, the new fees will apply to all issuance requests regardless of the vintage year. Exceptions may apply for projects that have open verification requests as of October 16, 2024, or projects located in LDCs. Please refer to the FAQs above for more information.
No, the account holder will not receive a new invoice and should pay their original pipeline listing or registration review request fee invoice.
No, the account holder will not be refunded any paid fees if such a request is denied or if the project is rejected.
These fees are due at the time the project request is submitted. Verra does not begin its completeness and accuracy review until the respective project fee has been paid.
The $2,500 verification request review fee covers Verra’s review time, and the $2,500 prepayment portion is being credited toward the project’s future issuance levies.
The account holder will be required to repay only the $2,500 verification request review fee, but not the $2,500 prepayment portion of the fee that is credited toward the project’s future issuance levies.
Yes. Before the review begins, the account holder must pay $3,750 for the registration request review fee and $5,000 for the verification review fee. A portion of the verification review fee ($2,500) will be credited toward the project’s future VCU issuance levies.
This fee is associated with the VCS Program Methodology Change and Requantification Procedure. Projects submitting requantification requests must pay $10,000 at the time of submitting the request.
VCU Label Request Fees
The new ABACUS and Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Emissions Reductions and Carbon Dioxide Removals label request fees will be effective December 1, 2024, and the new Article 6 label request fee will be effective January 1, 2025.
No. The unique label fees are assessed to compensate for the Verra reviews associated with each of these labels. Account holders are expected to pay each fee.
Additional Verra review time is required for each of these labels.
No.
No. The mitigation outcome type label only applies to projects with a mix of reductions and removals.
Please refer to the published labeling guidance for requirements surrounding specific labels.
It depends. Projects that have submitted a request to review their final letter of authorization (LOA) by October 16, 2024, do not have to pay the Article 6 label fee for VCUs labeled retroactively upon LOA approval or when requesting issuance of VCUs with the label before January 1, 2025.
Changes to the VCU Issuance Levy
It will impact all projects that submit a verification request on or after January 1, 2025. If there is a difference between the claimed and approved emission reductions and removals (ERRs) at the time of approval, an adjustment factor will be calculated and applied to proportionally allocate the VCU issuance levy based on claimed ERRs. The adjustment factor will appear on all invoices for issuance requests from that monitoring period.
The adjustment factor is used to ensure VCU issuance levy invoices are calculated based on the amounts of ERRs claimed. It is calculated as claimed ERRs divided by approved ERRs. The adjustment factor will always be at least one.
For verification requests submitted prior to January 1, 2025, or for requests where the claimed and approved amount is the same, the adjustment factor will be one.
Different adjustment factors may be applied to invoiced amounts for different verification periods. All projects will see this adjustment factor on their issuance levy invoice starting January 1, 2025.
The project would pay based on the quantity of ERRs approved.
No. The issuance levy will be based on the reductions and removals submitted ex post in the verification report at the time of the verification request.
No. This fee will be based on the number of reductions and removals claimed, as calculated by the methodology a project uses during each respective monitoring period. If a project proponent updates the methodology they are using, they will calculate the claimed reductions and removals using the new methodology and include this quantity in the respective verification request.
This change will only impact batches of credits associated with verification requests submitted on or after January 1, 2025. The issuance levy for all previously approved verification requests will be calculated based on the amount of ERRs approved. Account holders will see an adjustment factor of one on their invoice.
Registry Transaction Fees (Relevant to VCS and Plastic Program)
They go into effect on December 1, 2024.
They go into effect on January 1, 2025.
The account holder who initiates the transfer, retirement, or cancellation transaction will pay the fee. For example, the account holder who performs the retirement of the credits will pay the retirement fee.
No. The fee will be calculated and billed on a monthly basis.
No. The number of transfers, retirements, and cancellations per account holder will be recorded and billed monthly.
Yes, all account holders will incur these fees.
The fee is not charged for intra-account transfers between sub-accounts. However, if an account holder initiates a transfer to another account, they will pay the fee.
No. Verra will not waive this fee. Account holders are encouraged to leverage the sub-account functionality to minimize the amount of fees they incur. Account holders can grant users access to specific sub-accounts. Please contact registry@verra.org for assistance in changing your account or user profile settings.
There is no fee for cancellations associated with “VCU reconciliation” (related to the VCS Methodology Change and Requantification Procedure), “Compensation for a reversal event,” or “Compensation as a result of a quality control or other internal review.”
Plastic Program Fees
They go into effect on January 1, 2025.
Many stakeholders have found the tiered fee structure confusing and administratively burdensome. Moving to a flat fee will make it easy for stakeholders to estimate their fees.
No, the account holder will not receive a new invoice and should pay their original Plastic Credit issuance levy invoice.
It depends on when the Plastic Program project’s verification is approved for issuance. The fees in Plastic Program Fee Schedule, v1.3 will apply if the project’s verification is approved and issuance is requested before January 1, 2025. If issuance is requested on or after January 1, the new flat fee will apply.
No. Starting on January 1, 2025, the new fees will apply to all issuance requests regardless of the vintage year.
Project review fees are due at the time the project pipeline listing, registration, or verification request is submitted. Verra’s completeness and accuracy review will not begin until the fee is paid.
The review fee will not be refunded, and projects will have to repay the respective review fee when resubmitting a project review request.
Yes, all existing Plastic Program pre-payment credit balances will continue to be applied toward future issuance levies until the balance is exhausted.
Yes. Before the review begins, the account holder must pay the registration request review fee and the verification review fee.
The time and effort associated with Verra’s review of these requests is greater for projects that apply more than one methodology. As such, projects applying one methodology will pay $2,000 per registration request, whereas projects applying more than one methodology will pay $3,000 per request.
SD VISta Program Fees
It goes into effect on December 1, 2024. All SD VISta label requests submitted on or after December 1, 2024, will incur an updated fee of $0.07 per label.
This fee will now be referred to as a “verification fee.” It will remain at $5,000. However, only half of the fee ($2,500) will be credited toward future SD VISta asset and/or SD VISta label issuances starting on February 1, 2025.
These are due at the time the project request is submitted. Verra does not begin its completeness and accuracy review until the related project review fee has been paid.
It depends on when the project’s SD VISta verification is approved for labeling. The fee in the SD VISta Fee Schedule, v1.3 will apply if the project is approved and labeling is requested before December 1, 2024. If issuance is requested on or after December 1, 2024, the updated fee schedule will apply.
No. Starting on December 1, 2024, the new fees will apply to all requests for SD VISta labels regardless of the vintage year.