IOGCC: States best positioned to regulate CO2 storage

Sept. 26, 2007
State governments are the logical entities to implement and administer regulations for CO2 storage, IOGCC's Task Force on Carbon Capture and Geologic Storage said.

Paula Dittrick
Senior Staff Writer

HOUSTON, Sept. 26 -- State governments are the logical entities to implement and administer regulations for carbon dioxide storage, the Interstate Oil & Gas Compact Commission Task Force on Carbon Capture and Geologic Storage said.

Lawrence Bengal, task force chairman, said the report outlines a framework to help move carbon storage technologies forward. Bengal also serves as Arkansas Oil & Gas Commission director.

IOGCC released the final report to reporters on Sept. 26 following its approval at the organization's Sept. 25 business session of its annual meeting in New Orleans.

The task force proposes a state-administered carbon capture and storage (CCS) regulatory framework under the authorities of state wishing to participate. No state has a CCS law yet, but California, New Mexico, Texas, Wyoming and at least five other states are considering CCS legislation, Bengal said.

The 30 IOGCC member states and four Canadian affiliate member provinces are well suited for CO2 regulation because of their experience regulating oil and natural gas operations, particularly enhanced oil recovery, Bengal said.

The task force studied the resource management component of CCS involving reservoir management as well as health, safety, and environment. It also addressed guidance for a regulatory framework, but the task force did not address emissions trading.

"Following conservation, geologic storage of CO2 is among the most immediate and viable strategies for mitigating the release of CO2 into the atmosphere," Bengal said. "We envision that the report will result in a substantially consistent system for the geological storage of CO2 regulated at the state and provincial level in conformance with national and international law."

Representatives of the US Environmental Protection Agency were observers of the task force, which worked for 4 years on the framework. The report suggests a "cradle-to-grave" method of regulatory CO2 oversight, with the state being the proposed long-term caretaker.

Scott Anderson, an energy policy specialist for Environmental Defense and an observer to the task force, said model carbon storage requirements are rigorous. Anderson is with the Environmental Defense office in Austin.

"The IOGCC model rules will certainly be subject to revision as they are reviewed by more people and as more knowledge about geological sequestration is made," Anderson said. He called the report "a strong, major step forward in the ongoing conversation about how to do carbon sequestration right."

Recommendations
The report recommends that states and provinces solicit public involvement in the process, and that the process is as transparent as possible. Bengal said the life of the injection sites could be from 20 to 40 years.

The task force proposed a closure period and post-closure period to deal with long-term monitoring and liability issues. The storage site operator would be liable for 10 years after the injection site is plugged, unless otherwise designated by the state regulatory agency.

At the end of the closure period, liability for ensuring that the site remains a secure storage site during the post-closure period would transfer to the state. A trust fund funded by industry and administered by the state would provide oversight during the post-closure period. The trust fund would be funded by an injection fee.

Bengal said the state could handle the long-term caretaker role or it could hire a contractor to do that.

The IOGCC task force efforts were financed by the US Department of Energy and its National Energy Technology Laboratory. The task force now enters its third phase in which it plans to research property ownership issues and infrastructure guidance, particularly for pipelines.

Contact Paula Dittrick at [email protected]