EPA Grants New Financial Relief In Long-Awaited Rule For Carbon Capture

摘要

EPA's just-released rule setting standards for carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) wells, a long-awaited measure intended to bolster deployment of greenhouse gas (GHG) control technologies, offers some new financial relief for well owners and operators responsible for preventing carbon dioxide (CO2) leaks that may contaminate drinking water wells. In the final rule, released by EPA Nov. 22, the agency says for the first time that it is willing to narrow a 50-year financial assurance requirement to cover potential contamination if operators can demonstrate that CCS wells will not endanger drinking water supplies. Industry had previously raised concerns about EPA's requirement in the proposed version of the rule that well operators remain responsible for CCS sites 50 years after they stop injecting CO2, arguing that such a long liability horizon would make it difficult to secure financing for CCS projects.