Illinois' Pritzker Signs Law to Regulate CO2 Storage, Pipelines

July 19, 2024

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by Jeffrey Tomich (Politico Energywire) The measure includes a moratorium on CO2 pipeline approvals while federal regulators revamp regulations. -- Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker on Thursday signed into law rules for the deployment of carbon capture storage and pipelines — a rare kumbaya moment for a climate technology that remains divisive, especially on the left.

Enactment of the SAFE CCS Act passed by state lawmakers in late May makes Illinois just the second state after California to put a moratorium on approval of carbon dioxide pipelines while federal regulators overhaul regulations for such projects in the wake of a 2020 pipeline failure in Satartia, Mississippi.

The Illinois law also comes just weeks after regulators in neighboring Iowa approved that state’s portion of Summit Carbon Solutions’ $8 billion CO2 pipeline connecting dozens of ethanol and fertilizer plants across the Corn Belt with a site in North Dakota, where the carbon pollution would be injected deep underground.

Pritzker, a Democrat, was joined at the bill signing at the carbon capture education center at Richland Community College in Decatur, Illinois, by legislative leaders and representatives from agriculture giant ADM, as well as labor, manufacturing and environmental groups. The governor touted the economic potential of carbon capture technology for Illinois and said the regulations “set a national standard for safety and environmental protection.” READ MORE

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After years of controversy, state pauses CO2 pipeline construction, for now (IPM News/Capital News Illinois)
Leak at ADM carbon dioxide sequestration well draws EPA rebuke -- The Biden administration has backed carbon capture as a key part of its effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to half of 2005 levels by 2030. (Politico Pro)

Excerpt from IPM News/Capital News Illinois: The law issues new regulations for carbon capture and sequestration, a technology used to take carbon dioxide pollution and store it deep underground. Sandstone formations in central Illinois are uniquely suited for gas storage, which has attracted national attention to the region as a possible hub for carbon dioxide storage.

“We are essentially attempting to refossilize fossil fuels – put them back under the ground and keep them from going into the air and contributing to global warming,” state Sen. Bill Cunningham, D-Chicago, said at a news conference Thursday. “That’s very important work.”

But some oppose the technology on environmental grounds while others say the pipelines used to transport carbon dioxide from where it’s produced to storage sites brings the risk of catastrophic – and potentially lethal – failure.

“There are a range of opinions within the environmental community on carbon capture technology,” Christine Nannicelli of the Sierra Club Illinois chapter said during Thursday’s bill signing. “That said, there is overwhelming agreement within our broad coalition on the need to have critical safeguards in place.”

The legislation signed Thursday, which was backed by the Sierra Club and other environmental groups, as well as business and organized labor groups, contains provisions that Nannicelli said are the “strongest carbon capture protections in the nation.”

It requires developers of carbon capture projects to obtain state permits that require safety monitoring during a project’s life cycle and for at least three decades after it finishes. It also requires that the projects result in a net reduction of greenhouse gases – satisfying some environmentalists who worry companies might end up contributing more pollution in building these projects than they would actually sequester.

Pritzker on Thursday pitched the technology – and its regulation in Illinois – as a boon for the state’s economic development.

“This bill adds carbon capture to the growing list of new and burgeoning industries being built right here in our state,” Pritzker said.

This mirrored comments from business leaders Thursday, such as Chris Cuddy, an executive at ADM, the Illinois-based company that operates the oldest large-scale carbon sequestration project in the U.S.

“CCS is an enabler for job creation, innovation and economic growth and the more we do to support it, from this legislation to the building of critical infrastructure, the more this region and the state will benefit,” Cuddy said.

In the legislature, the bill drew bipartisan criticism – as well as bipartisan support.

Republicans in the Statehouse generally opposed the bill, with many noting that no Republicans were involved in the final negotiations around its details. That’s despite most carbon capture projects being located in rural areas which tend to vote for more conservative officials.

Multiple lawmakers also raised concerns over the potential risks to drinking water, notably the Mahomet Aquifer in central Illinois, the sole source of drinking water for hundreds of thousands of people around central Illinois.

“We based it on the science and the data and the modeling that we had access to,” Rep. Ann Williams, D-Chicago, said when asked about the aquifer. “So (we) felt very comfortable about how we were providing safeguards to drill, not just through the aquifer, but anywhere in the state of Illinois.”

While multiple projects have been proposed in Illinois, the largest – from companies Navigator CO2 and Wolf Carbon Solutions – were either canceled or stalled in the face of opposition from landowners and regulators.

One smaller project, from Gibson City-based One Earth Energy, was under consideration for a permit from the Illinois Commerce Commission, but the company requested that the case be pulled in June in anticipation of the bill signing. An administrative judge formally suspended considerations in the case on June 10.

“While this legislation sets some new requirements for our planned carbon capture system in Ford and McLean counties, it creates a path forward for carbon capture here in Illinois,” Steve Kelly, president of One Earth Energy, said in a statement Thursday. “We’re committed to meeting those standards set by our elected officials and we’re excited to continue moving forward in this process.”

Kelly added that the company plans to file new paperwork with the ICC when the moratorium is lifted. READ MORE

Excerpt from Politico Pro: EPA has launched an enforcement action against the country’s first underground carbon sequestration facility after a leak at one of its wells was discovered earlier this year, according to documents obtained by POLITICO.

The August 14 notice of violation alleges that agribusiness giant Archer Daniels Midland violated the permit for its facility in Decatur, Illinois, by allowing liquid carbon to migrate out of the approved storage site and failing to adequately monitor the well and follow its emergency response plan.

The Biden administration has backed carbon capture as a key part of its effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to half of 2005 levels by 2030, though the long-term viability of the technology has yet to be proven. More than a dozen projects are operating in the U.S., and most are tied to biofuel production plants. The administration is facing pressure to speed the permitting process for nearly 150 more.

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correction:An earlier version of this report contained incorrect units for the amount of liquid carbon that leaked. READ MORE