Business Leaders Urge EPA to Approve Texas’ Application for Carbon Storage Regulatory Authority
In a letter submitted on October 7, 2024, 32 leading business organizations from across Texas appealed to US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region 6 Administrator Dr. Earthea Nance to approve the Texas Railroad Commission’s application for Class VI Well Primacy and initiate a public comment period. The letter is signed by statewide organizations like the Texas Association of Business and Texas Association of Manufacturers, as well as Gulf Coast leaders like the Greater Houston Partnership, Greater Port Arthur Chamber and the Corpus Christi Regional Economic Development Corporation.
Primacy is a process for allowing states to assume oversight and permitting of injection wells used to permanently store carbon dioxide deep underground, typically 1-2 miles beneath the surface. State agencies undergo a rigorous application period to demonstrate their ability to enforce the same federal safety and environmental standards as the EPA.
In their letter, business leaders strongly expressed confidence in the Texas Railroad Commission’s ability to undertake the regulatory responsibility for carbon injection wells, noting that the Commission “has the resources and experience” to oversee this growing sector of the oil and gas industry and issue permit decisions in a timely manner.
Due to skyrocketing permitting requests and the EPA’s limited resources, it can currently take as long as five years for the EPA to issue permits to carbon capture and storage (CCS) projects. The Houston Chronicle reported last year that these factors have resulted in only a few carbon storage projects being permitted nationally, despite more than 100 permit applications pending. Conversely, the Texas Railroad Commission has the experienced staff, local knowledge and resources to issue timely decisions, often in less than a year.
The letter also underscores the vitally important role that primacy will play in expanding the adoption of carbon capture and storage in Texas arguing that “Texans are ready to embrace the opportunity to become a global leader” in CCS. By creating a more efficient regulatory process, Texas’ energy, petrochemical and manufacturing industries will be better positioned to stay competitive and respond to growing global markets for low-carbon products. They underscored to Dr. Nance that recent studies show expanding CCS “could attract at least $60 billion in private investment to our state’s economy.”
Expanding CCS is also an opportunity to improve our environment and meet standards for emissions reductions. The letter highlights why Texas is uniquely positioned to be a leader, pointing to an experienced workforce, existing infrastructure and underground geological capacity onshore and offshore to “sequester 500 billion metric tons of CO2, equal to 130 years of US industrial emissions.”
Last year, the EPA granted primacy to neighboring Louisiana, which has also taken legislative steps to cut red tape, and Texas’ economy could be at risk of losing out on significant investments from companies if our state cannot create a level playing field for CCS technology to grow.
The State of Texas’ application to the EPA was submitted nearly two years ago. Now, it is time for the EPA to move forward. CCS is a safe, proven technology and Texas’ industries are already demonstrating their interest in unleashing the enormous potential for CCS to expand our economic development and improve the environment at industrial facilities across the Lone Star State. Gaining primacy is a critical step toward implementing a more efficient regulatory process that can move our energy and manufacturing sector into the future.
The full letter can be found here.
