U.S.

CCS Policy and Regulation

Rebecca C. “Becky” Smyth
Gulf Coast Carbon Center, Bureau of Economic Geology, Jackson
School of Geosciences, The University of Texas at Austin
Dr. Susan Hovorka, PI; Dr. Michael Young, Associate Director for
Environment; Dr. Scott Tinker, Director

International Energy Agency, Greenhouse Gas Control Program,

CO2 Capture and Storage (CCS) Summer School
July 7, 2014
Components of CO2 Capture and
Storage (CCS)

– Science & Technology

– Economics
– International Policy &
Regulation
– U.S. Policy & Regulation
– Public Acceptance
 Economics Speak
CO2 pipeline +$
Commercially
CCS Enabled CCS EOR

Oil + brine reservoir

-$ (without tax or other financial, EOR = enhanced oil recovery

policy, or regulatory incentives)

Brine reservoir
Governmental Structure - United States of America
(entities involved in CO2 policy and regulation or research )
Legislative Branch Executive Branch Judicial Branch

(1) President (2) Vice President

(3)
ex. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Cabinet ex. Department of
Education
&
ex. National Science Foundation (NSF)
Agencies ex. Department of
ex. National Aeronautics and Space Transportation
Administration (NASA)
ex. Department of
ex. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Energy (sponsor CCS
research)

Office of Air and Radiation Office of Water ex. Department of

ex. Clean Air Act, ex. Safe Drinking Water Act, Interior
Greenhouse Gas Reporting Underground Injection
Program Control Program
ex. U.S. Geological
Survey (USGS)
ex. Class II wells (CO2 injection for ex. Class VI wells
enhanced oil recovery) (CO2 injection for ex. Bureau of Ocean
brine storage) Energy Management
State Jurisdiction (BOEM)
Jurisdiction U.S. or
Texas,
shared between U.S.
Wyoming,
and States Shared jurisdiction over the seabed and
N. Dakota,
etc. subseabed of the Outer Continental Shelf
 U.S. Energy and CCS Policy Development
• 2005 – U.S. Energy Policy Act (provided for many new programs); examples:
 amended in 2009 for the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act:
included development of greenhouse gas reduction technologies:
nuclear, geothermal, and renewable energy (i.e., solar, wave, wind) and
coal power generation with CCS
 authorized Department of Interior to develop energy from sources other
than oil and gas on Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) lands.
 exempted oil and gas producers from certain requirements of the Safe
Drinking Water Act (SDWA)
 extended daylight savings time; extended electricity transmission
standards; provided tax breaks for home energy conservation and
installation of renewable energy generation; provided incentives for
additional oil and gas drilling in the Gulf of Mexico
• 2007 – U.S. Supreme Court case: State of Massachusetts v. U.S. EPA – forced
EPA to regulate greenhouse gases (including CO2) as atmospheric pollutants
under the Clean Air Act
• 2009 – Waxman-Markey cap-and-trade legislation (American Clean Energy and
Security Act) passed U.S. House of Representatives but not Senate
• 2014 – President Obama declaration for use of executive order to cut CO2
emissions from coal-fired power plants by up to 20% via regulation being
developed by the U.S. EPA
CO2 Regulations in the U.S.A.
- current, future, and in-between
• Onshore and offshore
– EPA jurisdiction onshore with some States having primacy
– State jurisdiction in offshore State waters, 3 to 9 nautical miles
(nmi) from shoreline; 1 nmi = 1.852 km
– U.S. BOEM/BSEE1 (dual sets of laws) jurisdiction over OCS,
seaward edge of State waters to 200 nmi offshore, which is
seaward limit of EEZ2
– Pore space ownership and mineral rights; onshore – private;
offshore – States and U.S. government
• Onshore air and water
– EPA Clean Air Act (CAA), Mandatory Greenhouse Gas Reporting
Rules
– SDWA, Underground Injection Control Program (UIC), Class II
wells - fluid injection associated with oil and gas operations (e.g.
enhanced oil recovery, EOR), Class VI wells – CO2 injection for
brine storage, and Class II to Class VI transition rules
1BOEM = Bureau of Ocean Energy Management – OCS mineral leasing; BSEE = Bureau of Safety and
Environmental Enforcement – OCS human and environmental safety. 2Exclusive Economic Zone
Outer Continental Shelf (OCS)
U.S. term – seaward edge of State waters to
seaward edge of EEZ; international political boundary

http://www.arcgis.com/home/webmap/viewer.html?webmap=a452068c1f7f4561ba9c7fee2961d359&extent=
-86.2565,33.1758,-65.3824,42.8933
CCS U.S. Offshore Regulations – in progress
• U.S. Department of Interior currently regulates
offshore oil and gas exploration and production
(primary and secondary) on OCS lands via
BOEM/BSEE; BEG is developing technical guidelines
to help BOEM/BSEE formulate regulations for
offshore CCS.
• U.S. Department of Energy is participating in Carbon
Sequestration Leadership Forum offshore task force
and has supported offshore CCS research (Texas
offshore Miocene Gulf of Mexico, California
Wilmington Graben, IOGCC task force). We hope this
research support will continue in the form of a
national or international collaborative offshore
demonstration project(s).
 Gulf of Mexico Miocene
CO2 Site Characterization Mega Transect

Tip Meckel & Ramon Trevino

+
Geology & Geophysics: Carr, Ditkof, Nicholson, Miller, Wallace
Geochemistry: Romanak, Lu, Yang, Zhang
BEG Associate Director: Michael H. Young

Texas Bureau of Economic Geology

Gulf Coast Carbon Center

Jackson School of Geosciences

The University of Texas at Austin

In collaboration with: LANL, EDF, Sandia Tech.

CCS Onshore Regulations – EPA-enforced
regulations for protection of air and water
Important term – Underground Source of Drinking Water (USDW), water
with less than 10,000 milligrams per liter total dissolved solids

Injection of fluids into the subsurface is regulated under the U.S. EPA,
SDWA, UIC program began in 1980. Examples of types of wells:
- Class I injection wells (since 1984): subsurface disposal of
hazardous waste, industrial non-hazardous liquid, and municipal
wastewater beneath the deepest USDW; requires evaluation of well
integrity, but no monitoring
- Class II injection wells (operating since ~1930s, probably earlier):
subsurface disposal of fluids associated with oil and gas activity;
injection of fluids (e.g. brine - water-flooding or secondary recovery,
CO2 or other solvents for tertiary recovery) for EOR; requires evaluation
of well integrity, but no systematic shallow or deep subsurface
monitoring required
- Class VI injection wells (since 2010): subsurface injection of CO2
into brine formations for storage or sequestration; monitoring,
verification, and accounting (MVA) plan required; this includes deep and
shallow subsurface intervals
- Proposed rules for transition of wells from Class II to Class VI
CCS Onshore Regulations – EPA-enforced
regulations for protection of air and water
Important distinction – CO2 emitted or captured from industrial sources,
anthropogenic CO2 (CO2-A), and CO2 produced from geologic sources

2009 & 2010 – EPA finalized “Mandatory Reporting of Greenhouse

Gases” followed by Technical Support Document for Injection and
Sequestration of CO2: Subparts RR and UU” of the rule.
- Subpart W – reporting from petroleum and natural gas
facilities; e.g. vented emissions from machinery - also applies
offshore
- Subpart RR – reporting from facilities that inject CO2-A for
geologic sequestration; requires a monitoring, reporting, and
verification (MRV) plan; currently at discretion of EOR (Class II)
operators
- Subpart UU – reporting from facilities that inject CO2 (natural
or CO2-A) for any reason, including EOR.
Summary
CO2 is an air pollutant; CO2 and other emissions from industrial activities will
harm the atmosphere and enhance global warming; CO2 is a commodity that can
increase U.S. energy security via EOR, and some CO2 gets trapped in subsurface,
or stored, during EOR; EOR can help finance development of CO2 capture
technology; CO2 in water lowers pH through formation of carbonic acid, but
people pay lots of money for carbonated drinks; CO2 will dissolve in groundwater,
which becomes more salty with depth, and be trapped by other physical and
chemical (minor) mechanisms, but is buoyant like oil and gas, so it could migrate
up into USDWs, which by itself is not a problem; but if the aquifer matrix (rocks)
contain trace metals that are toxic in high concentrations, dissolution of these
rocks could release such metals; we think charged metallic complexes will
quickly be adsorbed back onto ubiquitous clay minerals or, more slowly, be
incorporated into carbonate mineral cements; injection of CO2 will increase
pressure in the subsurface and possibly displace formation brine toward drinking
water resources, but this is less of a problem in EOR operations where fluid (oil
and brine) production relieves formation pressure; characterization of the shallow
subsurface and monitoring of the deep subsurface are needed to provide
assurance that USDWs are not being impacted by CCS; extensive policy and
regulations exist for injection/withdrawal of waste fluids/oil and gas in the U.S.A.
both onshore and offshore; policy and regulations for onshore CCS in brine
formations is set by EPA, but is less certain for CCS with EOR; policy and
regulations for offshore CCS both in brine formations and in association with
onshore and offshore EOR need more work. Confusing isn’t it?
Conclusions
• Scientists, engineers, and industry spokespeople
need to more fully communicate their knowledge
of subsurface fluid migration in order to guide
formulation and/or modification of CCS policy and
regulations; these need to be in the best interest
of multiple stakeholders, onshore and offshore,
both in the U.S. and internationally.

• Although U.S. policy is somewhat confusing with

regard to CCS (brine storage and EOR), private
industry, with the aid of the U.S. Department of
Energy, is moving forward anyway. This is good
for everyone.
Examples of onshore
CO2-A and CO2 / CO2- Jackson Dome
A, EOR projects natural CO2
source

sponsored by U.S.
industry and DOE

New Orleans
Houston

0 100 200 mi

Corpus
Christi
CO2 source
CO2 EOR injection
QAe708