Notice2022-03205
Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Sequestration Guidance
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Published
February 16, 2022
Issuing agencies
Council on Environmental Quality
Abstract
Consistent with the Utilizing Significant Emissions with Innovative Technologies (USE IT) Act, the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) is announcing the availability of and seeking comment on an interim guidance document, "Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Sequestration Guidance," to assist Federal agencies with the regulation and permitting of CCUS activities in the United States.
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 87 Issue 32 (Wednesday, February 16, 2022)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 32 (Wednesday, February 16, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 8808-8811]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2022-03205]
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COUNCIL ON ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY
[CEQ-2022-0001]
Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Sequestration Guidance
AGENCY: Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ).
ACTION: Notice of availability; request for comments.
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SUMMARY: Consistent with the Utilizing Significant Emissions with
Innovative Technologies (USE IT) Act, the Council on Environmental
Quality (CEQ) is announcing the availability of and seeking comment on
an interim guidance document, ``Carbon Capture, Utilization, and
Sequestration Guidance,'' to assist Federal agencies with the
regulation and permitting of CCUS activities in the United States.
DATES: CEQ must receive comments by March 18, 2022.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by docket number CEQ-
2022-0001, by any of the following methods:
<bullet> Federal eRulemaking Portal: <a href="https://www.regulations.gov">https://www.regulations.gov</a>.
Follow the instructions for submitting comments.
<bullet> Fax: (202) 456-6546.
<bullet> Mail: Council on Environmental Quality, 730 Jackson Place
NW, Washington, DC 20503.
Instructions: All submissions received must include the agency
name, ``Council on Environmental Quality,'' and docket number, CEQ-
2022-0001. All comments received will be posted without change to
<a href="https://www.regulations.gov">https://www.regulations.gov</a>, including any personal information
provided. Do not submit electronically any information you consider to
be private, Confidential Business Information (CBI), or other
information, the disclosure of which is restricted by statute.
Docket: For access to the docket to read background documents or
comments received, go to <a href="https://www.regulations.gov">https://www.regulations.gov</a>.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Amy B. Coyle, Deputy General Counsel,
730 Jackson Place NW, Washington, DC 20503, (202) 395-5750 or
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#d899b5a1f69af69bb7a1b4bd98bbbda9f6bdb7a8f6bfb7ae"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="6c2d0115422e422f031500092c0f091d4209031c420b031a">[email protected]</span></a>.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Pursuant to the Utilizing Significant
Emissions with Innovative Technologies (USE IT) Act, Public Law 116-
260, div. S, 102, 134 Stat. 1182, 2243 (2020), the Council on
Environmental Quality (CEQ) is issuing this guidance for Federal
agencies on the facilitation of reviews associated with the deployment
of carbon capture, utilization, and sequestration (CCUS) projects and
carbon dioxide pipelines, and to support the efficient, orderly, and
responsible deployment of CCUS projects and carbon dioxide pipelines,
where appropriate. This guidance is consistent with CEQ's report,
``Council on Environmental Quality Report to Congress on Carbon
Capture, Utilization, and Sequestration'' (CEQ CCUS Report or Report)
issued in June 2021.\1\
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\1\ CEQ CCUS Report (June 2021), <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/CEQ-CCUS-Permitting-Report.pdf">https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/CEQ-CCUS-Permitting-Report.pdf</a>.
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Context
The CEQ CCUS Report \2\ recognized that to reach the President's
ambitious climate goal of net-zero emissions economy-wide by 2050, the
United States will likely have to capture, transport, and permanently
sequester significant quantities of carbon dioxide. There is growing
scientific consensus
[[Page 8809]]
that, while the first priority for addressing climate change must be to
avoid emissions, CCUS technologies and permanent sequestration are
likely needed to prevent the worst impacts of climate change. CCUS
deployment can and should reduce emissions of other kinds of pollution
in addition to carbon pollution, protect communities from increases in
cumulative pollution, and maintain and create good, union-friendly jobs
across the country.
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\2\ See, e.g., CEQ CCUS Report, ``Executive Summary'' (June
2021), <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/CEQ-CCUS-Permitting-Report.pdf">https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/CEQ-CCUS-Permitting-Report.pdf</a>.
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CCUS refers to a set of technologies that remove carbon dioxide
from the emissions of point sources or the atmosphere, and either
transport it, compress it, and inject it deep in the earth's crust (and
monitor sites to verify safe and secure storage operations), or
transform it for use in industrial processes or as feedstock for useful
commercial products. Technical and economic feasibility of carbon
capture at significant rates has been established in the literature.\3\
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\3\ See, e.g., Alexander Zoelle, et al., ``Bituminous Coal and
Natural Gas to Electricity: >90% Capture Cases Technical Note,''
DOE/NETL-2022/3222 (Dec. 2021); <a href="https://www.netl.doe.gov/projects/files/BituminousCoalandNaturalGastoElectricity_TechnicalNote_Final_123021.pdf">https://www.netl.doe.gov/projects/files/BituminousCoalandNaturalGastoElectricity_TechnicalNote_Final_123021.pdf</a>; Y. Du, et al., ``Zero- and negative-emissions fossil-fired power
plants using CO<INF>2</INF> capture by conventional aqueous
amines+,'' Int'l Journal of Greenhouse Gas Control (Oct. 2021),
<a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijggc.2021.103473">https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijggc.2021.103473</a>; Patrick Brandl, et al.,
``Beyond 90% capture: Possible, but at what cost?,'' Int'l Journal
of Greenhouse Gas Control (Feb. 2021), <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijggc.2020.103239">https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijggc.2020.103239</a>.
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In many cases, the carbon dioxide must be transported, usually by
pipeline, for permanent and verifiable sequestration. There are
important differences between point-source carbon capture and carbon
dioxide removal from the ambient air (CDR). However, per Congressional
direction, and, for the purposes of this guidance, CCUS includes
approaches such as direct air capture (DAC), which captures carbon
dioxide from the ambient air, and bioenergy with carbon capture and
sequestration (BECCS) techniques, where transportation and permanent
and verifiable sequestration is required to meet climate goals. The
Administration recognizes the imperative for CCUS actions to be
considered in a timely manner and in the context of a strong regulatory
regime that includes early consultation with Tribal Nations and
meaningful engagement with communities, stakeholders, and other
sovereigns.
To advance these aims, the President is committed to increasing
support for CCUS research, development, demonstration, and deployment
(RDD&D), enhancing the Section 45Q tax incentive for CCUS (Internal
Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (``Section 45Q'')), appropriately
implementing the robust and effective regulatory regime that exists in
the United States, and ensuring that CCUS technologies are informed by
community perspectives and are consistent with the Administration's
climate, public health, and economic goals.
To reach the President's ambitious domestic climate goal of net-
zero emissions economy-wide by 2050, the United States will likely have
to capture, transport, and permanently sequester significant quantities
of carbon dioxide. As explained in more detail below, deploying CCUS
technologies will require agencies to manage and complete sound,
effective, and efficient environmental analyses under a variety of
statutes, while also ensuring that CCUS systems deliver desired
societal outcomes with broad and deep public support. These outcomes
should generate societal net benefits, including emissions reductions.
In short, the successful widespread deployment of responsible CCUS will
require strong and effective permitting, efficient regulatory regimes,
meaningful public engagement early in the review and deployment
process, and measures to safeguard public health and the environment.
Agencies have already taken actions in the past decade to develop a
robust CCUS regulatory framework to protect the environment and public
health across multiple statutes. This framework requires monitoring and
compliance with a variety of reporting requirements. This guidance is
intended to address opportunities for clarifications and improvements
to ensure that CCUS is responsibly scaled in a timely manner, while
maintaining the integrity of public health, the environment, and the
economy.
Guidance
CEQ issues the following guidance to facilitate reviews associated
with the deployment of CCUS and to promote the efficient, orderly, and
responsible development and permitting of CCUS projects at an increased
scale in line with the Administration's climate, economic, and public
health goals.
1. Facilitating Federal Decision Making on CCUS Projects and Carbon
Dioxide Pipelines
The process for permitting a CCUS project is similar to that for
any industrial activity, and the CEQ CCUS Report \4\ recognized that
the Federal Government has an existing regulatory framework that is
capable of safeguarding the environment, public health, and public
safety as CCUS projects move forward. The Report also provided an
inventory of Federal permits and reviews that are potentially relevant
to any CCUS project.
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\4\ See, e.g., CEQ CCUS Report, ``Key Findings,'' ``Section
5.1,'' and ``Appendix A'' (June 2021), <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/CEQ-CCUS-Permitting-Report.pdf">https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/CEQ-CCUS-Permitting-Report.pdf</a>.
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Likewise, the Report identified a number of areas where CEQ could
work with agencies to continue to facilitate efficient, orderly, and
responsible deployment of CCUS. For example, federally funded CCUS
projects or CCUS activities on federally managed lands may trigger
obligations under a variety of statutes including the National
Environmental Policy Act (NEPA); the National Historic Preservation
Act; the Clean Water Act; the Clean Air Act; the Safe Drinking Water
Act; the Marine Protection, Research, and Sanctuaries Act; the Outer
Continental Shelf Lands Act; the Endangered Species Act (ESA); the
Marine Mammal Protection Act, the Migratory Bird Treaty Act; the Bald
and Golden Eagle Protection Act; the Natural Gas Pipeline Safety Act;
the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1899; the Federal Land Policy and
Management Act; and the Hazardous Liquid Pipeline Safety Act. Other
safety, environmental, and ecological requirements may also apply.
To facilitate the deployment of CCUS in the United States, in line
with the Administration's climate and economic goals, agencies should
consider developing programmatic environmental reviews,\5\ such as
tiered documents or programmatic environmental impact statements
(PEISs) under NEPA, or programmatic biological opinions under the ESA,
where such analyses can facilitate more efficient and effective
environmental reviews of multiple projects while maintaining strong
community engagement.\6\
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\5\ See, e.g., Effective Use of Programmatic NEPA Reviews (Dec.
18, 2014), <a href="https://ceq.doe.gov/docs/ceq-regulations-and-guidance/Effective_Use_of_Programmatic_NEPA_Reviews_Final_Dec2014_searchable.pdf">https://ceq.doe.gov/docs/ceq-regulations-and-guidance/Effective_Use_of_Programmatic_NEPA_Reviews_Final_Dec2014_searchable.pdf</a>.
\6\ See, e.g., 40 CFR 1501.11; 43 CFR 46.140.
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For example, a PEIS could be prepared for a region where agencies
anticipate review of multiple CCUS projects. In 2012, the Department of
Energy (DOE) and Bureau of Land Management (BLM) completed a PEIS that
evaluated actions that would facilitate utility-scale solar energy
development on public lands in six
[[Page 8810]]
southwestern states.\7\ That same year, BLM also worked with the U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Service to complete a programmatic consultation under
the ESA addressing the solar energy program's potential effects on
listed species.\8\ Agencies could apply a similar approach in the CCUS
context, preparing programmatic analyses assessing impacts associated
with the deployment of CCUS, such as to help identify appropriate areas
for CCUS project deployment.
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\7\ See DOE and BLM, ``Solar Energy Development Programmatic
Environmental Impact Statement'' (July 2012), <a href="https://solareis.anl.gov/documents/fpeis/index.cfm">https://solareis.anl.gov/documents/fpeis/index.cfm</a>.
\8\ See Bureau of Land Management Solar Energy Program,
``Endangered Species Act Section 7 Compliance'' (August 2013),
<a href="https://blmsolar.anl.gov/program/laws/esa/">https://blmsolar.anl.gov/program/laws/esa/</a>.
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As always, agencies conducting NEPA analyses regarding proposed
CCUS actions must analyze all reasonably foreseeable direct, indirect,
and cumulative effects, including cumulative pollution from numerous
sources. Agencies should work with communities and Tribes during the
scoping phase to identify alternatives to the proposed action,
including alternatives that reduce environmental impacts, especially on
overburdened and underserved communities.
The USE IT Act established CCUS as a sector under Title 41 of the
Fixing America's Surface Transportation (FAST-41) Act. However, the
Federal Permitting Infrastructure Permitting Council has not received
any CCUS project applications for FAST-41 coverage as of the issuance
of this guidance; therefore, agencies have not had the opportunity to
develop a comprehensive permitting timetable for any CCUS project. CEQ
recommends that the Permitting Council Executive Director, in
consultation with the Permitting Council member agencies, establish an
appropriate facilitating agency for each general CCUS project category.
CEQ also recommends that the Permitting Council Executive Director, in
consultation with the Permitting Council member agencies, develop for
each category of CCUS project recommended performance schedules.
Identification of the environmental reviews and authorizations most
commonly required will help facilitate timely reviews of such projects.
Separately, agencies may also consider implementing memoranda of
understanding to establish the process by which they will collaborate
on anticipated CCUS projects and related activities.
Carbon dioxide pipelines and permanent sequestration are critical
to the future nationwide deployment of CCUS. Extensive analysis
identifies the priority pathways and necessary pipeline infrastructure
required to achieve CCUS and permanent sequestration at a climate-
relevant scale across all industries, but significant investments,
planning, and community engagement and analysis are required. An
expanded carbon dioxide pipeline and sequestration network in the
United States should be accompanied by close monitoring and enforcement
of existing regulations and development of new tools to monitor and
improve safety while also reducing the number of incidents that result
in leakage of carbon dioxide.
To facilitate effective permanent sequestration, the Infrastructure
Investment and Jobs Act (the IIJA) provides additional funding for
implementation of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Class VI
Underground Injection Control (UIC) Program, including funds that could
enable increased staff capacity and training at agencies with
geological sequestration permitting authorities, and providing grants
for States with UIC Class VI primary enforcement authority (primacy) or
to States seeking primacy. The IIJA also expands the Carbon Storage
Validation and Testing Demonstration Program at DOE to include a large-
scale carbon storage commercialization program to demonstrate the
feasibility, site characterization, permitting and construction stages
of permanent, commercial-scale geologic sequestration projects. In
addition, the IIJA amended the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act to
authorize the Secretary of the Interior to grant leases, easements, and
rights-of-way to support CCUS activities on the outer continental shelf
(OCS). It also required the Department of the Interior (DOI) to
promulgate related regulations within a year. CEQ will collaborate with
agencies and monitor progress related to these activities and
regulations in the coming months, including authorizing use of geologic
pore space on Federal lands.
To build public confidence and increase transparency in geologic
carbon sequestration activities, CEQ further recommends that agencies
responsible for greenhouse gas inventories and related reporting, such
as EPA, include provisions that increase transparency regarding CCUS
activities in the United States. For example, the EPA could consider
enhancing reporting for CCUS and carbon capture and utilization (CCU)
in proposed rule revisions to the Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program.
Transparently and reliably quantifying the amount of carbon dioxide
permanently sequestered also requires monitoring and verification,
which is required as part of the EPA's UIC Class VI permitting and
Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program requirements for geologic
sequestration of carbon dioxide. For additional transparency regarding
geologic sequestration activities in the United States, agencies such
as DOI, DOE, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
(NOAA) should consider expanding existing efforts, and (when feasible)
implementing a national program for monitoring deep geologic carbon
sequestration.
On pipelines, the IIJA establishes the Carbon Dioxide
Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Program to provide
flexible Federal loans and grants for building carbon dioxide pipelines
designed with excess capacity. Because multiple Federal and State
agencies will be responsible for planning and permitting priority
pipeline pathways, and in order to ensure that these actions are
aligned with climate, economic, and public health objectives, CEQ will
convene the relevant agencies to assess opportunities for improvement
in carbon dioxide pipeline permitting.
CEQ also recommends that the agencies with oversight authority for
carbon dioxide pipelines update regulations, as appropriate, to address
the deployment of CCUS technologies. For example, the impacts of
climate change should be planned for and addressed in the design,
construction, and maintenance of carbon dioxide pipelines. Agencies
with regulatory authority, such as the Department of Transportation's
(DOT) Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, should
consider updating criteria for geohazard risk evaluation and emergency
planning and enforce the application of those criteria to carbon
dioxide and other pipeline operations in the United States. In
addition, agencies should provide updated training for first responders
regarding potential carbon dioxide pipeline incidents. Agencies should
also consider developing and applying protocols for safety monitoring
and enforcement that also consider the company's capacity to respond to
an incident should one occur, evaluating financial risk.
2. Public Engagement and Interdisciplinary Research
The scale of implementation of CCUS likely to be required to
achieve climate goals understandably raises concerns
[[Page 8811]]
about public health and environmental impacts, as well as questions
about who stands to benefit from the deployment of these systems.
Responsible CCUS projects should engage communities and Tribes in co-
development of projects and approaches; protect communities from
pollution; and incorporate environmental justice and equity
considerations, especially in communities that are already exposed to
multiple pollution sources.
CEQ recommends that agencies undertake measures to facilitate a
transparent process and meaningful public engagement. In addition to
developing robust Tribal consultation and stakeholder engagement plans
and conducting regular engagement, agencies should prioritize the
development and application of environmental justice best practices for
CCUS efforts.\9\ Actions that should be taken include:
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\9\ See, e.g., E.O. 12898, Federal Actions to Address
Environmental Justice in Minority Populations and Low-Income
Populations (Feb. 11, 1994); Environmental Justice: Guidance Under
the National Environmental Policy Act (Dec. 10, 1997), <a href="https://www.epa.gov/sites/default/files/2015-02/documents/ej_guidance_nepa_ceq1297.pdf">https://www.epa.gov/sites/default/files/2015-02/documents/ej_guidance_nepa_ceq1297.pdf</a>; Promising Practices for EJ
Methodologies in NEPA Reviews (Mar. 2016), <a href="https://www.epa.gov/sites/default/files/2016-08/documents/nepa_promising_practices_document_2016.pdf">https://www.epa.gov/sites/default/files/2016-08/documents/nepa_promising_practices_document_2016.pdf</a>.
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<bullet> Evaluating the impacts of proposed CCUS actions on
potential host communities early in the planning process;
<bullet> Providing information about the impacts, costs and
benefits of CCUS in advance of Tribal consultation and stakeholder
engagement;
<bullet> Consulting Tribal Nations on potential CCUS projects in a
manner that strengthens Nation-to-Nation relationships;
<bullet> Avoiding the imposition of additional burdens on
overburdened and underserved communities, including by evaluating
direct, indirect, and cumulative effects and identifying and
implementing appropriate mitigation and avoidance measures; and
<bullet> Ensuring transparent decisions and accountability to
Tribes and communities with respect to any applicable mitigation
measures designed to reduce environmental impacts.
When feasible, CEQ further recommends that agencies with
substantial CCUS technology development and deployment activities
initiate interdisciplinary RDD&D programs and robust community
engagement in the context of CCUS technology deployment. This can help
to ensure that RDD&D on CCUS is informed by diverse academic
perspectives and aligned with community objectives and goals. These
agencies include DOE, EPA, DOT, and the National Science Foundation.
The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy should
coordinate this interdisciplinary research.
3. Understanding Environmental Impacts
The CEQ CCUS Report also highlighted the need to further assess and
quantify potential impacts on local criteria air pollutants and other
emissions resulting from carbon capture retrofits at industrial
facilities in response to concerns regarding potential cumulative
emissions from single and/or multiple sources.\10\ In addition to
assessing criteria pollutants associated with CCUS activities, agencies
should also assess carbon dioxide emissions from project
infrastructure. OCS sequestration projects should further consider
possible impacts on water column carbonate chemistry.
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\10\ See, e.g., CEQ CCUS Report at 40 (June 2021), <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/CEQ-CCUS-Permitting-Report.pdf">https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/CEQ-CCUS-Permitting-Report.pdf</a>.
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CEQ recommends that agencies, including EPA and DOE, collaborate on
studies regarding the effect of carbon capture deployment on air
quality in the United States. Such studies will be coordinated by CEQ,
and may include evaluating use of air dispersion modeling as part of
comprehensive air quality impacts analysis and will be used to develop
additional guidance for considering air quality impacts as part of the
planning and permitting process for CCUS activities. CEQ also
recommends that agencies, including DOE, EPA, DOI, and NOAA,
collaborate on additional studies that are needed to better monitor and
verify CCUS results and understand the impacts to living marine
resources associated with geologic sequestration and monitoring efforts
on the OCS.
In addition, CEQ recommends that agencies share best practices with
respect to data collection and reporting on CCUS projects. For example,
DOE now requires recipients of funding to collect and report data
regarding the non-carbon dioxide air emissions associated with carbon
capture projects.
4. Carbon Capture and Utilization and Carbon Dioxide Removal
Each technical approach for CCU and CDR differs in technical
maturity, market potential, cost, and carbon dioxide reduction
potential. Each may also have different societal and environmental
impacts and benefits. Enabling commercialization of CCU and CDR will
ultimately require increased transparency to build public confidence in
the emissions reductions associated with these projects and their
durability. Such transparency can be accomplished through publicly
available analyses, such as life-cycle analyses, and/or the
establishment of standards or certification for products.
Commercialization of CCU and CDR can be further expedited through
Federal procurement and other economic incentives. The IIJA supports
engineered carbon removal, including by creating regional DAC hubs.
Agencies with activities and responsibilities for CCU and CDR
regulations, standards, and greenhouse gas reporting, such as EPA, DOE,
the National Institute of Standards and Technology, and other relevant
agencies, should consider consolidating and publishing a repository for
life-cycle analysis (LCA) methodology, results, and information related
to CCU and CDR, building on existing collaboration through the Federal
LCA Commons. As DOE further develops standards and certifications
needed to facilitate the commercialization of CCU technologies as
required in the IIJA, CEQ recommends that DOE and other agencies with
equities in CCUS standards consider evaluating how standards and
certifications can increase Federal procurement of CCU, CCUS, and CDR
technologies.
Brenda Mallory,
Chair.
[FR Doc. 2022-03205 Filed 2-15-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3325-F2-P
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