Texas seeks regulatory authority from EPA over CO2 injection wells

The Texas Railroad Commission approved a measure May 3 that will seek to gain regulatory authority over the state's CO2 injection wells from the Environmental Protection Agency -- an authority that only two other US states currently enjoy.

The commission voted unanimously to submit a preapplication to the EPA to gain enforcement authority over Class VI carbon injection wells. The application is pursuant to a bill passed by the state legislature last year, which instructs the commission to "seek primacy to administer and enforce" Class VI wells for "onshore and offshore geologic storage and associated injection."

The May 3 decision begins a multistep process through which the EPA vets the state's proposed regulatory program. Once submitted, the EPA reviews the proposed rules and offers feedback. After an evaluation period, the agency then closely compares the state's proposed regulations to the federal government's existing regulations -- which were created under the Safe Drinking Water Act -- before approving or rejecting the state's regulatory program.

"I get asked when we're going to submit this about every week," said Commissioner Christi Craddick. "Now we just hope EPA will actually do something."

Gaining Class VI primacy would mean carbon project developers would only need to submit a well permit application to the state rather than to both the state and EPA, thereby expediting the permit approval process, according to a statement issued by the commission.

"We hope our program will be able to streamline the process and allow for the timely issuing of Class VI permits," said Leslie Savage, the commission's chief geologist.

Backlash

Not all in the state are pleased. Commission Shift, a Texas non-profit group that has grown critical of the Railroad Commission for its lax oversight and willingness to accept large campaign contributions from the companies it regulates, expressed little faith that the commission will oversee a well program properly.

"The railroad commissioners are on the record either deriding federal climate standards or saying they don't believe in human-induced climate change, disqualifying them from overseeing such a complex and significant technology," said the group's executive director Virginia Palacios.

In an April 18 letter filed with the EPA last month, Commission Shift and 19 other environmental and community groups urged the agency to reject the state's application.

"Based on the RRC's past performance, where it has allowed oil and gas operators ongoing repeated plugging extensions for oil, gas, and injection wells and flaring rule exceptions, and current problems the state is facing with induced seismicity, surface deformation (sinkholes), and well blowouts, we strongly caution against the EPA granting primacy to the Railroad Commission for the Class VI program," the letter said.

Few states hold authority

The EPA created the Underground Injection Control Program in 2010 under the Safe Drinking Water Act to ensure that underground carbon storage wells do not threaten underground water sources. Under the program, states can apply for regulatory authority over carbon wells by demonstrating that their environmental standards are at least as stringent as the EPA's.

Only two US states currently have primacy over Class VI CO2 wells. North Dakota became the first state in 2018, followed by Wyoming in 2020. Louisiana submitted its preapplication last year. North Dakota also became the first state to approve a carbon storage project under its own authority last year -- a well that injects 180,000 mt/year of CO2 captured from an ethanol manufacturing facility.

"We're probably the biggest state that the EPA will see coming through," Craddick said during the commission's April 12 meeting. "I know they've held Louisiana up. I hope that the EPA understands how important it is for states across the country to have the ability to do this."

An EPA spokesperson did not respond to questions about delays to Louisiana's preapplication process by deadline.