Texas industry leaders are urging the Trump administration to let the Lone Star State issue its own carbon storage permits, and in the meantime, pick up the pace of approvals at the federal level.
The heads of the Texas Oil and Gas Association and other industry groups wrote to the US Environmental Protection Agency's new administrator to flag the "massive backlog" of 161 applications for Class VI well permits. About one-third of those requests are for carbon capture projects in Texas, and many were submitted over two years ago, the signatories noted in the Feb. 11 letter.
"We are encouraged by your stated support for carbon capture during your tenure in the US Congress and during your recent confirmation hearing," the executives wrote to EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin, a former member of congress (R-NY). "Unfortunately, many projects are stalled because of inaction at EPA."
Class VI wells are drilled about a mile deep for injecting CO2 into underground reservoirs. To date, the EPA has permitted only a handful of Class VI wells. But since Congress increased subsidies for carbon capture and storage in 2022, the federal agency has been inundated with applications, frustrating developers and lawmakers with yearslong wait times.
"This creates uncertainty for developers [and] investors, and keeps thousands of potential jobs out of reach," the letter read.
The signatories also included the CEOs of the Texas Association of Manufacturers, the Texas Association of Business and several economic development groups.
Meanwhile, North Dakota and Wyoming — which were granted CO2 storage oversight by the first Trump administration — issued permits in a matter of months.
Under the Biden administration, the EPA also extended Class VI well primacy to two more states: Louisiana and West Virginia. Another eight state agencies are in the process of applying, according to the EPA's website. Among them is the Texas Railroad Commission (RRC), which began the process more than two years ago and is still in the "pre-application activities" phase.
"We request that the EPA expedite — and approve — Texas' primacy application," the signatories added.
Room for reform
The amount of time the EPA is taking to scrutinize Texas' application is no accident, according to Brad Johnston, an analyst who covers carbon capture at Enverus Intelligence Research.
"The EPA and RRC have a bit of a history in terms of Class II wells and seismicity and water injection," Johnston said in a Feb. 11 interview. "So I think the delay and the longer application timeline for Texas is kind of warranted, and they just have to wait and play ball until they get it."
As for the pending permit applications, there is only so much the EPA can do without a lowering of requirements, Johnston added.
"I guess there's hope that some of these applications will move through a little bit quicker because the applicants themselves are understanding the process a little bit more," Johnston said.
The EPA's Class VI well requirements are dictated by the Clean Water Act and more than a dozen other federal and state statutes. But under former US President Joe Biden's Climate Crisis Executive Order, the agency had also been required to review the impacts of its decisions on historically disadvantaged communities.
President Donald Trump has since rescinded Biden's executive order, and the EPA has placed 160 employees who worked on environmental justice on administrative leave, Zeldin announced Feb. 11.
When asked about the impact of the executive actions on carbon storage, an EPA spokesperson said, "EPA will follow all statutory and regulatory requirements in permitting Class VI wells under the Safe Drinking Water Act."
The spokesperson declined to say whether the agency would continue conducting environmental justice reviews on carbon storage projects.
?$responsive$)
