SCS Engineers’ authors Kacey Garber, PG, and Charles Hostetler, PhD, conclude that the Illinois Safety and Aid for the Environment in Carbon Capture and Sequestration Act (SAFE CCS Act) of 2024 plays a crucial role in providing clarity for prospective project owners interested in developing value-added products based on low-carbon intensity ethanol. The Act’s potential to expand the market for low-carbon intensity ethanol through value-added products such as sustainable aviation fuel and other chemicals can significantly enhance the financial incentives for carbon sequestration projects, paving the way for a more sustainable future.
Several U.S. states have obtained or are pursuing ‘primacy ‘, which refers to the authority to regulate, for regulating Class VI Underground Injection Control (UIC) wells for carbon sequestration through a state agency. In Illinois’ case, U.S. EPA Region 5 will continue to hold primacy under the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) to regulate Class VI UIC wells. However, the Illinois SAFE CCS Act, emphasizing state-level accountability, prohibits project operators from implementing CCS without meeting additional state-level requirements and receiving state agency approval. This design is intended to provide clarity for project operators and build confidence in the development and implementation of CCS projects.
Illinois manufacturers, and manufacturers in other states with similar legislation, who are pursuing or plan to pursue CCS and are subject to the requirements of SAFE CCS will acknowledge these requirements and the impacts on project schedule, cost, and scope for the permitting, operation, and post-closure phases as the authors explain in their article:
Additional Resources:
SCS Engineers and a Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR) state geologist presented a webinar as part of the Pennsylvania Council of Professional Geologists (PCPG) educational series. The educational webinar is timely as Governor Josh Shapiro recently signed Senate Bill 831 into law, creating a regulatory framework for the Commonwealth’s carbon capture, utilization, and sequestration (CCUS).
The webinar, titled CCUS in the US and a Glimpse into What is Possible in Pennsylvania, Part I, includes SCS geologists from across the nation providing a technical overview of CCUS project planning, permitting, operations, and closure referencing current, active Class VI projects based on case studies. The webinar is available for a nominal fee on PCPG’s website, and professional credits (PDH or CEU) are available as allowed by your licensing state and entity.
The DCNR’s state geologist provides an overview of the CCUS work in Pennsylvania by DCNR for over 20 years, including coordinating with the Department of Energy, other states’ geological surveys, and public-private organizations to explore CCUS in the Commonwealth and neighboring states.
Questions and Follow-Up
During the live webinar, SCS received multiple inquiries from the audience, similar to our clients’ questions. We’ve created a separate video to answer them, which is available on the SCS website at the bottom of the carbon capture and DWI page. We hope you find the videos informative and valuable. Our geologists are passionate about their work and helping clients navigate regulations and implement sustainable projects.
SCS is planning Part 2 of the PCPG webinar series in Fall 2024. If there are topics you’d like to see covered during that webinar, please reach out to PA practice leader Christina Helms, PG, LSRP, at
Pennsylvania Senate Bill 831 and Other States
Our professionals continue to work on Class VI projects with multiple clients across the US where primacy has been granted, or states have regulations in place, including the outlook for CCUS in Pennsylvania.
Pennsylvania Senate Bill 831 establishes the legal and regulatory framework for the Commonwealth’s potential carbon dioxide capture, utilization, and sequestration (CCUS). SB831 provides “for the injection of carbon dioxide into an underground reservoir for the purpose of carbon sequestration, for the ownership of pore space in strata below surface lands and waters of the Commonwealth, for conveyance of the surface ownership of real property; imposing duties on the Department of Environmental Protection and the Environmental Hearing Board; and establishing the Carbon Dioxide Storage Facility Fund.”
View a copy of the Bill here: https://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/billinfo/billinfo.cfm?sYear=2023&sInd=0&body=S&type=B&bn=0831.
CCUS | CCS | Deep Well Educational Video Resources:
Published CCUS Resources:
Join SCS Engineers at the 2024 PWS Permian Basin Summit. The Produced Water Society brings together industry-leading speakers such as Neil Nowak to address the produced water issues faced by operators, water midstream companies, and water service providers.
Neil will present “Produced Water Recycling and Evaporation Facilities” as a Roundtable Presentation at the event.
August 13, 2024
2:00 – 3:15 PM
Produced water experts with Permian Basin experience will discuss the existing solutions, technological innovations, and produced water management best practices needed to keep the most productive unconventional shale play in the world pumping hydrocarbons while ensuring sustainable business operations and safeguarding the local environment and freshwater resources.
Join SCS Engineers to solve environmental challenges.
• Carbon Sequestration & Deep Well Injection
• Greenhouse Gas Services
• Oil and Gas Services
Meet with SCS Engineers at the 2024 Railroad Commission (RRC) of Texas Regulatory Conference July 30-31 at the AT&T Hotel and Conference Center to inform the oil and gas sector on the applicable laws, rules, and procedures for hydrocarbon production in Texas.
Join SCS Engineers to solve future energy challenges like:
Capturing carbon dioxide and injecting it into a Class VI well for permanent geologic carbon sequestration, or CO2 storage, is a practice that industry leaders use to decarbonize manufacturing processes. Manufacturers use CO2 storage to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions and carbon footprint. There has been an uptick in proposed projects, both commercial hub-scale and single emitter-affiliated scale, particularly within the last year. The catalyst for the uptick in proposed projects is primarily the associated financial incentives, including federal tax credits and grant monies.
In this educational webinar, Professional Geologist Kacey Garber describes what manufacturers interested in geologic CO2 storage can expect the project landscape to look like in 2024. The video includes a discussion of the following:
Understanding the current project landscape and how and when future project opportunities might evolve is important for manufacturers considering the geologic storage of their CO2 stream, whether through a larger commercial hub or a smaller on-site project.
Additional Resources:
About the Presenter: Kacey Garber is a professional geologist experienced as a groundwater project manager for active and closed industrial client sites. Her responsibilities include groundwater monitoring and statistical analyses; reports and permit applications; designing sampling and analysis plans; special groundwater studies; and conducting groundwater well construction planning and design. She has also been involved in PFAS work groups and publishes on the topics of UIC and geologic carbon sequestration.
SCS Engineers is a Bronze Sponsor of Air & Waste Management Association’s 117th ACE 2024 Conference, June 24-27, at the Calgary TELUS Convention Centre in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
The theme is “Emissions Reductions for Sustainable Energy Futures.”
SCS Engineers is hosting two booths at ACE 2024 – so swing by #102 and #104 to talk with our air and waste management experts and see demonstrations of advanced remote monitoring and control (RMC) software! Talk with Pat Sullivan, Mike McLaughlin, Carrie Ridley, Melissa Russo, Ryan Thomas, Ketan Shah, Stephanie Taylor, Evelyn Martinez, and David Greene about how SCS can find solutions for your air and waste management challenges.
Several of our professionals are presenting, including:
The Canadian Prairies region is a fast-growing area with many important exports including oil and gas, agriculture, and timber. In addition, this region spans many latitudes and encompasses many biomes including Grassland, Parkland, Foothills, Boreal Forest, Rocky Mountains, and the Canadian Shield. With this diversity in ecosystems and major exports comes a plethora of challenges. A calculated balance between resource development, social responsibilities, and environmental stewardship is needed; this makes the region a hotspot for emissions reductions and technological innovations.
Calgary is excited to host ACE 2024, bringing industry, academia, and policymakers together so that we can learn, collaborate, and most importantly, improve environmental knowledge and decision-making in this unique landscape which is at the forefront of global change. Alberta’s industries are constantly adapting, creating, and incorporating new technologies for responsible and sustainable development, with a focus on renewable and alternative resources. The global community will find Calgary, Alberta, and Canada a nexus for emerging ideas, innovations, and solutions in the field of environmental stewardship that are applicable worldwide.
Online registration is now open! Click here for more conference details
We hope to see you there!
Carbon management often takes a holistic approach, combining one or more environmental solutions. The CO2 experts at SCS Engineers recommend looking at Graphyte’s hybrid technology approach for carbon casting, a new approach to carbon removal that leverages readily available biomass. The solution is backed and incubated by Bill Gates’ Breakthrough Energy Ventures. Here’s how it works…
Learn more about sustainable carbon management, carbon casting, carbon sequestration, and carbon reduction verification.
SCS Engineers explains how site characterization provides groundwater protection during carbon dioxide injection. Geologist Lindsey Hawksworth discusses the process by which the EPA permits Class VI wells for carbon storage and sequestration. She takes viewers through the steps of determining if a proposed project site has a suitable injection zone to receive carbon dioxide and a confining zone that prevents fluid movement out of the injection zone. Her guidance may help viewers determine if their Class VI wells operate as permitted. And, importantly, it helps detect risks that may lead to groundwater endangerment and potential reevaluation of the area of review where potential threats may exist. Spend 10 minutes with this sharp young professional!
Meet Lindsey Hawksworth, an SCS Project Professional. Lindsey provides groundwater sampling and monitoring, permitting, and field services management for groundwater protection. If you want to work with smart people like Lindsey, visit SCS Engineers. Reach out to her at or on LinkedIn with comments and questions.
See the SCS Engineers’ library of Clean Air and Greenhouse Gas Reduction videos for more educational content from our professionals. Visit our Carbon Sequestration & Deep Well Injection site where you’ll find more information about how to permanently isolate fluids and gases in deep geologic formations to ensure these materials stay there and don’t impact useable resources or the environment.
Capturing carbon dioxide and injecting it into a Class VI well for permanent geologic (carbon) sequestration, or CO2 storage, is a technology that industry leaders are using to decarbonize manufacturing processes. Utilizing CO2 storage allows manufacturers and industries to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and carbon footprints. The complexity of carbon sequestration projects can vary widely depending on your facility’s location.
In this 10-minute educational video, Geologist Kacey Garber describes the benefits and considerations of assessing the feasibility of carbon sequestration before entering the permitting process of a full-scale project. The resulting feasibility study helps develop your facility’s safest and most economical CO2 storage project.
The historical use of other injection well classes demonstrates the utility of injection wells for safe and permanent disposal or sequestration of fluids and GHG. As a result, large areas of the U.S. host viable CO2 storage resources. However, as Kacey explains, never assume that any given location is suitable for a Class VI injection well.
CO2 storage projects are a multi-decade commitment with significant technical, regulatory, and financial complexities. As such, industries must understand the financial impacts of a sequestration project, the regulatory framework, and the geologic suitability for Class VI injection in a given project location.
Additional Resources:
Injection well technologies have stored fluids and gases below protected drinking water aquifers for over half a century. When properly sited, designed, and operated, injection wells are a safe and responsible environmental management option for industries seeking permanent disposal of liquid and emission byproducts. Using two types of deep injection wells, some with environmental stewardship and federal tax credits available, SCS Engineers explains.
Hydrogeologist and licensed Professional Geologist Stephanie Hill provides a plain language overview of how EPA-approved injection wells work, a simplified graphic to show where injection wells are useful, and the associated costs and time to implement an operational system using Class I wells for deep injection of liquids and Class VI wells for sequestering carbon dioxide.
Byproducts include industrial wastewater or leachates, among others, and, importantly, sequestering carbon dioxide to reduce greenhouse gases. With the rise of transportation costs and water treatment plant restrictions, more industries seek certainty to support business and environmental longevity. Consequently, there is an increasing interest in using injection well systems to manage waste liquids and leachate. The operation of injection wells permanently sequesters industrial byproducts and is a federal and state-preferred technology to protect underground drinking water sources.
SCS Carbon Sequestration and Deep Well Injection team co-leader Stephanie Hill explains how operating an injection well system at your facility may help insulate your business from increasing disposal costs and serves as a responsible environmental management option.
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