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:
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California’s AB 32 legislation has proven to be one of the most successful legislation in the U.S. regarding statewide efforts to reduce GHG emissions. This has been started with the implementation of the early action measures stated in the Scoping Plan, which included early regulations to reduce GHG emissions in many different industry sectors, and then moved to the establishment of the MRP and C&T programs, which have created incentives for facilities to reduce their GHG emissions. The nine early action measures have been documented to reduce California’s GHG emissions with an estimated reduction of 13.16 percent from 1990 emissions in the year 201813. As a result of these programs’ implementations, California has met its goal to reach 1990 emissions levels by 2020 and had done so by 2016, four years before its proposed target year.
With the continued implementation of new programs at the state, local, and federal level, growing economic incentives to reduce emissions, and drive that led to the success of the emissions reduction goals of AB32, California is on a very promising path to achieving its latest goals to combat climate change.
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