CHEYENNE, Wyo. - The Wyoming Senate moved ahead with a trio of bills that would help to define the state's regulatory structure for the underground storage of carbon dioxide gas.
The Senate gave final approval on Tuesday to House Bill 57, which would establish that the right to mine or drill for resources would have precedence over the right to store carbon gas underground.
The Senate also gave preliminary approval to two other carbon storage bills. House Bill 58 would specify that whoever injects carbon gas underground remains legally responsible for it.
"It's the responsibility of the injector, not the landowner," said Sen. Drew Perkins, R-Casper. He said the intent of the bill is to insulate the landowner from responsibility for underground storage.
The other bill, House Bill 80, would require companies to apply to the Wyoming Oil and Gas Conservation Commission for orders allowing them to proceed with underground storage. Such "unitization" orders would help to establish how much landowners would be paid for carbon storage and also set up a process where owners of a minority of the surface could be forced to participate in a project.
Wyoming last year became the first state to pass laws addressing carbon storage when lawmakers established that owners of the surface of the real estate also own the underground storage rights.
Wyoming, the nation's largest coal-producing state, is anxious to find a way to handle carbon gas, a byproduct of coal-fired power plants that many scientists say contributes to global warming.
Sen. John Schiffer, R-Kaycee, said that other states that import power from Wyoming want to have assurances that it meets their environmental requirements.
"They have to feel comfortable that what Wyoming is sending them is what Wyoming says it is," Schiffer said. "They want an assurance that what we're delivering to them meets their standards. Folks, when we say we're sequestering this stuff, we are."
Lawmakers in Montana now are considering how to address the issue, including possibly authorizing the state to assume ownership and liability of the carbon storage once its underground.
Since Wyoming enacted its law last year, the U.S. Department of Energy has announced nearly $67 million for a test project to store more than 2 million tons of carbon dioxide underground in western Wyoming. The Big Sky Regional Carbon Sequestration Partnership is led by Montana State University.
Perkins, a lawyer, said typical carbon injection programs involve injecting the material to depths of many thousands of feet underground, into salt water aquifers or unrecoverable coal seams. He said the carbon soon solidifies under the intense pressure.
Rob Hurless, energy policy adviser for Wyoming Gov. Dave Freudenthal, watched some of the Senate debate on Tuesday.
"These bills represent the cutting edge of states trying to understand and execute on carbon sequestration policies," Hurless said. He said Wyoming won't consider having the state government take legal responsibility for the carbon storage.
Sen. Tony Ross, R-Cheyenne, also said Wyoming discounted the idea that Wyoming would accept responsibility for storage.
"There are some states that are considering whether or not the state should look at assuming that liability," Ross said. "We have summarily rejected that policy."
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Associated Press Writer Matt Gouras in Helena, Mont., contributed to this report.