Rep. Wild Joins Bipartisan Coalition Of House Members In Introducing CATCH Act To Boost Carbon Capture Tax Credits For Manufacturing Facilities & Energy Producers

Press Release

This week, Congresswoman Susan Wild (D-PA) joined a bipartisan coalition of House members in introducing the Coordinated Action to Capture Harmful (CATCH) Emissions Act, which will boost carbon capture tax credits for industrial facilities and power plants, resulting in lower greenhouse gas emissions and spurring additional innovation in clean energy technologies. Studies have shown how critical carbon capture will be to reaching US emissions targets, particularly for the manufacturing sector, and by adjusting the 45Q tax credit, more facilities like cement plants and steel mills will be able to move forward with carbon capture projects.

Congresswoman Wild was joined by Reps. Tim Ryan (D-OH) Anthony Gonzalez (R-OH), Cheri Bustos (D-IL), Tim Walberg (R-MI), Marc Veasey (D-TX), David McKinley (R-WV), and Kelly Armstrong (R-ND) in introducing this bill.

"I couldn't be prouder to be introducing this bipartisan legislation to help deliver strong climate action and the clean energy future our children and grandchildren deserve," said Rep. Susan Wild. "The CATCH Emissions Act will allow businesses across the Greater Lehigh Valley to capitalize on carbon capture technology and reduce their carbon footprint, all while protecting Pennsylvania jobs and workers."

"This is a pivotal time in this country to address the existential climate crisis, and we must take an active role in meeting the moment. That means leveraging the might of the US government and the ingenuity and strength of American businesses to meaningfully lower US emissions," said Rep. Tim Ryan. "Not only will this legislation help us meet our climate targets, including our businesses in this endeavor will help support our workers in Northeast Ohio and across the country. I'm proud to work together with this fine group of bipartisan members as we take one step closer to our climate goals and build the economy of the future."

"Ohio has a rich history of providing abundant energy resources to power our nation's economy and support American families", said Rep. Anthony Gonzalez. "The 45Q tax credit is an important tool that will remove carbon emissions while also ensuring the long-term use of our country's traditional energy resources. This legislation will support good-paying jobs, help the United States remain the world's energy leader, and ensure Americans' energy remains reliable and affordable."

"The CATCH Emissions Act means better air and a cleaner environment for the next generation -- that's what carbon capture and storage technologies can do. By investing in carbon capture and storage technologies, we can get rid of otherwise harmful carbon dioxide in the environment and tackle our climate crisis," said Rep. Cheri Bustos. "I'm proud to join this bipartisan effort to incentivize investment in this innovative solution and create economic opportunity. As we work toward a clean energy future, we can build on this important work by also developing the infrastructure for carbon capture technology through my bipartisan SCALE Act and create thousands of good-paying jobs along the way."

"Carbon capture technology offers a practical approach to promoting environmental stewardship while fostering jobs and economic growth at the same time," said Rep. Tim Walberg. "I am pleased to work with my colleagues on this bipartisan legislation that modernizes the carbon capture tax credit to pave the way for greater investment. By spurring development of these innovative technologies, we can take important steps to reach America's energy potential and bring about a cleaner and healthier future."

"We must do everything we can to develop clean energy technologies like carbon capture that will encourage innovation and economic growth to help struggling Americans emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic while reducing our carbon emissions," said Rep. Marc Veasey. "That is why I am proud to join a bipartisan group of my colleagues to introduce the CATCH Emissions Act--legislation that will raise the value of the 45Q tax credit and eliminate the qualification thresholds. By doing so, even more facilities--including hundreds in my home state of Texas--will be able to take advantage of this important credit to help finance the critical deployment of carbon capture infrastructure."

"As we work to regain our position as a global energy leader, we must do everything we can to encourage innovation and develop clean energy technologies like carbon capture," said Rep. David McKinley. "The 45Q tax credit is the single-most useful tool in spurring the development of carbon capture projects. This bill will lead to more projects and more widespread adoption, which is critical to reduce emissions and preserve the future of coal and natural gas."

"North Dakota's energy producers are leaders in carbon capture, and the 45Q tax credit plays an important role in spurring this technology," said Rep. Kelly Armstrong. "This bipartisan bill will help the country follow our lead, making utilizing carbon capture more accessible and ensuring that the US remains a leader in energy production and environmental stewardship."

"The introduction of the CATCH Act rounds out the portfolio of carbon management provisions included in broadly bipartisan legislation already introduced in this Congress, which together encompass the broader suite of federal policies needed to realize economywide deployment of carbon capture and removal technologies on the scale necessary to meet midcentury climate goals," said Brad Crabtree, Director of the Carbon Capture Coalition. "The introduction of the CATCH Act, together with previous complementary bipartisan bills, demonstrates the extraordinary momentum and support--from the Biden Administration to members of Congress from across the political spectrum and every region of the country--to bolster federal incentives and funding for carbon capture, removal, utilization, transport and storage. This portfolio of policy proposals, if enacted, would represent the most comprehensive and ambitious carbon management policy agenda in the world today--solidifying carbon capture's vital role in putting our nation on track to reach net-zero emissions by midcentury, while safeguarding and creating domestic jobs that pay family-sustaining wages and fostering continued American technology leadership."

This new legislation fills remaining policy gaps by providing a critical boost in federal Section 45Q tax credit values for carbon capture from industrial facilities and power plants. The CATCH Act establishes the following credit levels:

an $85 per metric ton credit level for industrial and power generation facilities seeking to securely store captured CO2 in saline geologic formations; and
$60 per metric ton for storage in oil and gas fields and for the beneficial utilization of captured carbon to manufacture low and zero-carbon fuels, chemicals, building products, advanced materials, and other products of economic value.

Recent analysis by the Rhodium Group underscores the potentially transformative impact of key provisions in the CATCH Act. Together with direct pay and a ten-year extension of 45Q, the increased credit values provided for in this bill would result in an estimated 212-252 million metric tons of carbon capture capacity by 2035 in the U.S. industrial sector alone. Additionally, higher 45Q values lead to increases in capture capacity of up to 61 percent at hydrogen plants, 79 percent at refineries, and 386 percent at cement facilities. Without these provisions, the Rhodium Group finds no carbon capture deployment at domestic iron and steel plants. The projected $12-15 billion in total investment in through 2035 translates into an estimated 60,700-78,600 additional job-years over the time period.

The largest sources of industrial carbon emissions, such as steel, cement, chemicals, and refining, as well as power generation, feature lower concentrations of CO2, thus increasing the per-ton costs of capture. This makes higher credit values for 45Q critical to incentivizing the widescale adoption of carbon capture technologies in these sectors. Federal investment in industrial decarbonization is key to American prosperity and to putting domestic industry firmly on the path toward deep emissions reductions, retaining and creating high-wage jobs, and continued technology leadership and economic competitiveness.

In addition to establishing higher credit values for industrial facilities and power plants, this bipartisan legislation eliminates the annual CO2 capture thresholds in the 45Q program to enable all industrial facilities, power plants and future direct air capture plants to participate and qualify for the credit. These thresholds are arbitrary, serve no policy purpose and reduce the overall technology innovation and emissions reduction potential of the 45Q incentive. Based on 2019 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency data, approximately 54 percent of power plants and 75 percent of industrial facilities fall below eligibility thresholds, and many direct air capture and carbon utilization projects deploying emerging technologies simply lack the scale to meet these requirements. Eliminating thresholds under 45Q would foster greater carbon capture, direct air capture and carbon utilization project development, technology innovation and cost reductions across sectors, as we work to meet net-zero emissions targets.

This bipartisan legislation is endorsed by 28 industry leaders and stakeholders including: Prairie State Generating Company, National Mining Association, Clean Air Task Force, LanzaTech, Svante Inc., Bipartisan Policy Center (BPC) Action, National Wildlife Federation, EnergyBlue Project, C2ES, Carbon Capture Coalition, Citizens for Responsible Energy Solutions, ClearPath Action, Third Way, Calpine, Growth Energy, Summit Agricultural Group, Utility Workers Union of America, Portland Cement Association, World Resources Institute, Industrial Union Council, AFL-CIO, Lake Charles Methanol, Scholar at Columbia University, National Waste & Recycling Association (NWRA), Carbon America, DT Midstream, Waste Management Renewable Energy, United Mine Workers of America (UMWA), and Energy Transition for Baker Hughes.

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