McKinley Introduces Legislation to Cut Red Tape for Carbon Capture Projects

Press Release

Today, Congressman David B. McKinley (W.Va.-01) introduced the "Well Primacy Certainty Act" to cut bureaucratic red tape and make it easier to develop carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) projects and infrastructure. This bill would expedite the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) application processes to allow states to assume responsibility (primacy) from the EPA to store carbon dioxide securely underground.

"If we are serious about being a world leader on the climate, the implementation and development of American carbon capture technology and infrastructure should be near the top of the list," said Rep. McKinley. "Unfortunately, bureaucracy and red tape at the EPA are hampering our ability to develop projects. This legislation will help expedite the EPA's application and approval processes for state primacy, which will ultimately give power to the states to create an environment for carbon capture, utilization, and storage technologies to thrive."

"Carbon capture technologies are vital for strengthening American competitiveness and reducing global emissions. The Class VI permit and primacy approval process must become more efficient to enable the widespread buildout of carbon capture projects," said Rich Powell, CEO of ClearPath Action. "The Well Primacy Certainty Act, introduced by Rep. McKinley, will modernize the federal permitting process for Class VI wells by requiring EPA to issue more timely decisions on state applications for primacy, consistent with the spirit of cooperative federalism."

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