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Legislative Year: 2024 Change
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Bill Detail: HB24-1346

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Title Energy & Carbon Management Regulation
Status Governor Signed (05/21/2024)
Bill Subjects
  • Natural Resources & Environment
House Sponsors B. Titone (D)
K. McCormick (D)
Senate Sponsors K. Priola (D)
C. Hansen (D)
House Committee Energy and Environment
Senate Committee Agriculture and Natural Resources
Date Introduced 02/27/2024
Summary

The bill expands the authority of the energy and carbon
management commission (commission) to include the regulation of:
  • Facilities that use equipment to capture a significant
quantity of carbon dioxide directly from the ambient air
(direct air capture facility); and
  • Activities performed for the purpose of engaging in the
injection and underground sequestration of carbon dioxide
in pore space (geologic storage operations).
The commission may:
  • Reimpose any regulatory responsibility or financial
assurance obligation imposed on a person that exercises the
right to control the conduct of geologic storage operations
(geologic storage operator) if the geologic storage operator
makes a material misrepresentation or omission that causes
the commission to approve a site closure; and
  • Assess and collect regulatory and permitting fees from
geologic storage operators.
The bill also allows the commission to hire and designate
employees of the commission as administrative law judges who have the
authority to administer proceedings on behalf of the commission.
Current law provides a statute of limitations of one year after the
date of an alleged violation of energy and carbon management laws
(violation). The bill changes this statute of limitations to 3 years after the
discovery of the alleged violation and provides that the 3-year statute of
limitations period does not apply if information regarding the alleged
violation is knowingly or willfully concealed by the alleged violator.
The bill also expands the following energy and carbon
management law areas to include geologic storage operations and direct
air capture facilities:
  • Enforcement and civil penalty procedures;
  • Use of the energy and carbon management cash fund by the
commission;
  • Mitigation of adverse environmental impacts by the
commission or an operator; and
  • State agency and local government authority over oil and
gas development.
The commission is required to adopt rules related to the permitting
and regulation of direct air capture facilities. When reviewing an
application for a direct air capture facility, the commission must consider
whether a setback of the direct air capture facility from certain areas is
necessary and reasonable to protect and minimize adverse impacts to
public health, safety, and welfare; the environment; and wildlife
resources. The commission may assess and collect permitting and
regulatory fees from the operators of direct air capture facilities.
The bill also establishes that:
  • Ownership of a portion of a pore space necessary for
geologic storage (sequestration estate) is vested in the
owner of the overlying surface estate if the sequestration
estate has not been separately severed, conveyed, or
reserved;
  • Any conveyance of the ownership of an overlying surface
estate also conveys the grantor's ownership of any
sequestration estate except in certain circumstances; and
  • A conveyance of the ownership of a mineral estate does not
convey the grantor's ownership in the sequestration estate
unless the conveyance instrument provides for the
conveyance.
Upon application of any interested person, the commission must
hold a hearing and enter an order (order) providing for the formation of
a unit of one or more geologic storage resources (geologic storage unit)
if the commission finds that the geologic storage unit is reasonably
necessary to effectuate a geologic storage project. The order must include
terms and conditions that are just and reasonable and establish a plan for
operations of the geologic storage unit (plan). An order is effective only
if the plan has been approved by those persons that collectively own at
least 75% of the geologic storage resources included in the geologic
storage unit area (required approval) and the commission makes a finding
in the order of the required approval.
The bill also allows a local government to request that the director
of the commission appoint a technical review board to assist a local
government in analyzing and answering any technical questions regarding
the local government's land use regulations.
The bill also requires the department of public health and
environment (department) to develop carbon dioxide accounting
procedures for geologic storage operations and direct air capture
facilities. The commission must compile relevant data to support the
carbon dioxide accounting procedures and work collaboratively with the
department in implementing the carbon dioxide accounting procedures.
The commission and the department must also work collaboratively to
address air emissions from direct air capture facilities and geologic
storage operations.

Committee Reports
with Amendments
Full Text
Full Text of Bill (pdf) (most recent)
Fiscal Notes Fiscal Notes (07/15/2024) (most recent)  
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