GOP bills would set rules for carbon sequestration

HELENA – Two Republican lawmakers said today they have bills to lay out the legal framework for carbon sequestration, the process of capturing the carbon dioxide produced by large fossil-fuel power plants and storing it underground.

Sen. Keith Bales, R-Otter, unveiled the details of his carbon sequestration bill today which would put the sequestration program under the state Board of Oil and Gas.

“They have the expertise to go on and monitor this program,” Bales said.

By assigning the program to the board now, the state could request primary policy authority for sequestration from the federal government, Bales said. The bill would require underground carbon dioxide reservoirs to be monitored to ensure against leaks and would establish a fee for each ton of the gas stored in those reservoirs. The money would be put in a special fund to cover unexpected costs.

The bill would also authorize the state to assume ownership and liability over the reservoirs after carbon-dioxide injection has stopped for 10 years. Bales said he expects the federal government will take over the reservoirs in the future and it will be easier for the state to transfer liability to them.

A similar bill, Senate Bill 66, sponsored by Sen. Ron Erickson, D-Missoula, was tabled in committee earlier this session by Republicans in a party-line vote. Bales said he is confident his bill will pass through committee with bipartisan support.

“I think my bill will make it through because it solves the problems that were in the other bills,” Bales said.

Erickson's bill would have put the program under the authority of Department of Environmental Quality and the Board of Environmental Review.

Meanwhile, Rep. Duane Ankney, R-Colstrip, also outlined his bill, House Bill 338, which would allow pipelines to carry carbon dioxide as a common carrier, meaning they have the same rules and regulations as oil and gas pipelines. HB 338 passed its first vote on the House floor on Tuesday, 93-7.

Ankney said it was time for Montana to get moving on carbon sequestration, to create jobs and so power plants can sell their carbon dioxide.

“I think we’re way beyond the argument, ‘Is there global warming, is there not global warming,’” Ankney said. “Let’s get on with it.”

-by CNS correspondent Molly Priddy