Carbon Capture regulations pass Senate, head to Governor’s desk

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (NEXSTAR) — A long list of regulations for Carbon Capture projects officially passed the Senate with bipartisan support. It now heads to the Governor’s desk

The bill would set regulations around every stage of the process, from the capture of carbon emissions to the transport of the emissions and the storage in underground wells. Illinois currently lacks any regulations on carbon capture or sequestration.

“The environment is at stake,” Bill sponsor Senator Laura Fine (D-Glenview) said on the floor. “If we do nothing, we don’t know what will happen, but because of the fact that the environmentalists were at the table, the environment and water are top priorities. Not only in this bill, but in the state. Carbon capture and sequestration is going to happen with or without us.”

Several Republicans spoke up against the bill. Land owner rights was a focal point of the conversation, like it has been for any number of public meetings across Central Illinois focusing on carbon capture pipelines. The new regulations allow for some eminent domain practices, and it requires companies receive approval from 75% of landowners that would be impacted by the proposal. The Illinois Farm Bureau opposed the legislation because of this.

Others focused on the lack of an exemption for the Mahomet Aquifer. Senator Chapin Rose (R-Mahomet) pointed to the Peoples Gas leak that contaminated parts of the Mahomet Aquifer with methane.

“In a minute, I am sure the sponsor is going to read you the litany of all the agencies that are supposed to protect us,” Rose said. “All of those agencies that didn’t do squat in the first place when Peoples Gas had there leak. The Illinois EPA no where to be found.”

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No aquifers in the state were given an exemption under the law. Environmentalists advocated for exemptions, according to bill sponsors, but they were not included as a part of the compromise. Assurances were given by the sponsors that it was safe to inject the captured carbon far beneath aquifers. The bill also requires that the Illinois EPA monitor every step of the process. Even when injections into a particular well stop, the Illinois EPA would be required to continue monitoring the well site for 30 years. After that, they would conduct a risk assessment study to decide if more monitoring was necessary.

The bill ended up passing with republican votes. Carbon sequestration is considered a vital tactic for the future of the biofuel industry in Illinois.

“Carbon capture technology is an important technology to help the state reach emission reduction goals,” Rep. Tom Bennett (R-Gibson City) said. “And CCS is an inter-dependent technology for next generation technology like sustainable aviation fuel, and that is a key to the future. Carbon storage is needed to make sustainable aviation fuel happen.”

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The bill also contains a two-year ban on the construction of Carbon sequestration pipelines, which would be used to transport carbon emissions across great distances, including across state lines in some cases. Multiple companies have sought approval from the Illinois Commerce Commission for these pipelines, but all have faced massive public pushback. The moratorium is meant to stall these projects while the state waits for new federal safety regulations.

This list of regulations was a hard-fought compromise between environmentalists and industry leaders. It came together in the last weeks of the Spring session. Governor J.B. Pritzker’s office facilitated those conversations, and the Governor celebrated the passage of the bill Sunday night.

“With the passage of Senate Bill 1289, I am proud to say we are building on that monumental progress by setting nation-leading safety and environmental standards around carbon capture and sequestration while bringing thousands of new jobs and billions of dollars in investment to Illinois,” Pritzker said in a statement.

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