Experts Back Giving States the Authority to Permit Wells for Carbon Capture

While federal regulators should step aside, analysts tell a Senate panel, Congress should ensure allocated money does not get blocked by DOGE.

American Electric Power’s Mountaineer plant in New Haven, W.V., on Oct. 30, 2009. The plant was the world’s first to be fitted with carbon capture and sequestration technology. Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images

Federal agencies should cede primary permitting authority to states in classifying what wells are suitable for carbon sequestration and in regulating large-scale carbon capture projects, three experts told the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee on Feb. 12.

Since President Donald Trump signed the Utilizing Significant Emissions with Innovative Technologies (USE IT) Act into law in December 2020 authorizing the use of Class VI wells for geologic carbon sequestration, only eight have been permitted by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) while 161 are languishing in regulatory limbo.