Bill Text: CA SB1101 | 2021-2022 | Regular Session | Amended

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Bill Title: Carbon sequestration: Geologic Carbon Sequestration Group.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-0)

Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2022-08-31 - Ordered to inactive file on request of Assembly Member Reyes. [SB1101 Detail]

Download: California-2021-SB1101-Amended.html

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Amended  IN  Assembly  June 23, 2022

Amended  IN  Senate  May 02, 2022

Amended  IN  Senate  March 16, 2022

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2021–2022 REGULAR SESSION

Senate Bill

No. 1101

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Introduced by Senator Caballero
(Coauthor: Senator Newman)

February 16, 2022

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An act to amend Section 659 of the Civil Code, to amend Section 39740.1 of, to add Article 2 (commencing with Section 39741) to Chapter 4.3 of Part 2 of Division 26 of, to add the heading of Article 1 (commencing with Section 39740) to Chapter 4.3 of Part 2 of Division 26 of, and to repeal Section 39741.3 of, the Health and Safety Code, and to add Section 2212 to the Public Resources Code, relating to carbon sequestration.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST

SB 1101, as amended, Caballero. Carbon sequestration: pore space ownership and Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Storage Program. Geologic Carbon Sequestration Group.

Existing law prescribes the nature of property rights, including lands. Existing law defines land to include free or occupied space for an indefinite distance upwards and downwards, subject to limitation upon the use of airspace imposed, and rights in the use of airspace granted, by law.

This bill would specify that free space includes pore space that can be possessed and used for the storage of gaseous or liquid substances.

Existing law establishes the State Air Resources Board as the state agency responsible for monitoring and regulating sources emitting greenhouse gases. Existing law, the California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006, requires the state board to ensure that statewide greenhouse gas emissions are reduced to at least 40% below the 1990 level by 2030. Existing law requires, no later than July 1, 2023, the Natural Resources Agency, in coordination with the California Environmental Protection Agency, the state board, the Department of Food and Agriculture, and other relevant state agencies, to establish the Natural and Working Lands Climate Smart Strategy and, in developing the strategy, to create a framework to advance the state’s climate goals. Existing law requires the state board, The act requires the state board to prepare and approve a scoping plan for achieving the maximum technologically feasible and cost-effective reductions in greenhouse gas emissions and, as part of its scoping plan, to establish specified carbon dioxide removal targets for 2030 and beyond.

This bill would require the state board, in consultation with establish the Geologic Carbon Sequestration Group, which the bill would establish in the California Geological Survey, to establish a Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Storage Program, as provided, for developing the commercial application of carbon capture, utilization, and storage technologies to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from new and existing facilities with a primary objective of deploying projects that will accelerate, to the maximum extent practicable, the development, deployment, and commercialization of advanced new technologies to capture and sequester carbon dioxide emissions from industrial and commercial facilities. The bill would require the state board, by an unspecified date, to submit a report to the Legislature and to the budget and relevant policy committees of the Legislature regarding CCUS projects approved under the program on or before an unspecified date. Group to provide independent expertise and regulatory guidance to the state board. The bill would establish certain of the group’s duties, including identifying suitable locations of a class of carbon dioxide injection wells and providing specified guidance regarding the monitoring and operation of carbon dioxide injection wells.

Digest Key

Vote: MAJORITY   Appropriation: NO   Fiscal Committee: YES   Local Program: NO  

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Bill Text

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.

(a)The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:

(1)The impacts of climate change in California include wildfire, drought, heat waves, and catastrophic weather events of increasing severity and unpredictability. These impacts pose significant threats to public health, safety, and the economy in California.

(2)To address the impacts of climate change, California has established a number of ambitious greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reduction goals, targets, and programs, including a target to cut GHG emissions 40 percent below 1990 levels by 2030, and Executive Order No. B-55-18 creates a state goal to achieve net carbon neutrality by 2045, consistent with science-based assessments to achieve global climate stabilization.

(3)To achieve its climate goals, California must deploy a range of technologies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, including carbon capture, utilization, and sequestration (CCUS) and other engineered carbon removal technologies. Numerous experts have identified CCUS as a critical and necessary component of successful climate action strategies globally, nationally, and in California, including the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the International Energy Agency, Stanford University, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, University of California, Berkeley, and University of California, Los Angeles.

(4)The Biden Administration has identified deployment of CCUS technologies as a key priority in national decarbonization efforts, and there are billions of dollars in federal incentives available to support deployment of CCUS projects and infrastructure that California can benefit from.

(5)California is ideally positioned to take advantage of CCUS in ways that will provide significant climate, economic, and public health benefits. California industries possess a depth of technological capability and technical expertise to quickly and safely deploy CCUS. The state has one of the most skilled workforces in the world to design, build, and operate CCUS projects and infrastructure. California has geological capacity to safely and permanently store hundreds of years’ worth of the state’s total carbon dioxide emissions. Deployment of CCUS in California can provide between 60 and 100 million metric tons of GHG emission reductions annually across a range of economic sectors and industries, support hundreds of thousands of new and existing jobs, and support the development of new, advanced climate and clean energy technologies.

(6)California has developed effective policy frameworks to support the deployment of low- and zero-carbon energy and transportation technologies and infrastructure as part of state climate efforts. To secure the many benefits that CCUS can provide, including the cost-effective reduction of greenhouse gas emissions that materially contribute to California’s greenhouse gas reduction goals, the state must proceed expeditiously to develop and implement a legal, policy, and regulatory framework that enables the rapid deployment of CCUS and engineered carbon removal technologies and infrastructure.

(b)It is the intent of the legislature to create a policy framework for CCUS and engineered carbon removal technologies in California that contribute to the achievement of California’s greenhouse gas emission reduction goals that includes all of the following:

(1)Acceleration of the deployment of CCUS technologies by supporting the deployment of advanced technologies for capturing and sequestering carbon dioxide emissions from new and existing industrial and commercial facilities.

(2)Establishment of a coordinated process for the streamlined and comprehensive review and permitting of projects and infrastructure that capture, utilize, transport, and sequester carbon.

(3)Clarification of clear ownership rights and processes for underground pore space and mineral rights requirements for purposes of carbon storage.

(4)Establishment of a regulatory mechanism to consider and approve investments in carbon pipelines and related infrastructure for the safe transportation and storage of carbon that minimizes risks to communities.

(5)Establishment of requirements that CCUS projects use a skilled and trained workforce, so as to develop and maintain a workforce that will be available to perform this work.

SEC. 2.Section 659 of the Civil Code is amended to read:

659.

(a)Land is the material of the earth, whatever may be the ingredients of which it is composed, whether soil, rock, or other substance, and includes free or occupied space for an indefinite distance upwards as well as downwards, subject to limitations upon the use of airspace imposed, and rights in the use of airspace granted, by law.

(b)(1)The free space specified in subdivision (a) includes pore space that can be possessed and used for the storage of gaseous or liquid substances, including, but not limited to, greenhouse gases.

(2)This subdivision does not change or alter the law as it relates to the rights belonging to, and the dominance of, the mineral estate, and does not change or alter the incidents of ownership or other rights of the owners of the mineral estate, including the right to mine, drill, complete, or abandon a well, the right to inject substances to facilitate production, the right to implement enhanced recovery for the purposes of recovery of oil, gas, or other minerals, or the dominance of the mineral estate.

(3)This subdivision does not affect instruments, in existence as of January 1, 2023, with regard to pore space use and ownership.

SEC. 3.The heading of Article 1 (commencing with Section 39740) is added to Chapter 4.3 of Part 2 of Division 26 of the Health and Safety Code, to read:

1.Natural and Working Lands

SEC. 4.Section 39740.1 of the Health and Safety Code is amended to read:

39740.1.

For purposes of this article, the following definitions apply:

(a)“Natural and working lands-based carbon sequestration” means sustainable resource management practices, changes in land use, preservation of natural resources, fuel reduction or prescribed fire activities, and other practices that result in the long-term removal, capture, or sequestration of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere to slow or reverse atmospheric carbon dioxide pollution and to mitigate or reverse global warming.

(b)“Natural lands” has the same meaning as in paragraph (2) of subdivision (d) of Section 9001.5 of the Public Resources Code.

(c)“Registry” means the California Carbon Sequestration and Climate Resiliency Project Registry established pursuant to Section 39740.3.

(d)“Working lands” has the same meaning as in paragraph (1) of subdivision (d) of Section 9001.5 of the Public Resources Code.

SEC. 5.Article 2 (commencing with Section 39741) is added to Chapter 4.3 of Part 2 of Division 26 of the Health and Safety Code, to read:

2.Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Storage Program

39741.

For purposes of this article, the following definitions apply:

(a)“Carbon dioxide stream” means carbon dioxide that has been captured from an emission source, such as a powerplant, plus incidental associated substances derived from the source materials and the capture process, and any substances added to the stream to enable or improve the injection process.

(b)“CCUS” means carbon capture, utilization, and storage technology or equipment used for controlling carbon dioxide emissions from industrial or commercial facilities.

(c)“Program” means the Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Storage Program established pursuant to Section 39741.1.

(d)“Project labor agreement” has the same meaning as set forth in Section 2500 of the Public Contract Code.

(e)“Skilled and trained workforce” has the same meaning as set forth in Chapter 2.9 (commencing with Section 2600) of Part 1 of Division 2 of the Public Contract Code.

39741.1.

The state board shall, in consultation with the Geologic Carbon Sequestration Group established pursuant to Section 2212 of the Public Resources Code, establish a Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Storage Program for developing the commercial application of CCUS technologies or equipment to reduce the carbon dioxide emissions from new and existing facilities. The primary objective of the program is to deploy CCUS projects that will accelerate, to the maximum extent practicable, the development, deployment, and commercialization of advanced new technologies to capture and sequester carbon dioxide emissions from industrial and commercial facilities. In carrying out the objectives of the program, the state board shall prioritize the following:

(a)Reducing the emissions of greenhouse gases.

(b)Minimizing land use and potential environmental, noise, air quality, traffic, and other construction-related impacts to each community in which the project is located.

(c)Maximizing project benefits to disadvantaged communities, as identified by the California Environmental Protection Agency pursuant to Section 39711.

(d)Maximizing project benefits for workforce development and creation of employment opportunities in each community in which the project is located.

(e)Leveraging private funding sources and public-private partnership structures alongside state funding sources for projects.

(f)Reducing fossil fuel production in the state.

39741.2.

A CCUS project eligible for the program shall comply with all of the following requirements:

(a)(1)The CCUS project is a public works project for which prevailing wages shall be paid pursuant to Article 2 (commencing with Section 1770) of Chapter 1 of Part 7 of Division 2 of the Labor Code.

(2)(A)The project applicant provides an enforceable commitment to the state board that all contractors and subcontractors at every tier will use a skilled and trained workforce to perform all works on the CCUS project that fall within an apprenticeable occupation in the building and construction trades.

(B)Subparagraph (A) does not apply to works covered by a project labor agreement that requires the use of a skilled and trained workforce.

(b)The CCUS project, including a project for the geologic sequestration of a carbon dioxide stream, is limited to a site in which the mineral rights and the rights to use the pore space are held by the same entity.

(c)(1)The operator of the CCUS project has title to the carbon dioxide injected into, and stored in, a geologic storage reservoir associated with the project, including all rights and interests in, and all responsibilities associated with, the carbon dioxide stored in the geologic reservoir, and the liability for any and all damages caused by the project in perpetuity.

(2)The state board shall work with the Attorney General to develop a penalty enforcement mechanism for any and all releases of carbon dioxide outside of the sequestration zone.

(d)The CCUS project sequesters the carbon dioxide permanently. To ensure permanent sequestration, the CCUS project shall include a plan of 100 years of maintenance, testing, and monitoring, well plugging and abandonment, project repairs, and site closure, as necessary. The project operator shall demonstrate that the plan is fully funded.

39741.3.

(a)By ____, the state board shall submit a report to the Legislature and to the budget and the relevant policy committees of the Legislature regarding the CCUS projects approved under the program on or before ____. The report shall provide a comprehensive review of project and program performance and shall include, but not be limited to, all of the following:

(1)A description of every approved project.

(2)The status of the approved projects.

(3)Whether any sequestered carbon dioxide or carbon dioxide intended for sequestration had been released outside the sequestration zone.

(4)Any noncompliance or events requiring emergency action or repair.

(5)Findings and recommendations to improve project or program performance.

(b)The report required to be submitted to the Legislature shall be submitted in compliance with Section 9795 of the Government Code.

(c)Pursuant to Section 10231.5 of the Government Code, this section is repealed as of ____.

SEC. 6.SECTION 1.

 Section 2212 is added to the Public Resources Code, to read:

2212.

 The Geologic Carbon Sequestration Group is hereby established in the survey to provide independent expertise and regulatory guidance to the State Air Resources Board in developing the Carbon Capture, Utilization and Storage Program established pursuant to Article 2 (commencing with Section 39741) of Chapter 4.3 of Part 2 of Division 26 of the Health and Safety Code. Board. The duties of the Geologic Carbon Sequestration Group shall include, but are not limited to, all of the following:

(a) Identification of suitable locations of Class VI injection wells, as defined in Section 144.6 of Title 40 of the Code of Federal Regulations.

(b) Identification of appropriate subsurface monitoring to ensure geologic sequestration of the injected carbon dioxide.

(c) Identification of hazards that may require the suspension of carbon dioxide injections.