New laws could protect Louisiana landowners as carbon capture expands
If Gov. Jeff Landry signs the legislation, impacted landowners would need to consent to carbon well projects. Louisiana lawmakers have passed legislation to regulate the carbon capture and sequestration industry, which is set to expand. The bills aim to protect impacted landowners by requiring companies to obtain their consent before building carbon wells, or reservoirs that store carbon dioxide underground. Other measures would affect the right to sue for damages related to such projects, establish setbacks from injection wells, and require well operators to develop emergency response plans. State Rep. Shane Mack, R-Livingston, praised the legislation, while environmental groups have raised concerns about relying on carbon capture to address environmental woes. Industry officials believe that carbon capture will bring new economic opportunities, benefit the environment, and allow the petrochemical oil and gas industry to thrive in Louisiana. However, critics argue that the release of carbon dioxide can replace the oxygen in the air, leading to new problems and potentially suffocating both people and fuel-powered vehicles.
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With Louisiana on track to welcome the burgeoning carbon capture and sequestration industry, lawmakers just passed a package of legislation to regulate the controversial technology. One group of bills aims to protect impacted landowners by requiring companies to get those landowners’ consent before building carbon wells, or reservoirs that store carbon dioxide underground. Other measures would affect the right to sue for damages related to such projects, establish setbacks from injection wells and require well operators to formulate emergency response plans.
State Rep. Shane Mack, R-Livingston, who unsuccessfully attempted to put on hold a carbon capture project proposed in Lake Maurepas, said the legislation does “a lot to help the people of Louisiana” and makes him feel better about moving forward with the industry. Mack still has concerns about carbon capture projects, he said, and he wants local governments to have more input. But he believes Louisiana doesn’t have much of a choice if it wants to keep its oil and gas industry running. As carbon dioxide emissions contribute to a warming planet, the EPA is requiring coal-fired power plants to reduce carbon emissions by 90%. (United States Sen. John Kennedy of Louisiana and other Republicans in Congress are suing to block that plan.) Though many environmental groups are wary of the new technology, the Biden administration has pitched carbon capture as the preferred way to help companies achieve the reduced emissions goals.
Industry officials embrace using carbon capture to keep the state’s petrochemical plants in business as federal regulations require them to reduce or permanently store their carbon emissions. Carbon capture will bring new economic opportunities, benefit the environment and “allow the larger petrochemical oil and gas industry to continue to thrive in Louisiana,” said Tommy Faucheux, president of the Louisiana Mid-Continent Oil & Gas Association. “That’s a win-win, and so that’s why I think you see us going down this path.” Because carbon capture uses similar technology to oil and gas exploration and production, it is seen as an opportunity to create well drilling jobs in Louisiana as actual oil production continues to slack off.
But many environmental groups have raised concerns about relying on carbon capture to address environmental woes. Such critics say the untested practice could cause new problems—the release of carbon dioxide can replace the oxygen in the air, suffocating both people and fuel-powered vehicles in its path. In 2020, after a pipeline containing carbon dioxide and hydrogen ruptured in Satartia, Mississippi, cars stopped working, and about 46 people were treated at area hospitals, according to a report from National Public Radio. Some environmental groups also have raised concerns that the dramatic expansion of carbon dioxide pipelines will again threaten already-disappearing wetlands along Louisiana’s coast.
Other environmentalists say they have little faith in the state Department of Energy and Natural Resources to properly regulate the industry, though that agency has said it is prepared to do so now that it has been granted permitting authority by the federal Environmental Protection Agency. Regardless, it now appears all but inevitable that carbon capture is coming to Louisiana. The state currently has 24 pending applications for Class VI wells. Patrick Courreges, spokesperson for DENR, said 19 more potential applicants have expressed interest. The agency has not approved any applications yet but is likely to do so before the end of the year, Courreges said.
With the industry on its way to Louisiana, state Rep. Brett Geymann, R-Lake Charles, worried that companies would expropriate property owners’ lands to build carbon injection wells. Industries may already use expropriation for pipelines and other projects. Through House Bill 966, Geymann established a new process for companies to access land for carbon wells. Under the bill, well operators would need written consent from the owners of at least 75% of the impacted acreage to move forward with a project. That same “unitization” process already is used to guarantee mineral rights of landowners for oil and gas. Geymann said the framework will help landowners get fairer compensation by requiring companies to negotiate for their approval. When there is a dispute or when a landowner does not wish to participate in a project, the DENR will determine the level of compensation, he said.
“That was a big win for me,” Geymann said. “I didn’t want (companies) to be going all around the state basically taking people’s generational properties for them to do these projects.” Though the proposal initially faced resistance, Geymann said he was able to get industry officials on board. “We were able to have a seat at the table and work with (Geymann),” said Faucheux, adding that Louisiana is set to be a leader in carbon capture. “That’s a good place to be at the end of the (legislative) session.” House Bill 492, a companion bill to HB 966, prohibits companies from using eminent domain to obtain land for carbon injection and storage, Geymann said. And House Bill 937, also by Geymann, protects landowners from civil liability if a well operator using their property gets sued for damages.
Landry has signed HB 937 into law. HB 492 and HB 966 are awaiting his signature. Other bills that will impact carbon capture include House Bill 169 by Rep. Robby Carter, D-Amite, which allows those suing operators of carbon dioxide pipelines or storage facilities to seek damages per person, rather than per occurrence. Landry has signed HB 169. Another bill, House Bill 516 by Mack, which adds safeguards that aim to protect the public and the environment, still needs the governor’s approval. If Landry signs HB 516, well operators will need to share emergency response plans with local governing authorities before they begin operations. They’ll also be required to provide ongoing training to staff “regarding potential hazards, risk scenarios, and response actions,” and to conduct periodic groundwater testing.
Under the proposal, carbon injection wellheads could not be located within 500 feet of an inhabited dwelling, school or healthcare facility. The bill, which originally included two-mile setbacks and detailed requirements for the emergency response plans, was watered down. “I would have liked to have seen it passed without removing all the items that were removed,” Mack said. “However, in the end we worked together as a team, and it still was a good bill to keep our people and our environment safe.” The Associated Press and reporter Mark Schleifstein contributed to this report.
Chủ đề: Carbon Capture