II 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 731 

To develop a methodology for, and complete, a national assessment of 

geological storage capacity for carbon dioxide, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 1, 2007 

Mr. SALAZAR (for himself, Mr. BINGAMAN, Mr. WEBB, Mr. TESTER, and Mr. 

BUNNING) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To develop a methodology for, and complete, a national assessment of geological storage capacity for carbon dioxide, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘National Carbon Diox5 ide Storage Capacity Assessment Act of 2007’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act: 

8 (1) ASSESSMENT.—The term ‘‘assessment’’ 

9 means the national assessment of geological storage 


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1 capacity for carbon dioxide completed under this 

2 Act. 

3 (2) CAPACITY; GEOLOGICAL STORAGE CAPAC4 ITY.—The terms ‘‘capacity’’ and ‘‘geological storage 

5 capacity’’ mean the portion of a storage formation 

6 that can retain carbon dioxide under the parameters 

7 (including physical, geological, and economic param8 eters) established under the methodology developed 

9 under this Act. 

10 (3) ENGINEERED HAZARDS.—The term ‘‘engi11 neered hazards’’ includes the location and comple12 tion history of any well that could affect potential 

13 storage. 

14 (4) RISK.—The term ‘‘risk’’ includes risks 

15 posed by geomechanical, geochemical, 

16 hydrogeological, structural, and engineered hazards. 

17 (5) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

18 the Secretary of the Interior, acting through the Di19 rector of the United States Geological Survey. 

20 (6) STORAGE FORMATION.—The term ‘‘storage 

21 formation’’ means a saline formation, unmineable 

22 coal seam, or oil or gas reservoir capable of accom23 modating a volume of industrial carbon dioxide. 


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1 SEC. 3. METHODOLOGY FOR NATIONAL ASSESSMENT OF 

2 GEOLOGICAL STORAGE CAPACITY FOR CAR3 BON DIOXIDE. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 270 days after the 

5 date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall develop 

6 a methodology for conducting a national assessment of the 

7 geological storage capacity for carbon dioxide. 

8 (b) POTENTIAL STORAGE FORMATIONS.—In devel9 oping the methodology under this section, the Secretary 

10 shall consider— 

11 (1) the geographic extent of all potential stor12 age formations in all 50 States; 

13 (2) the capacity of the potential storage forma14 tions; 

15 (3) the injectivity of the potential storage for16 mations; 

17 (4) an estimate of potential volumes of oil and 

18 gas recoverable by injection and storage of industrial 

19 carbon dioxide in potential storage formations; and 

20 (5) the risk associated with the potential stor21 age formations. 

22 (c) COORDINATION.— 

23 (1) FEDERAL COORDINATION.— 

24 (A) CONSULTATION.—The Secretary shall 

25 consult with the Secretary of Energy and the 

26 Administrator of the Environmental Protection 


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1 Agency on issues of data sharing, format, devel2 opment of the methodology, and content of the 

3 assessment required under this Act to ensure 

4 the maximum usefulness and success of the as5 sessment. 

6 (B) COOPERATION.—The Secretary of En7 ergy and the Administrator shall cooperate with 

8 the Secretary to ensure, to the maximum extent 

9 practicable, the usefulness and success of the 

10 assessment. 

11 (2) STATE COORDINATION.—The Secretary 

12 shall consult with State geological surveys and other 

13 relevant entities to ensure, to the maximum extent 

14 practicable, the usefulness and success of the assess15 ment. 

16 (d) OPPORTUNITY FOR REVIEW AND COMMENT.— 

17 During the period beginning on the date that is 270 days 

18 after the date of enactment of this Act and ending not 

19 less than 45 days, and not more than 90 days, after the 

20 commencement of the assessment, the Secretary shall pro21 vide the heads of stakeholder Federal agencies, the heads 

22 of State land management agencies, industry stakeholders, 

23 and the public with an opportunity to review and comment 

24 on the proposed methodology developed under subsection 

25 (a). 


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1 (e) INDEPENDENT VERIFICATION.—During the pe2 riod described in subsection (d), the Secretary shall con3 vene a committee of subject matter experts composed of 

4 representatives of Federal agencies, institutions of higher 

5 education, nongovernmental organizations, State organi6 zations, industry, and international geoscience organiza7 tions to conduct a review of the methodology for capacity 

8 and risk estimation required to carry out this section. 

9 (f) FINAL PUBLICATION.—Not later than 90 days 

10 after the period described in subsection (d), the Secretary 

11 shall— 

12 (1) publish in the Federal Register a descrip13 tion of the final methodology to be used for con14 ducting the national assessment of the geological 

15 storage capacity for carbon dioxide required under 

16 subsection (a), taking into account any comments 

17 received under subsection (d) and the methodology 

18 review conducted under subsection (e); and 

19 (2) issue a public report that responds to the 

20 comments received under subsection (d) and the 

21 methodology review under subsection (e). 


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1 SEC. 4. COMPLETION OF NATIONAL ASSESSMENT OF GEO2 LOGICAL STORAGE CAPACITY FOR CARBON 

3 DIOXIDE. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 2 years after the 

5 date of final publication of the methodology, the Secretary 

6 shall complete a national assessment of geological storage 

7 capacity for carbon dioxide using the methodology devel8 oped under section 3. 

9 (b) DATABASE.— 

10 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall establish 

11 a database on the Internet accessible to the public 

12 that provides the results of the assessment required 

13 under this section, including a detailed description of 

14 the data collected under the assessment. 

15 (2) DATA.—The database shall include the data 

16 necessary to rank potential storage sites for capacity 

17 and risk, across the United States, within each 

18 State, by formation, and within each basin. 

19 (c) REPORT.— 

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 

21 after the date on which the assessment required 

22 under this section is completed, the Secretary shall 

23 submit to the appropriate committees of Congress 

24 and the President a report that describes the find25 ings of the assessment. 


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1 (2) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.—The Secretary 

2 shall make the report required under this subsection 

3 available on the Internet. 

4 SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

5 There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out 

6 this Act $20,000,000 for the period beginning on October 

7 1 of the first full fiscal year after the date of enactment 

8 of this Act and ending 4 years thereafter. 

Æ 


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