II 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4280 

To require the Secretary of Energy to remove carbon dioxide directly from 

ambient air or seawater, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 19 (legislative day, MAY 17), 2022 

Mr. COONS (for himself and Mr. WHITEHOUSE) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To require the Secretary of Energy to remove carbon dioxide 

directly from ambient air or seawater, 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 ‘‘Federal Carbon Diox5 ide Removal Leadership Act of 2022’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FEDERAL REQUIREMENT TO REMOVE CARBON DI7 OXIDE. 

8 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

9 (1) ELIGIBLE TECHNOLOGY.— 


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1 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘eligible 

2 technology’’ means any equipment, technique, 

3 or technology, as determined appropriate by the 

4 Secretary, placed into service after January 1, 

5 2022, that removes carbon dioxide directly from 

6 ambient air or seawater. 

7 (B) EXCLUSION.—The term ‘‘eligible tech8 nology’’ does not include any equipment, tech9 nique, or technology that— 

10 (i) removes carbon dioxide that is de11 liberately released from naturally occurring 

12 subsurface springs; or 

13 (ii) removes carbon dioxide through 

14 natural photosynthesis, subject to subpara15 graph (C). 

16 (C) OTHER ELIGIBLE TECHNOLOGY.— 

17 (i) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding 

18 subparagraph (B)(ii), the term ‘‘eligible 

19 technology’’, with respect to a project for 

20 the removal of carbon dioxide carried out 

21 by an entity with which the Secretary en22 ters into a contract under subsection (c), 

23 includes any equipment, technique, or tech24 nology used in the project that removes 

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1 ysis of solid, nonhazardous, and cellulosic 

2 waste materials if the Secretary, by rule, 

3 determines that the equipment, technique, 

4 or technology, as applicable, is capable 

5 of— 

6 (I) adequately monitoring, re7 porting, and verifying the amount of 

8 greenhouse gas emissions (calculated 

9 on a lifecycle basis) that are associ10 ated with the equipment, technique, or 

11 technology; and 

12 (II) adequately mitigating the en13 vironmental impacts (including im14 pacts on biodiversity, land use, and 

15 air and water quality) associated with 

16 the equipment, technique, or tech17 nology. 

18 (ii) RULE.—The Secretary shall re19 view any rule promulgated pursuant to 

20 clause (i) not less frequently than once 

21 every 6 years after the date on which the 

22 rule is promulgated. 

23 (2) LIFECYCLE BASIS.—The term ‘‘lifecycle 

24 basis’’ means the net sum of all greenhouse gas 

25 emissions (using mass values for all greenhouse 


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1 gases that are adjusted to account for their relative 

2 global warming potential, in consultation with the 

3 Administrator of the Environmental Protection 

4 Agency) and removals associated with carbon dioxide 

5 removal activity, including any emissions associated 

6 with— 

7 (A) energy and feedstock inputs; 

8 (B) the carbon dioxide removal process; 

9 and 

10 (C) carbon dioxide storage, including use 

11 and disposal of any materials or products asso12 ciated with carbon dioxide storage. 

13 (3) REMOVE.—The term ‘‘remove’’, with re14 spect to carbon dioxide, means— 

15 (A) to capture carbon dioxide using an eli16 gible technology; and 

17 (B) to permanently store that captured 

18 carbon dioxide— 

19 (i) in dedicated subsurface geologic 

20 storage reported under sections 98.440 

21 and 146.91(e) of title 40, Code of Federal 

22 Regulations (or successor regulations); 

23 (ii) in materials, including building 

24 materials and mineralized carbon mate25 rials; or 


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1 (iii) through another permanent stor2 age method, as determined by the Sec3 retary. 

4 (4) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

5 the Secretary of Energy. 

6 (5) SMALL REMOVAL PROJECT.—The term 

7 ‘‘small removal project’’ means a project for the re8 moval of carbon dioxide that removes not more than 

9 5 percent of the net metric tons of carbon dioxide 

10 required to be removed under subsection (b)(1) for 

11 the fiscal year in which the project begins. 

12 (b) REMOVAL REQUIREMENT.— 

13 (1) AMOUNTS.—The Secretary shall, if eco14 nomically feasible as determined under paragraph 

15 (2), remove— 

16 (A) 50,000 net metric tons of carbon diox17 ide, calculated on a lifecycle basis, for each of 

18 fiscal years 2024 and 2025; 

19 (B) 500,000 net metric tons of carbon di20 oxide, calculated on a lifecycle basis, for each of 

21 fiscal years 2026 through 2028; 

22 (C) 5,000,000 net metric tons of carbon 

23 dioxide, calculated on a lifecycle basis, for each 

24 of fiscal years 2029 through 2034; and 


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1 (D) 10,000,000 net metric tons of carbon 

2 dioxide, calculated on a lifecycle basis, for fiscal 

3 year 2035 and each fiscal year thereafter. 

4 (2) ECONOMIC FEASIBILITY.— 

5 (A) IN GENERAL.—The removal of carbon 

6 dioxide under paragraph (1) shall be considered 

7 economically feasible if the removal can be ac8 complished, or in the case of a contract under 

9 subsection (c), purchased— 

10 (i) for each of fiscal years 2024 and 

11 2025, at a price per metric ton of carbon 

12 dioxide of not more than $550; 

13 (ii) for each of fiscal years 2026 

14 through 2028, at a price per metric ton of 

15 carbon dioxide of not more than $400; 

16 (iii) for each of fiscal years 2029 

17 through 2031, at a price per metric ton of 

18 carbon dioxide of not more than $300; 

19 (iv) for each of fiscal years 2032 

20 through 2034, at a price per metric ton of 

21 carbon dioxide of not more than $200; and 

22 (v) for fiscal year 2035 and each fis23 cal year thereafter, at a price per metric 

24 ton of carbon dioxide of not more than 

25 $150. 


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1 (B) INCLUSION OF MONITORING, REPORT2 ING, AND VERIFICATION COSTS.—For purposes 

3 of subparagraph (A), the price per metric ton 

4 of carbon dioxide shall include any costs associ5 ated with the monitoring, reporting, and 

6 verification required under subsection (d). 

7 (C) MULTIYEAR CONTRACTS.—The re8 moval of carbon dioxide carried out pursuant to 

9 a multiyear contract entered into under sub10 section (c) shall be considered economically fea11 sible if such removal can be accomplished at the 

12 applicable dollar amount for the first fiscal year 

13 of the contract, as provided in subparagraph 

14 (A), through the entire length of the contract. 

15 (3) TIMING.—For each fiscal year, the Sec16 retary shall remove the amount of carbon dioxide re17 quired under paragraph (1) for that fiscal year not 

18 later than 3 years after the beginning of that fiscal 

19 year. 

20 (4) SMALL REMOVAL PROJECT SET-ASIDE.—To 

21 the extent practicable, at least 20 percent of the net 

22 metric tons of carbon dioxide required to be removed 

23 under paragraph (1) for each of fiscal years 2024 

24 through 2034 shall be removed through small re25 moval projects. 


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1 (c) CONTRACTS FOR PROJECTS TO REMOVE CARBON

2 DIOXIDE.— 

3 (1) IN GENERAL.—To meet the requirements of 

4 subsection (b), the Secretary may enter into con5 tracts to carry out projects for the removal of carbon 

6 dioxide, including small removal projects. 

7 (2) DURATION.—A contract entered into under 

8 paragraph (1) shall be for a term of not more than 

9 15 years. 

10 (3) PRIORITIES.—In entering into contracts 

11 under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall give pri12 ority to contracts for projects that— 

13 (A) minimize the amount of greenhouse 

14 gas emissions released by carrying out the 

15 project; 

16 (B) support the commercialization of inno17 vative removal technologies; 

18 (C) increase the diversity of commercially 

19 available eligible technologies; 

20 (D) provide the greatest potential for do21 mestic job creation; 

22 (E) result in economic development or eco23 nomic diversification in regions or localities that 

24 have historically generated significant economic 

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1 portation, or combustion of fossil fuels, includ2 ing through the use of coal mines, fossil fuel3 fired electricity generating units, and petroleum 

4 refining facilities; 

5 (F) quantify and mitigate the effect of re6 moving carbon dioxide on environmental justice, 

7 the environment, and public health; and 

8 (G) include robust public engagement and 

9 community benefits. 

10 (d) MONITORING, REPORTING, AND

11 VERIFICATION.— 

12 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, or an entity 

13 with which the Secretary enters into a contract 

14 under subsection (c), shall monitor, report, and 

15 verify the net metric tons of carbon dioxide that the 

16 Secretary or the entity, as applicable, removes for 

17 purposes of this section. 

18 (2) BEST PRACTICES.—The Secretary shall en19 sure that any project carried out under a contract 

20 entered into under subsection (c) shall follow the 

21 best available practices, as determined by the Sec22 retary, for monitoring, reporting, and verifying the 

23 net metric tons of carbon dioxide removed under the 

24 project, including best practices that— 


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1 (A) are used by similar carbon dioxide re2 moval projects; and 

3 (B) are necessary to ensure safe, effective, 

4 and efficient removal of carbon dioxide. 

5 (3) PROHIBITION ON DOUBLE COUNTING.—Car6 bon dioxide that is removed for the purpose of com7 plying with any other greenhouse gas emissions 

8 management program, including any foreign, Fed9 eral, State, local, or private greenhouse gas emis10 sions management program, as determined by the 

11 Secretary, may not be considered removed under 

12 subsection (b) for purposes of meeting the require13 ments of that subsection. 

14 (e) FEDERAL ASSISTANCE.—Funds received pursu15 ant to a contract entered into under subsection (c) shall 

16 not be considered Federal assistance or otherwise affect 

17 eligibility for any Federal assistance, including a tax in18 centive. 

19 (f) REPORT.—Not later than January 1, 2027, and 

20 every 2 years thereafter, the Secretary shall submit to 

21 Congress, and make publicly available, a report that de22 scribes the progress made in carrying out the require23 ments of this section, including— 


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1 (1) the amounts of carbon dioxide removed dur2 ing the period covered by the report, as verified pur3 suant to subsection (d); 

4 (2) the total price, and price per metric ton, of 

5 removing carbon dioxide for each applicable fiscal 

6 year during the period covered by the report; 

7 (3) the methods of monitoring, reporting, and 

8 verification required under subsection (d); 

9 (4) an assessment, to the extent practicable, of 

10 how the amounts of carbon dioxide removed during 

11 the period covered by the report have affected envi12 ronmental justice, the environment, and public 

13 health; and 

14 (5) information on any labor impact or job cre15 ation resulting from carrying out the requirements 

16 of this section during the period covered by the re17 port. 

18 (g) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

19 are authorized to be appropriated such sums as are nec20 essary to carry out this section. 

Æ 


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