I 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1267 

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

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

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 1, 2007 

Mr. GORDON of Tennessee introduced the following bill; which was referred 

to the Committee on 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 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 each of the 50 States and the Dis13 trict of Columbia; 

14 (2) the capacity of the potential storage forma15 tions; 

16 (3) the injectivity of the potential storage for17 mations; 

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

19 gas recoverable by injection and storage of industrial 

20 carbon dioxide in potential storage formations; and 

21 (5) the risk associated with the potential stor22 age formations. 

23 (c) COORDINATION.— 

24 (1) FEDERAL COORDINATION.— 

25 (A) CONSULTATION.—The Secretary shall 

26 consult with the Secretary of Energy and the 


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1 Administrator of the Environmental Protection 

2 Agency on issues of data sharing, format, devel3 opment of the methodology, and content of the 

4 assessment required under this Act to ensure 

5 the maximum usefulness and success of the as6 sessment. 

7 (B) COOPERATION.—The Secretary of En8 ergy and the Administrator of the Environ9 mental Protection Agency shall cooperate with 

10 the Secretary to ensure, to the maximum extent 

11 practicable, the usefulness and success of the 

12 assessment. 

13 (2) STATE COORDINATION.—The Secretary 

14 shall consult with State geological surveys and other 

15 relevant entities to ensure, to the maximum extent 

16 practicable, the usefulness and success of the assess17 ment. 

18 (d) OPPORTUNITY FOR REVIEW AND COMMENT.— 

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

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

21 less than 45 days, and not more than 90 days thereafter, 

22 the Secretary shall provide the heads of stakeholder Fed23 eral agencies, the heads of State land management agen24 cies, industry stakeholders, and the public with an opporVerDate Aug 31 2005 17:33 Mar 03, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1267.IH H1267

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1 tunity to review and comment on the proposed method2 ology developed under subsection (a). 

3 (e) INDEPENDENT VERIFICATION.—During the pe4 riod described in subsection (d), the Secretary shall con5 vene a committee of subject matter experts composed of 

6 representatives of Federal agencies, institutions of higher 

7 education, nongovernmental organizations, State organi8 zations, industry, and international geoscience organiza9 tions to conduct a review of the methodology for capacity 

10 and risk estimation required to carry out this section. 

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

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

13 shall— 

14 (1) publish in the Federal Register a descrip15 tion of the final methodology to be used for con16 ducting the national assessment of the geological 

17 storage capacity for carbon dioxide required under 

18 subsection (a), taking into account any comments 

19 received under subsection (d) and the methodology 

20 review conducted under subsection (e); and 

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

22 comments received under subsection (d) and the 

23 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 Congress and the President a report 

24 that describes the findings 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 are 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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