‘‘(2) FINANCIAL
RESPONSIBILITY.—The regula-
tions referred to in paragraph (1) shall include re-
quirements for maintaining evidence of financial re-
sponsibility, including financial responsibility for 
emergency and remedial response, well plugging, site 
closure, and post-injection site care. Financial re-
sponsibility may be established for carbon dioxide 
geologic sequestration wells in accordance with regu-
lations promulgated by the Administrator by any one, 
or any combination, of the following: insurance, guar-
antee, trust, standby trust, surety bond, letter of cred-
it, qualification as a self-insurer, or any other method 
satisfactory to the Administrator.’’. 
SEC. 113. STUDIES AND REPORTS. 
(a) STUDY OF LEGAL FRAMEWORK FOR GEOLOGIC SE-
QUESTRATION SITES.— 
(1) ESTABLISHMENT OF TASK FORCE.—As soon 
as practicable, but not later than 6 months after the 
date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall 
establish a task force to be composed of an equal num-
ber of subject matter experts, nongovernmental orga-
nizations with expertise in environmental policy, aca-
demic experts with expertise in environmental law, 
State officials with environmental expertise, rep-
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resentatives of State Attorneys General, and members 
of the private sector, to conduct a study of— 
(A) existing Federal environmental statutes, 
State environmental statutes, and State common 
law that apply to geologic sequestration sites for 
carbon dioxide, including the ability of such laws 
to serve as risk management tools; 
(B) the existing statutory framework, in-
cluding Federal and State laws, that apply to 
harm and damage to the environment or public 
health at closed sites where carbon dioxide injec-
tion has been used for enhanced hydrocarbon re-
covery; 
(C) the statutory framework, environmental 
health and safety considerations, implementation 
issues, and financial implications of potential 
models for Federal, State, or private sector as-
sumption of liabilities and financial responsibil-
ities with respect to closed geologic sequestration 
sites; 
(D) private sector mechanisms, including 
insurance and bonding, that may be available to 
manage environmental, health and safety risk 
from closed geologic sequestration sites; and 
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(E) the subsurface mineral rights, water 
rights, or property rights issues associated with 
geologic sequestration of carbon dioxide. 
(2) REPORT.—Not later than 18 months after the 
date of enactment of this Act, the task force estab-
lished under paragraph (1) shall submit to Congress 
a report describing the results of the study conducted 
under that paragraph including any consensus rec-
ommendations of the task force. 
(b) ENVIRONMENTAL STATUTES.— 
(1) STUDY.—The Administrator shall conduct a 
study examining how, and under what circumstances, 
the environmental statutes for which the Environ-
mental Protection Agency has responsibility would 
apply to carbon dioxide injection and geologic seques-
tration activities. 
(2) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the 
date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall 
submit to Congress a report describing the results of 
the study conducted under paragraph (1). 
SEC. 114. CARBON CAPTURE AND SEQUESTRATION DEM-
ONSTRATION AND EARLY DEPLOYMENT PRO-
GRAM. 
(a) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section: 
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(1) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 
the Secretary of Energy. 
(2) DISTRIBUTION
UTILITY.—The term ‘‘dis-
tribution utility’’ means an entity that distributes 
electricity directly to retail consumers under a legal, 
regulatory, or contractual obligation to do so. 
(3) ELECTRIC UTILITY.—The term ‘‘electric util-
ity’’ has the meaning provided by section 3(22) of the 
Federal Power Act (16 U.S.C. 796(22)). 
(4) FOSSIL
FUEL-BASED
ELECTRICITY.—The 
term ‘‘fossil fuel-based electricity’’ means electricity 
that is produced from the combustion of fossil fuels. 
(5) FOSSIL FUEL.—The term ‘‘fossil fuel’’ means 
coal, petroleum, natural gas or any derivative of coal, 
petroleum, or natural gas. 
(6) CORPORATION.—The term ‘‘Corporation’’ 
means the Carbon Storage Research Corporation es-
tablished in accordance with this section. 
(7) QUALIFIED INDUSTRY ORGANIZATION.—The 
term ‘‘qualified industry organization’’ means the 
Edison Electric Institute, the American Public Power 
Association, the National Rural Electric Cooperative 
Association, a successor organization of such organi-
zations, or a group of owners or operators of distribu-
tion utilities delivering fossil fuel-based electricity 
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who collectively represent at least 20 percent of the 
volume of fossil fuel-based electricity delivered by dis-
tribution utilities to consumers in the United States. 
(8) RETAIL CONSUMER.—The term ‘‘retail con-
sumer’’ means an end-user of electricity. 
(b) CARBON STORAGE RESEARCH CORPORATION.— 
(1) ESTABLISHMENT.— 
(A) REFERENDUM.—Qualified industry or-
ganizations may conduct, at their own expense, 
a referendum among the owners or operators of 
distribution utilities delivering fossil fuel-based 
electricity for the creation of a Carbon Storage 
Research Corporation. Such referendum shall be 
conducted by an independent auditing firm 
agreed to by the qualified industry organiza-
tions. Voting rights in such referendum shall be 
based on the quantity of fossil fuel-based elec-
tricity delivered to consumers in the previous 
calendar year or other representative period as 
determined by the Secretary pursuant to sub-
section (f). Upon approval of those persons rep-
resenting two-thirds of the total quantity of fossil 
fuel-based electricity delivered to retail con-
sumers, the Corporation shall be established un-
less opposed by the State regulatory authorities 
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pursuant to subparagraph (B). All distribution 
utilities voting in the referendum shall certify to 
the independent auditing firm the quantity of 
fossil fuel-based electricity represented by their 
vote. 
(B) STATE
REGULATORY
AUTHORITIES.— 
Upon its own motion or the petition of a quali-
fied industry organization, each State regulatory 
authority shall consider its support or opposition 
to the creation of the Corporation under sub-
paragraph (A). State regulatory authorities may 
notify the independent auditing firm referred to 
in subparagraph (A) of their views on the cre-
ation of the Corporation within 180 days after 
the date of enactment of this Act. If 40 percent 
or more of the State regulatory authorities sub-
mit to the independent auditing firm written no-
tices of opposition, the Corporation shall not be 
established notwithstanding the approval of the 
qualified industry organizations as provided in 
subparagraph (A). 
(2) TERMINATION.—The Corporation shall be au-
thorized to collect assessments and conduct operations 
pursuant to this section for a 10-year period from the 
date 6 months after the date of enactment of this Act. 
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After such 10-year period, the Corporation is no 
longer authorized to collect assessments and shall be 
dissolved on the date 15 years after such date of en-
actment, unless the period is extended by an Act of 
Congress. 
(3) GOVERNANCE.—The Corporation shall oper-
ate as a division or affiliate of the Electric Power Re-
search Institute (referred to in this section as 
‘‘EPRI’’) and be managed by a Board of not more 
than 15 voting members responsible for its operations, 
including compliance with this section. EPRI, in con-
sultation with the Edison Electric Institute, the 
American Public Power Association and the National 
Rural Electric Cooperative Association shall appoint 
the Board members under clauses (i), (ii), and (iii) 
of subparagraph (A) from among candidates rec-
ommended by those organizations. At least a majority 
of the Board members appointed by EPRI shall be 
representatives of distribution utilities subject to as-
sessments under subsection (d). 
(A) MEMBERS.—The Board shall include at 
least one representative of each of the following: 
(i) Investor-owned utilities. 
(ii) Utilities owned by a State agency 
or a municipality. 
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(iii) Rural electric cooperatives. 
(iv) Fossil fuel producers. 
(v) Nonprofit environmental organiza-
tions. 
(vi) Independent generators or whole-
sale power providers. 
(vii) Consumer groups. 
(B) NONVOTING
MEMBERS.—The Board 
shall also include as additional nonvoting Mem-
bers the Secretary of Energy or his designee and 
2 representatives of State regulatory authorities 
as defined in section 3(17) of the Public Utility 
Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 (16 U.S.C. 
2602(17)), each designated by the National Asso-
ciation of State Regulatory Utility Commis-
sioners from States that are not within the same 
transmission interconnection. 
(4) COMPENSATION.—Corporation Board mem-
bers shall receive no compensation for their services, 
nor shall Corporation Board members be reimbursed 
for expenses relating to their service. 
(5) TERMS.—Corporation Board members shall 
serve terms of 4 years and may serve not more than 
2 full consecutive terms. Members filling unexpired 
terms may serve not more than a total of 8 consecu-
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tive years. Former members of the Corporation Board 
may be reappointed to the Corporation Board if they 
have not been members for a period of 2 years. Initial 
appointments to the Corporation Board shall be for 
terms of 1, 2, 3, and 4 years, staggered to provide for 
the selection of 3 members each year. 
(6) STATUS OF CORPORATION.—The Corporation 
shall not be considered to be an agency, department, 
or instrumentality of the United States, and no offi-
cer or director or employee of the Corporation shall 
be considered to be an officer or employee of the 
United States Government, for purposes of title 5 or 
title 31 of the United States Code, or for any other 
purpose, and no funds of the Corporation shall be 
treated as public money for purposes of chapter 33 of 
title 31, United States Code, or for any other purpose. 
(c) FUNCTIONS AND ADMINISTRATION OF THE COR-
PORATION.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Corporation shall estab-
lish and administer a program to accelerate the com-
mercial availability of carbon dioxide capture and 
storage technologies and methods, including tech-
nologies which capture and store, or capture and con-
vert, carbon dioxide. Under such program competi-
tively awarded grants, contracts, and financial assist-
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ance shall be provided and entered into with eligible 
entities. Except as provided in paragraph (8), the 
Corporation shall use all funds derived from assess-
ments under subsection (d) to issue grants and con-
tracts to eligible entities. 
(2) PURPOSE.—The purposes of the grants, con-
tracts, and assistance under this subsection shall be to 
support commercial-scale demonstrations of carbon 
capture or storage technology projects capable of ad-
vancing the technologies to commercial readiness. 
Such projects should encompass a range of different 
coal and other fossil fuel varieties, be geographically 
diverse, involve diverse storage media, and employ 
capture or storage, or capture and conversion, tech-
nologies potentially suitable either for new or for ret-
rofit applications. The Corporation shall seek, to the 
extent feasible, to support at least 5 commercial-scale 
demonstration projects integrating carbon capture 
and sequestration or conversion technologies. 
(3) ELIGIBLE
ENTITIES.—Entities eligible for 
grants, contracts or assistance under this subsection 
may include distribution utilities, electric utilities 
and other private entities, academic institutions, na-
tional laboratories, Federal research agencies, State 
research agencies, nonprofit organizations, or consor-
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tiums of 2 or more entities. Pilot-scale and similar 
small-scale projects are not eligible for support by the 
Corporation. Owners or developers of projects sup-
ported by the Corporation shall, where appropriate, 
share in the costs of such projects. 
(4) GRANTS FOR EARLY MOVERS.—Fifty percent 
of the funds raised under this section shall be pro-
vided in the form of grants to electric utilities that 
had, prior to the award of any grant under this sec-
tion, committed resources to deploy a large scale elec-
tricity generation unit with integrated carbon capture 
and sequestration or conversion applied to a substan-
tial portion of the unit’s carbon dioxide emissions.
Grant funds shall be provided to defray costs incurred 
by such electricity utilities for at least 5 such elec-
tricity generation units. 
(5) ADMINISTRATION.—The members of the 
Board of Directors of the Corporation shall elect a 
Chairman and other officers as necessary, may estab-
lish committees and subcommittees of the Corpora-
tion, and shall adopt rules and bylaws for the conduct 
of business and the implementation of this section. 
The Board shall appoint an Executive Director and 
professional support staff who may be employees of 
the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI). After 
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