2023 Wyoming Statutes › Title 35 - Public Health and Safety › Chapter 11 - Environmental Quality › Article 3 - Water Quality › Section 35-11-319 - Certificate of Project Completion; Release; Transfer of Title and Custody.

35-11-319. Certificate of project completion; release; transfer of title and custody.
(a) After all carbon dioxide injections underground or into pore space are completed as provided by a permit issued under W.S. 35-11-313 and upon application by the injector holding title to the carbon dioxide under W.S. 35-11-318, the department may issue a certificate of project completion. The department shall only issue a certificate upon satisfaction of the conditions imposed under subsections (b), (c) and (d) of this section and after providing public notice of the application, an opportunity for public comment and a public hearing on the application.
(b) A certificate of project completion shall not be issued until at least twenty (20) years after carbon dioxide injections end.
(c) A certificate of project completion shall not be issued until the injector with title to the carbon dioxide establishes to the satisfaction of the department that:
(i) The injector is in full compliance with all laws governing the injection and storage of the carbon dioxide;
(ii) The injector has addressed any pending claims regarding the injection and storage of the carbon dioxide;
(iii) The underground place or pore space where the carbon dioxide was injected or stored is expected to no longer expand vertically or horizontally and poses no threat to human health, human safety, the environment or underground sources of drinking water;
(iv) The stored or injected carbon dioxide is unlikely to cross any underground or pore space boundary and is not expected to endanger any underground source of drinking water or otherwise endanger human health, human safety or the environment;
(v) All wells, equipment and facilities to be used in maintaining and managing the stored carbon dioxide are in good condition and will retain mechanical integrity;
(vi) The injector has plugged any injection wells and has completed all reclamation required by the department.
(d) Upon the issuance of a certificate of project completion under subsection (a) of this section:
(i) In exchange for assuming responsibility and liability for the stored carbon dioxide as provided in this section, title to the stored or injected carbon dioxide, and any facilities used to inject or store the carbon dioxide, without payment of any compensation, shall be transferred to the state;
(ii) Title acquired by the state includes all rights, and interests in, and all responsibilities associated with, the stored or injected carbon dioxide;
(iii) Primary responsibility and liability for the stored or injected carbon dioxide shall be transferred to the state, provided that liability to the state shall not result in the payment of any damages in excess of the balance of the Wyoming geologic sequestration special revenue account created by W.S. 35-11-320(a);
(iv) The injector and all persons who generated any injected or stored carbon dioxide shall be forever released from all regulatory requirements associated with the continued storage and maintenance of the injected carbon dioxide;
(v) Any bond or financial assurance submitted to the department under W.S. 35-11-313 through 35-11-317 shall be released;
(vi) The state, through the department, shall assume responsibility to manage and monitor the stored carbon dioxide until such time when the federal government assumes responsibility for the long-term monitoring and management of stored carbon dioxide.