Oklahoma Administrative Code › Title 155 - Oklahoma Conservation Commission › Chapter 30 - Oklahoma Carbon Sequestration Certification Program › Subchapter 1 - General Provisions › Section 155:30-1-2 - Definitions

Current through Vol. 41, No. 20, July 1, 2024
The following words or terms when used in this chapter shall have the following meaning unless the context clearly indicates otherwise:
"Act"
means the Oklahoma Carbon Sequestration Enhancement Act, 27A O.S. § 3-4-101 et seq.
"Aggregator"
means an intermediary that serves as the administrative representative between offset sellers and offset buyers for the purpose of pooling or bundling carbon offsets for sale.
"Air quality agency"
means the agency with jurisdiction to issue or enforce permits for air emissions.
"Anthropogenic carbon dioxide"
or
"Man-Made CO2"
means carbon dioxide that is formed mechanically as opposed to carbon dioxide that naturally occurs or is from natural processes such as respiration and decay. It includes, for example, carbon dioxide from power generation, manufacturing, or other similar sources.
"Applicant"
means a person making an application.
"Application"
means a petition or any written request for authority, approval, determination, permission, or other Commission action or relief pursuant to these rules. An application also includes the standard state forms for applying for verification of an offset, including any supplemental materials, additions, revisions, or modifications to the forms.
"Carbon dioxide (CO2)"
means an inorganic compound containing one carbon atom and two oxygen atoms. Carbon dioxide is an inert, stable, colorless, odorless, non-toxic, incombustible, inorganic gas. It is dissolvable in water and is naturally present in underground locations and in the atmosphere as a trace gas. Carbon dioxide is formed during respiration and exhaled by humans and animals, and is utilized by plants during photosynthesis. Carbon dioxide can be liquefied by compression and cooling, and can be solidified into dry ice. Carbon dioxide is a gas produced when carbon is oxidized by any process. It can be produced through various natural processes or produced mechanically. For the purposes of these rules, only anthropogenic carbon dioxide is considered to be carbon dioxide. Under standard conditions, one short ton (2,000 pounds) of carbon dioxide equals 17.483 mcf (thousand cubic feet) or 0.91 metric tonnes.
"Carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e)"
means a term used to refer to gases other than carbon dioxide that have been converted into the equivalent of carbon dioxide based on their global warming potential. As defined by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Global Warming Potential (GWP) is the cumulative radiative forcing effects of a gas over a specified time horizon resulting from the emission of a unit mass of gas relative to a reference gas. The GWP-weighted emissions of direct greenhouse gases in the U.S. Inventory are presented in terms of equivalent emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2e), using units of teragrams of carbon dioxide equivalents (Tg CO2 Eq.).
"Carbon offset"
means the emissions reduction that occurs when a practice or project negates greenhouse gas emissions by sequestering greenhouse gases in a carbon sink with reforestation, afforestation, managed forests, growing agricultural crops, increasing existing vegetated areas, or utilizing geologic storage. An offset may be expressed in standard cubic feet of CO2, metric tonnes of CO2, tons of CO2, or tons of CO2e.
"Carbon offset registry"
means the repository of records of Oklahoma carbon offsets certified under this program, and the repository of records of Oklahoma carbon offsets not verified under this program, and collectively maintained by the Commission and made public through an online website where Oklahoma carbon offsets are reported for the purpose of reducing the potential for the offsets to be claimed more than once as an emission reduction credit.
"Carbon sequestration"
or
"carbon storage"
means the process of increasing the amount of greenhouse gases held in soil, in plants, underground, in geologic storage, in waterbodies, or in other types of long term storage.
"Certificate"
means a document evidencing carbon sequestration occurred and was verified by the Commission or other approved verifier. It is issued by the Commission pursuant to these rules in response to an application and subsequent verification of a specified carbon offset or project that occurred during a specific, defined time period. Any Certificate shall specify the year the offset occurred and the numerical volume or tonnage of the offset. For pooled projects, the certificate shall only apply to the distinct offset or contract verified by this program and shall not be applied to other offsets or contracts held within a pooled project unless the entire pooled project has been verified pursuant to these rules.
"Document"
means any kind of printed, recorded, written, graphic, photographic or electronic matter or material, however printed, produced, reproduced, coded or stored.
"EOR reservoir"
means a reservoir that is a common source of supply or pool of hydrocarbons, including oil or gas, that may be recovered using enhanced methods.
"Geologic storage"
means underground storage or sequestration of carbon dioxide or other greenhouse gas in a reservoir, including an EOR reservoir.
"Greenhouse gas"
means any gas that absorbs infrared radiation in the atmosphere. Greenhouse gases include, but are not limited to, water vapor, carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O), chlorofluorocarbons(CFCs), hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs), ozone (O3), hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), perfluorocarbons (PFCs), and sulfur hexafluoride (SF6).
"Governmental entity"
means any department, commission, authority, council, board, bureau, committee, legislative body, agency, beneficial public trust, municipality, institution, political subdivision, tribe, or other establishment of the executive, legislative or judicial branch of the United States, the State of Oklahoma, any other state in the United States, the District of Columbia, the Territories of the United States, and any similar entity of any foreign country.
"Landowner"
means the person authorized to enter into contract for the lands or vegetation that will provide the carbon offset under Subchapters 3 and 5 of these rules.
"Oklahoma Carbon Program"
means the Oklahoma Carbon Sequestration Certification Program pursuant to the Oklahoma Carbon Sequestration Enhancement Act.
"Oklahoma Verified Offset"
means a carbon offset verified by the Commission pursuant to the rules of the Oklahoma Carbon Program.
"Operator"
means the person permitted by the UIC agency to perform injection of carbon dioxide or other greenhouse gas into a reservoir or storage facility.
"Person"
means any institution, individual, public or private corporation, partnership, proprietorship, association, firm, company, limited partnership, limited liability company, joint venture, public trust, joint-stock company, syndicate, trust, organization, estate, governmental entity, tribe, or any other legal entity or an agent, employee, representative, assignee or successor.
"Pooled project"
means a project created by the grouping of more than one carbon contract or project.
"Project"
means the separate and distinct activity or practices that sequestered carbon dioxide or carbon dioxide equivalent for a defined time period and for which the applicant is making an application for verification and certification under these rules.
"Reserve"
means a fund or qualifying carbon offset set aside to compensate for the reversal or loss of greenhouse gas sequestered by an offset or project.
"Reservoir"
means a geologic or subsurface sedimentary stratum, formation, aquifer, cavity or void, whether naturally occurring or artificially created, including an EOR reservoir, saline formation, or coal seam.
"Resource Management Plan (RMP)"
means a detailed description of the practice, activity, or project, including the method that will sequester carbon dioxide or carbon dioxide equivalent on a specified area of land or in a specified reservoir. For forest carbon sequestration, the Commission shall accept forest management plans that are written using specifications approved by the Director of Forestry Services, Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, Food and Forestry.
"Reversal"
means the release, due to natural or human activities, of some or all of the greenhouse gas sequestered by a project.
"Storage facility"
means the reservoir, and all underground equipment and surface buildings, facilities and equipment, utilized in the project, excluding all pipelines used to transport greenhouse gases.
"UIC"
means the Underground Injection Control program of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency pursuant to the Safe Drinking Water Act.
"UIC agency"
means the state governmental entity(s) having jurisdiction over UIC in Oklahoma.
"UIC permit"
means the document issued by the UIC agency authorizing the operator to engage in injection of carbon dioxide or other greenhouse gas into a reservoir or storage facility.
"Verification"
means the determination that the sequestration of carbon dioxide or its equivalent is occurring or has occurred in accordance with a specific method or standard."Verifier" means a person, approved by the Commission that confirms the accuracy of information reported for the purposes of verification.
(For information about related emergency rules, see Editor's Note at beginning of Chapter); Added at 26 Ok Reg 1388, eff 7-1-09