This report summarizes and compares provisions for carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) contained in H.R. 2454 and S. 1733 , the two leading cap-and-trade bills aimed at reducing U.S. emissions of greenhouse gases. CCS receives considerable attention in both bills because of its potential for substantially reducing carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) emissions from stationary sources, such as coal-fired power plants, cement plants, and oil refineries, while allowing those industrial sources to continue to operate even in a carbon-constrained environment. The goal of reduced emissions and continued operations is particularly important for the coal industry: coal-fired power plants generate approximately half of all the electricity in the United States, and are responsible for over 40% of U.S. CO 2 emissions from fossil fuels. Many observers consider CCS to be an integral component of a comprehensive strategy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions without creating a near-term disruption of the U.S. energy sector. Currently, no coal-fired power plants, cement plants, oil refineries, or other large industrial sources of CO 2 in the United States are capturing and sequestering large quantities of CO 2 solely for the purpose of greenhouse gas mitigation. The CCS provisions in H.R. 2454 and S. 1733 are likely intended to spur commercial deployment of CCS at a scale that would greatly surpass the degree of deployment in the absence of additional federal incentives and requirements. Without these incentives, some analyses have projected that low emission allowance prices combined with high costs for installing CCS systems would preclude most additional CCS deployment. Many questions remain, however, about the possible consequences of accelerated CCS development: financial, legal, regulatory, infrastructure, environmental, and public acceptance. Both bills attempt to some degree to address these questions, largely in parallel and similar fashion, albeit with some important differences. Table 1 provides a snapshot comparison of the parallel sections in H.R. 2454 and S. 1733 , and the body of the report summarizes and discusses each section in sequence. The CCS provisions in H.R. 2454 and S. 1733 are very similar (some sections are identical), and both bills appear to share the goal of fostering the commercial development and deployment of CCS projects as an important component of mitigating greenhouse gas emissions. S. 1733 even specifies—which H.R. 2454 does not—that Congress finds it is in the public interest to achieve widespread commercial deployment of CCS in the United States and throughout Asia before January 1, 2030. Both bills would require the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to regulate geologic sequestration of CO 2 under both the Safe Drinking Water Act and the Clean Air Act, and would also require that the EPA Administrator establish a coordinated certification and permitting process for geological sequestration sites. Recognizing that these statutes do not provide for comprehensive management of geologic sequestration issues (such as long-term liability and pore space ownership), the House and Senate bills would direct the EPA Administrator to establish a task force to examine broadly the federal and state legal framework for geologic sequestration sites and activities, and to report to Congress within 18 months. Both bills would create two separate programs that would provide financial incentives to develop and deploy commercial-scale CCS. The "wires charge" program, which is nearly identical in both bills and very similar to H.R. 1689 , the Carbon Capture and Storage Early Deployment Act introduced by Representative Boucher, would create an annual funding stream of approximately $1 billion to be awarded by a private corporation to eligible projects. The allocation of development and deployment grants and contracts would be largely independent of federal control, once the corporation is established, leaving the program to the discretion of the electricity generating industry for the most part. The second program would distribute emission allowances from the cap-and-trade portions of both bills to qualifying electric generating plants and industrial facilities. Although the programs in the two bills are similar in construct and scale, S. 1733 would award allowances to the first 20 gigawatts (Gw) of electricity generation that employs CCS technology via a formula that provides a significant financial incentive, as much as $106 per ton of CO 2 captured for 90% capture efficiency. In contrast, H.R. 2454 would award only the first 6 Gw via the same formula, and then employ a reverse auction scheme to allocate the rest, up to a total of 72 Gw. Arguably the reverse auction process would provide an allowance price closer to its true market value, and thus reflect how the market values CCS versus other emissions reduction options, such as fuel-switching, offsets, and others. If so, then S. 1733 hedges in favor of CCS as a preferred technology by allocating allowances to a substantially larger proportion of electricity generating capacity in the first phase of the program, at bonus allowance values that could be significantly higher than their average market value. Both the "wires charge" program and the emission allowance scheme focus on the CO 2 capture stage of CCS and generally presume that the technical and regulatory requirements for the transportation and sequestration stages would be in place by the time capture technology is installed and operational. Three nearly identical sections in H.R. 2454 and S. 1733 attempt to address those requirements, through amendments to the Clean Air Act and Safe Drinking Water Act, as well as through studies and reports to construct a national strategy for CCS and identify gaps and barriers that could require additional legislation. Despite these provisions, it is not yet clear whether all of the challenges to transportation and sequestration aspects of CCS can or will be met in concert with the technological and financial challenges of building capture technology that works at large power plants and other industrial sources of CO 2 . The promise of CCS in some part depends on the promulgation of a CCS regulatory structure, a sufficient transportation capacity, resolution of liability concerns about long-term CO 2 storage, and public acceptance of CCS, as well as other requirements prior to or in conjunction with the deployment of capture technology at large commercial facilities. Given these present uncertainties, how well the provisions in H.R. 2454 and S. 1733 would advance widespread deployment of CCS still remains an open question. Title I, § 111, of H.R. 2454 would require the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to submit to Congress, within one year of enactment, a report detailing a unified national strategy for addressing the key legal and regulatory barriers to deployment of commercial-scale carbon capture and sequestration. The report is to identify barriers and gaps that could be addressed using existing federal authority and those that would require new federal legislation, as well as barriers and gaps that would be best addressed at the state, tribal, or regional level. Additionally, the report is to include regulatory, legislative, or other recommendations to address the gaps and barriers. Division A, subsections 121(a) and (b) contain the same provisions as § 111 of H.R. 2454 , calling for development of a national strategy and related report to Congress. The Senate bill includes an additional provision, subsection 121(c), which states that Congress finds that it is in the public interest that commercial-scale CCS achieve wide deployment in the United States and throughout Asia before 2030. Section 112 of the House bill would require the EPA Administrator to promulgate regulations to manage the geologic sequestration of CO 2 under both the Clean Air Act (CAA) and the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA). Section 112(a) would amend Title VIII of CAA, adding a new § 813 to require the EPA Administrator to establish a coordinated certification and permitting process for geologic sequestration sites, taking into account all relevant statutory authorities. This provision would direct the Administrator to reduce redundancy with SDWA requirements (including the current rulemaking for geologic sequestration wells) and, to the extent practical, reduce the regulatory burden imposed on certified sequestration entities and implementing authorities. Within two years of enactment, the Administrator would be required to promulgate CAA regulations to protect human health and the environment by minimizing the risk of atmospheric release of carbon dioxide injected for geologic sequestration. The scope of the regulations would include enhanced oil and gas recovery combined with geologic sequestration. The regulations would have to include a process to obtain certification for geologic sequestration; requirements for monitoring, record keeping, and reporting for injected and escaped emissions (taking into account any requirements under § 713 regarding a greenhouse gas registry); and requirements for public participation. Section 112(a) further would require that, within two years of promulgation of the regulations and every three years thereafter, the EPA Administrator report to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce and the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works on geologic sequestration in the United States and elsewhere in North America. The report would include data on injection and any emissions to the atmosphere, an evaluation of active and closed sequestration sites, and an evaluation of the performance of federal environmental regulations and programs for sequestration as well as recommendations for their improvement. This provision broadens the scope of geologic sequestration regulatory authority beyond protecting ground water under SDWA, to protecting against atmospheric releases of CO 2 under the CAA. Currently, EPA's proposed geologic sequestration rulemaking is limited to establishing requirements related to the protection of underground sources of drinking water under SDWA's underground injection control provisions (42 U.S.C. 300h et seq. ). H.R. 2454 , § 112(b), would amend SDWA by adding a new § 1421(e) to require regulation of geologic sequestration wells. This subsection would direct the EPA Administrator to promulgate, within one year of enactment, regulations for the development, operation, and closure of CO 2 sequestration wells. The regulations would include financial responsibility requirements for emergency and remedial response, well plugging, site closure, and post-injection care.