AUSTIN – The Texas Association of Manufacturers (TAM), alongside several major Texas business associations, called on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to support carbon capture and storage (CCS) in Texas in a joint letter to EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin.
In addition to TAM, the letter’s signatories include organizations representing some of the largest corporations and employers within the state, including the Texas Association of Business, Greater Houston Partnership, Texas Oil & Gas Association, Texas Economic Development Council, Texas Chemistry Council, and Economic Alliance Houston Port Region.
The Texas business community is pushing the EPA to accelerate its final decisions on Class VI well permits, the classification of underground injection well which allows for the permanent sequestration of carbon in rock formations deep below the ground. Without these wells, CCS projects cannot proceed.
“Texas has pioneered the development and deployment of low-carbon energy solutions like carbon capture and storage (CCS) that promise new investments, job growth and a boost to our state’s expansive energy portfolio,” said TAM President and CEO Tony Bennett. “Unfortunately, permitting delays at the federal level have plagued CCS progress in Texas. It can take the EPA up to five years to review a single Class VI well application, leaving potential projects in the lurch, stymying future investment and slowing progress towards a lower emissions future.”
“The State of Texas has applied to the EPA for primacy, a process that would alleviate backlogs by authorizing the Texas Railroad Commission to permit carbon wells in the state. The Commission has the experienced staff and resources to permit wells in under a year using the same rigorous safety and environmental standards used by the EPA,” he said. “Louisiana was recently granted primacy and if Texas’ application isn’t approved, we will lose out on investment – and jobs – to our neighboring state. We urge the EPA to move forward with the State’s primacy application to usher in the investment and jobs that belong in Texas.”
North Dakota, Wyoming, Louisiana, and West Virginia, have all been granted primacy from the EPA. Texas submitted its application for Class VI primacy in 2022, but remains in the “pre-application activities phase” on the EPA’s tracker.
The complete letter to the EPA can be found here.
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Media Contact: Gretchen Fox, 512-694-4326