Support CO2 Pipeline And Storage Legislation
https://www.thejournal-news.net/stories/support-co2-pipeline-and-storage-legislation,94138?
Posted Monday, March 20, 2023 12:00 am
Mary Ellen DeClue, Litchfield
Montgomery County residents and landowners in the pathway of the carbon dioxide pipeline and sequestration sites should support the following legislation, SB2421/HB3119. This bill establishes protections for human health and existing property owners through the life cycle of CCUS along the 292-mile Illinois pathway.
Some of the pipeline protections would include: 1. Ensure pipelines are not dangerously located closer than one mile to residences and businesses and one and a half miles from high-density housing, schools, daycares, healthcare facilities, and sensitive sites; 2. Prohibit the use of eminent domain for CO2 pipeline construction; 3. Require a geohazard analysis to improve safety measures for these hazardous pipelines; 4. Require public meetings with county boards in each county the pipeline will pass through.
Protections in the bill for storage sites would include: 1. Clarify that title to pore space belongs to the owner of surface land and prohibits the forced acquisition of pore space (similar to eminent domain); 2. Provide that sequestration operators, not landowners, are liable for any releases of stored CO2 and requires operators to set aside funds to plug wells and address emergencies; 3. Create a permitting process for the sequestration site that shows no adverse impact on water quality and no more CO2 generated than stored; 4. Operators remain responsible for post-injection care, monitoring, and reporting for at least 100 years.
Please contact your Illinois senator and representative and encourage their support of this critical bill.