Today, Congressmen Marc Veasey (D-TX) and David McKinley (R-WV) introduced the Storing CO2 and Lowering Emissions (SCALE) Act. The bill was cosponsored by Representatives Cheri Bustos (D-IL) and Pete Stauber (R-MN).
This legislation seeks to support the buildout of carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) infrastructure to transport CO2 from the capture site to where it will ultimately be utilized or sequestered. Additional details on the legislation can be found below.
CURC Executive Director Shannon Angielski issued the following statement in support of the bill:
"CURC congratulates Congressmen Veasey and McKinley on the introduction of the Storing CO2 and Lowering Emissions (SCALE) Act. When combined with the Section 45Q tax credit, the policies included in the SCALE Act would support commercial-scale deployment of carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) projects by overcoming barriers against the buildout of critical CO2 transport and storage infrastructure in the United States. Infrastructure to transport and store CO2 from industrial sources is also imperative to deliver on the substantial environmental benefits that can be achieved by CCUS, which energy and climate authorities project will have a substantial role if domestic and global decarbonization objectives are to be achieved. We thank Congressmen Veasey and McKinley for their continued leadership on these important issues.”
The SCALE Act would:
- Establish a Carbon-to-Value Research, Development, and Demonstration center, similar to existing carbon capture test centers, to support RD&D of things like advanced fuels, chemicals, and materials produced from carbon oxide emissions. It would also authorize the U.S. Department of Energy to provide grants to states and municipalities for procuring carbon utilization products for infrastructure projects.
- Create a new program called the CO2 Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (CIFIA) to provide low interest loans and grants for CO2 transport infrastructure, based on the successful, bipartisan TIFIA and WIFIA programs that finance highway and water infrastructure projects.
- Build upon the existing DOE CarbonSAFE program to provide cost share for deployment of commercial-scale saline geologic storage projects. It would give priority to geologic storage projects with larger storage capacities and those that will serve as hubs storing CO2 from multiple carbon capture facilities.
- Authorize increased funding to EPA for to thoroughly review permit applications in a timely manner for Class VI CO2 storage wells and provide grants for states to establish and operate their own Class VI permitting programs. These increased resources would ensure rigorous and efficient CO2 storage site permitting.