WHEREAS, coal and natural gas power plants and other industrial facilities electing to undertake carbon capture projects for the purposes of geologic sequestration are required to receive approval

under the Environmental Protection Agency’s Class VI rule of the Underground Injection Control program established during the Obama Administration, and

WHEREAS, the uncertainty surrounding Class VI approvals may stymie project investments that would lead to more reliable electric generation and lower emissions of carbon dioxide, and

WHEREAS, the failure of the Obama Administration’s Environmental Protection Agency to timely approve Class VI permits has been a source of project delays and unnecessary costs, and

WHEREAS, the developer of one of the largest carbon capture projects cited Class VI as one of the reasons the project failed to move forward, and

WHEREAS, the Environmental Protection Agency has failed to timely reassess whether modifications to the Class VI regulations are “appropriate or necessary” after its stated intent to do so when the rule was originally promulgated, and

WHEREAS, the State of North Dakota applied for primacy on June 2013 during the Obama Administration and did not receive final approval until April 2018 in the Trump Administration, and

WHEREAS, the Trump Administration supported North Dakota’s Class VI primacy application because of its federalist approach to protecting drinking water supplies, and

WHEREAS, 34 states already have primacy over other aspects of the Underground Injection Control program.

WHEREAS, state primacy over the Underground Injection Control’s Class II well program has been a successful model to promote states’ rights, support natural resource development, and protect environmental quality.

NOW, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the State of [NAME] directs its [AGENCY] to develop [and execute] a plan to apply for Class VI primacy from the Environmental Protection Agency.