AOGCC adopts carbon storage rules and plans EPA primacy application for Class VI wells

The Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission said it has adopted regulations to govern carbon storage and will file them for final review next month, enabling the agency to apply to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for primacy over Class VI carbon storage wells.

"I think some of you here may have been involved in House Bill 50 which gave AOGCC the regulatory authority to pursue primacy of class 6 carbon storage wells," Commissioner Jessie Chmielewski said. She said the commission's team wrote more than 100 pages of regulations, conducted a public hearing and public comment process, and adopted the rules; "next month after final review and filing they will become law and then at that point the AOGCC can submit an application to the EPA for primacy of class 6 carbon storage wells."

In Q&A, commissioners clarified that a primacy application to EPA would seek state oversight of Class VI wells going forward. "If we go for primacy, yeah, it would be for primacy going forward, and it it could evolve over time, but it would be all class 6 wells," Chmielewski said, adding that the state would have to demonstrate it meets or exceeds federal requirements as part of the EPA's approval process.

Commissioners also linked carbon storage to near-term pipeline projects, noting some produced gas (for example at Prudhoe Bay) contains impurities such as carbon dioxide that may be separated and reinjected on the slope or otherwise managed under oversight proposals.