103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2023 and 2024
SB3441

 

Introduced 2/8/2024, by Sen. Steve McClure

 

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
 
New Act

    Creates the Safety Moratorium on Carbon Dioxide Pipelines Act. Establishes a temporary statewide moratorium on construction of carbon dioxide pipelines until certain studies at the federal and State levels are conducted. Details requirements for the State study regarding the safety of carbon dioxide pipelines, which include receiving input from first responders, analyzing pipeline ruptures or leaks in a variety of settings, and recommending setbacks and funding based on that analysis. Provides that pending applications for carbon dioxide pipelines shall be held in abeyance. Provides for expiration of the temporary moratorium after four years, or when new safety standards pursuant to required studies are established, or upon adoption of certain ensuing legislation, which is detailed as including setbacks for safe evacuation, specifications limiting eminent domain, funding for first responders, funding for required actions at carbon sequestration sites, expanded monitoring at carbon sequestration sites, specification for long-term liability in the event of a disaster, a ban on the use of captured carbon dioxide for enhanced oil recovery, emissions limits for air pollutants, requirements regarding greenhouse gas lifecycle analysis with prohibitions on carbon capture unless certain showings are made, a mandate that alternatives to capture be evaluated, public participation opportunities, and additional protections, including a prohibition related to protecting "sole source" aquifers designated by the United States Environmental Protection Agency. Defines terms. Makes findings. Effective immediately.


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A BILL FOR

 

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1    AN ACT concerning utilities.
 
2    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3represented in the General Assembly:
 
4    Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the Safety
5Moratorium on Carbon Dioxide Pipelines Act.
 
6    Section 5. Legislative findings. The General Assembly
7finds and determines that:
8    (1) Pipelines are being proposed in the State by companies
9for the purposes of transportation of carbon dioxide both from
10within the State and from locations outside the State;
11    (2) The transport of carbon dioxide via pipelines
12significantly affects landowners' rights to enjoy their
13property. Carbon dioxide pipelines may impede access to
14property and fields, place permanent restrictions on the use
15of land, reduce crop yield from construction activities, and
16pose a risk of grave harm to humans, livestock, and other
17animals if there is a release of carbon dioxide;
18    (3) As specified in the Carbon Dioxide Transportation and
19Sequestration Act, regulation of the construction,
20maintenance, and operation of pipelines transporting carbon
21dioxide is within the statutory and regulatory jurisdiction of
22the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration
23(PHMSA) of the federal Department of Transportation; and

 

 

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1    (4) in response to a major carbon dioxide pipeline failure
2in Satartia, Mississippi in 2020 that resulted in local
3evacuations and caused almost 50 people to seek medical
4attention, PHMSA conducted an investigation of the risks to
5human health and the environment presented by carbon dioxide
6pipelines. PHMSA announced, on May 26, 2022, that to
7strengthen CO2 pipeline safety and oversight, PHMSA is
8initiating new rulemaking to update standards for carbon
9dioxide pipelines, including requirements related to improved
10safety, oversight, and emergency preparedness and response.
 
11    Section 10. Definitions. As used in this Act:
12    "Carbon dioxide pipeline" or "pipeline" means the in-state
13portion of a pipeline, including appurtenant facilities,
14property rights, and easements, that are used exclusively for
15the purpose of transporting carbon dioxide to a point of sale,
16storage, or another carbon management application.
17    "Commission" means the Illinois Commerce Commission.
18    "Criteria pollutants" are the pollutants that have been
19identified as "criteria pollutants" by the United States
20Environmental Protection Agency under Section 108 of the Clean
21Air Act.
22    "Hazardous air pollutants" are the pollutants that have
23been identified as "hazardous air pollutants" by the United
24States Environmental Protection Agency under Section 112 of
25the Clean Air Act.

 

 

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1    "Sequester" has the meaning given to that term in Section
21-10 of the Illinois Power Agency Act.
3    "Sequestration" means to sequester or be sequestered.
4    "Sequestration facility" means the carbon dioxide
5sequestration reservoir, underground equipment, and surface
6facilities and equipment used or proposed to be used in a
7geologic storage operation. "Sequestration facility" includes
8an injection well and equipment used to connect the surface
9facility and equipment to the carbon dioxide sequestration
10reservoir and underground equipment. "Sequestration facility"
11does not include pipelines used to transport carbon dioxide to
12a sequestration facility.
13    "Transportation" or "transport" means the physical
14movement of carbon dioxide by pipeline conducted for a
15person's or an entity's own use or account or the use or
16account of another person, persons, or entity.
 
17    Section 15. Temporary statewide moratorium on construction
18of carbon dioxide pipelines.
19    (a) No certificate of authority for the construction and
20operation of a pipeline intended for transport of carbon
21dioxide shall be issued by the Commission until:
22        (1) the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety
23    Administration has adopted revised federal safety
24    standards for transportation of carbon dioxide; and
25        (2) the State of Illinois has commissioned and

 

 

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1    finalized a study, which shall be made available to the
2    public, determining how far carbon dioxide pipelines must
3    be separated from livestock, residences, hospitals,
4    schools, nursing homes, places of worship, jails, prisons,
5    businesses, industry, and other locations where people
6    congregate, in order to ensure adequate time for the safe
7    evacuation or rescue of people and animals in the event of
8    a pipeline rupture or leak. The study shall:
9            (A) include input from first responders, including
10        both voluntary and paid professionals, law enforcement
11        officials, medical and veterinary professionals;
12        transportation experts; carbon dioxide pipeline
13        engineers; meteorologists, geologists, persons trained
14        in computational fluid dynamic modeling and other
15        modeling of carbon dioxide plumes, the Illinois
16        Emergency Management Agency, Illinois Department of
17        Public Health, County Emergency Management Agencies,
18        township officials, county boards, village boards,
19        city councils, and the general public;
20            (B) evaluate CO2 concentrations resulting from
21        pipeline ruptures or leaks in a variety of urban,
22        suburban, and rural settings present in Illinois,
23        including concentrations resulting from leaks or
24        ruptures of carbon dioxide pipelines with varying
25        diameters and carbon dioxide flow rates, based on
26        predictions of the most precise available

 

 

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1        computational fluid dynamic model of CO2 plume
2        movement;
3            (C) recommend setbacks for each such setting,
4        pipeline diameter, and flow rate, based on: (1) the
5        concentrations of CO2 released in the event of a leak
6        or rupture, (2) the time humans and, where
7        appropriate, livestock would be exposed to those
8        concentrations, and (3) the ability to, and time
9        necessary to, self-evacuate or be rescued before
10        oxygen deprivation leads to serious health effects,
11        including, but not limited to, convulsions,
12        unconsciousness, coma, or death; among other
13        considerations, the study shall account for the
14        decreased mobility of elderly persons, young children,
15        persons who depend primarily on public transportation,
16        incarcerated persons, and persons gathered in spaces
17        where large numbers of people assemble, as well as the
18        availability of electric vehicles or other transport
19        options that do not use combustion engines; and
20            (D) recommend an initial amount of funding
21        sufficient to provide first responders, medical
22        professionals, local governments, and other entities
23        involved in the evacuation or rescue of persons
24        potentially affected by a CO2 pipeline rupture with
25        the equipment, training, staffing, and other items
26        necessary to carry out safe and timely evacuations and

 

 

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1        rescues in the event of a rupture; the study shall also
2        recommend fees to be required of pipeline operators to
3        ensure availability of the necessary sum, as well as a
4        method for updating the amount of funding and fee
5        changes to account for changing costs, inflation, and
6        other relevant factors.
7    (b) Any application for a certificate of authority to
8construct or operate a pipeline intended for transportation of
9carbon dioxide that, as of the effective date of this Act, is
10pending before the Commission shall (1) be held in abeyance,
11without prejudice, until the revised safety standards and
12study specified in subsection (a) have been finalized or the
13temporary moratorium has expired as provided herein, and (2)
14will be subject to any revised safety standards if adopted in
15legislation.
16    (c) The temporary moratorium is inoperative when any of
17the following events occur:
18        (1) Four years have passed since this Act's effective
19    date;
20        (2) Both the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety
21    Administration's new safety standards and the study
22    required by subsection (a)(2) have been finalized; or
23        (3) The State of Illinois has adopted comprehensive
24    legislation regulating the capture, transport, and
25    sequestration of carbon dioxide in Illinois, which
26    legislation includes, among other things:

 

 

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1            (A) setbacks allowing for the safe evacuation or
2        rescue of persons and animals in the event of the
3        rupture or leak of a carbon dioxide pipeline;
4            (B) specifications limiting the use of eminent
5        domain for carbon dioxide pipelines and limiting the
6        use of property amalgamation for carbon dioxide
7        sequestration;
8            (C) the establishment and ongoing funding of an
9        emergency fund provided by entities that transport or
10        sequester CO2 to ensure first responders are able to
11        perform safe and timely evacuations, rescues, and
12        other emergency response actions in the event of a
13        carbon dioxide release from a pipeline or
14        sequestration site;
15            (D) mandatory financial assurance to cover the
16        cost of monitoring, corrective action, well-plugging,
17        and emergency response at sequestration sites, which
18        does not take the form of insurance, financial
19        guarantees, financial tests, or other self-bonding
20        mechanisms;
21            (E) expanded monitoring of carbon sequestration
22        sites using more methods, and for longer duration,
23        than the monitoring required by the U.S. Environmental
24        Protection Agency;
25            (F) specification of long-term liability in the
26        event of a release of brine or carbon dioxide from a

 

 

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1        sequestration site;
2            (G) a ban on the use of captured carbon dioxide for
3        enhanced oil recovery in Illinois;
4            (H) emission limits that ensure that carbon
5        capture does not contribute to significant increases
6        in emissions of criteria pollutants or hazardous air
7        pollutants at facilities from which carbon is captured
8        or facilities that power capture;
9            (I) a mandate for a greenhouse gas life cycle
10        analysis for each facility from which carbon dioxide
11        is captured and a prohibition on carbon capture unless
12        the company seeking to capture carbon demonstrates
13        that the mass of carbon dioxide sequestered from the
14        project will be greater than the mass of greenhouse
15        gas emissions associated with the lifecycle of
16        capture, transport, and storage of that carbon
17        dioxide;
18            (J) a mandate that alternatives to capture be
19        evaluated, including, but not limited to, renewable
20        energy, energy efficiency, and battery storage, when
21        the capture facility is a power plant; and
22        electric-battery powered vehicles when the capture
23        facility produces fuel; the evaluation of alternatives
24        shall compare the greenhouse gas pollution, water use
25        and water quality impacts, air pollution impacts, and
26        generation of waste of each alternative to those of

 

 

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1        the proposed capture, transport, and sequestration of
2        the CO2;
3            (K) robust public participation opportunities for
4        all carbon capture, pipeline, and sequestration
5        projects in Illinois and public disclosure of all
6        documentation; and
7            (L) additional protections, potentially including
8        prohibition of CO2 pipelines and sequestration
9        proximate to drinking water aquifers designated as
10        sole source aquifers by the United States
11        Environmental Protection Agency.
 
12    Section 20. Repealer. This Act is repealed 4 years after
13its effective date.
 
14    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
15becoming law.