{
  "id": "R40867",
  "type": "CRS Report",
  "typeId": "REPORTS",
  "number": "R40867",
  "active": false,
  "source": "EveryCRSReport.com",
  "versions": [
    {
      "source": "EveryCRSReport.com",
      "id": 353380,
      "date": "2009-11-02",
      "retrieved": "2016-04-07T02:12:54.765356",
      "title": "Carbon Capture and Sequestration in H.R.\u00a02454 and S. 1733",
      "summary": "The carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) provisions in H.R. 2454 and S. 1733 are similar (some sections are identical), and both bills appear to share the goal of fostering the commercial development and deployment of CCS projects as an important component of mitigating greenhouse gas emissions. The bills call for a unified national strategy for addressing the key legal and regulatory barriers to deployment of commercial-scale CCS. A required report detailing a national strategy would identify barriers and gaps that could be addressed using existing federal authority and those that would require legislation, as well as those that would be best addressed at the state, tribal, or regional level. Both bills would also amend the Clean Air Act (CAA) and Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) to require that the EPA Administrator establish a coordinated certification and permitting process for geologic sequestration sites, taking into account all relevant statutory authorities. The amended law would require regulation of geologic sequestration wells, and promulgation of regulations to protect human health and the environment by minimizing the risk of atmospheric release of carbon dioxide injected for geologic sequestration. \nBoth bills contain identical provisions establishing performance standards for CO2 removal for new coal-fired power plants. Plants covered by this section include those that have a permit issued under the CAA, Title V, to derive at least 30% of their annual heat input from coal, petroleum coke, or any combination of these fuels. \nBoth bills contain similar provisions that would create a program to accelerate the commercial availability of CO2 capture and storage technologies and methods by awarding grants, contracts, and financial assistance to electric utilities, academic institutions, and other eligible entities. The bills would allow the establishment of a corporation, by referendum among power industry organizations, that would derive revenue of approximately $1 billion per year via a \u201cwires charge\u201d on electricity delivered from the combustion of fossil fuels. One possible advantage of the program, if enacted, would be the creation of a consistent funding stream\u2014exempt from the annual appropriations process\u2014for development of CCS technology over 10 years.\nBoth bills would also create a second program that would distribute emission allowances from the cap-and-trade provisions to qualifying electric generating plants and industrial facilities. Although the programs in the two bills are similar in construct and scale, S. 1733 would award allowances to the first 20 gigawatts (Gw) of electricity generation that employs CCS technology via a formula that provides a significant financial incentive, as much as $106 per ton of CO2 captured for 90% capture efficiency. In contrast, H.R. 2454 would award only the first 6 Gw via the same formula, and then employ a reverse auction scheme to allocate the rest, up to a total of 72 Gw. Thus, S. 1733 allocates allowances to a substantially larger proportion of electricity generating capacity in the first phase of the program, compared to H.R. 2454, at bonus allowance values that could be significantly higher than their average market value. \nA chairman\u2019s mark to S. 1733, introduced on October 23, 2009, would add an additional incentive for early deployment of CCS by allowing advanced distribution of emission allowances for CCS. In contrast to H.R. 2454 and S. 1733 (as introduced), the chairman\u2019s mark would award allowances before the plant has actually captured any CO2. In contrast, H.R. 2454 and S. 1733 (as introduced) would only distribute emission allowances based on the total tons of CO2 already captured and sequestered.",
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      "typeId": "REPORTS",
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      "topics": []
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  "topics": [
    "Appropriations"
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}