President Donald Trump signed multiple executive orders to help boost U.S. fossil fuels, but they don’t mention one industry that aims to grow alongside oil, gas and electricity: carbon capture and storage.
Supporters see CCS technologies as crucial to cutting emissions from power generation and other heavy industries like cement. They’re hoping EPA grants more states the authority to permit carbon dioxide wells themselves.
More than 160 permit applications for Class VI wells — which are used for the geologic storage of carbon dioxide — remain under review at EPA. Only three states have the primary authority to issue permits, with West Virginia set to be the fourth state 30 days after a final rule is released in the Federal Register. Eight other states are seeking so-called primacy to help address a backlog of approvals, but they remain in some phase of EPA’s application process.
“EPA must move to swiftly and rigorously review and make determinations on pending projects and primacy applications to provide regulatory certainty to the industry and maintain US leadership in developing and deploying these technologies,” said Jessie Stolark, executive director of the Carbon Capture Coalition, in a statement.
Carbon capture backers are trying to remain optimistic that the second Trump administration will be positive for CCS, pointing to actions during his first term. That includes an enhancement of the federal 45Q tax credit in 2018 that was in a spending bill signed by Trump, as well as tweaks to the CCS incentive in 2020.
EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin said in January, prior to his confirmation, that the agency under his leadership would prioritize West Virginia’s bid for Class VI primacy — the chief authority to permit and regulate that type of injection well. Class VI wells are used to send carbon dioxide deep underground for permanent storage. The Senate confirmed Zeldin last month.
Former President Joe Biden’s EPA ended up approving West Virginia’s request for top enforcement authority of the well type in January before Trump took office. A pre-publication version of the rule was signed Jan. 17, but it doesn’t become effective until 30 days after it is published in the Federal Register. It’s unclear when that may happen.
EPA said during the Biden administration that it worked to issue a Class VI permit within two years of receiving a complete application, but the agency was criticized for its pace of reviews.
EPA spokesperson Molly Vaseliou said Jan. 24 that the agency didn’t have “any policy announcements to make” on Class VI primacy. She did not say when EPA’s rule granting primacy to West Virginia would be published in the Federal Register.
“President Trump advanced conservation and environmental stewardship while promoting economic growth for families across the country in his first term and will continue to do so this term,” Vaseliou said in a statement.
One of Trump’s executive orders, “Unleashing American Energy,” includes a section on terminating the green new deal — a term that’s been used as a shorthand to describe policies that address climate change. The section hits pause on the “disbursement” of funds appropriated through the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act or the 2021 bipartisan infrastructure law, meaning grant awards for CCS projects are potentially in jeopardy.
“Grant money is discretionary, so [the Department of Energy] can always decide not to award grants,” John Decker, a partner in the energy regulation practice at Vinson & Elkins, said in a recent interview.
On Jan. 15, EPA said it supported efforts by states, tribes and territories to seek primary enforcement and permitting responsibility for Class VI programs.
Sara Glover, a partner at the Arnold & Porter law firm, said the biggest signal for continued investment in carbon capture under the Trump administration is the pick of former North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum (R) for Interior secretary.
"As governor of North Dakota, he was very, very supportive of the CCS industry in North Dakota, worked to get legislation passed and permitting streamlined, so I think that's a good sign for the CCS industry that those projects will continue," Glover said during a recent webinar.
‘Built-in momentum’
During Trump’s first term, EPA granted Class VI primacy to North Dakota, in April 2018, and to Wyoming, just over two years later. Louisiana joined the group in 2023 during the Biden administration.
Since 2018, North Dakota has approved eight Class VI injection well permits and all of those have been constructed and placed into operation, said Bridget Owusu Barnie, a spokesperson for North Dakota’s Department of Mineral Resources.
In Wyoming, the state Department of Environmental Quality has issued nine Class VI permits so far, but only one well that’s been permitted is currently under construction, agency spokesperson Kimberly Mazza said.
By comparison, the federal EPA has issued eight Class VI permits since EPA began managing the Class VI Program nationally in 2011. Of those, four permits were issued in December 2024.
States around the country are “seeing the successes in North Dakota and Wyoming and they want to capture those for themselves,” said Hillary O’Brien, senior program director for carbon management and science at clean energy group ClearPath. Those successes include the pace of permit approvals, while maintaining a strong safety record, she said.
Owusu Barnie with the North Dakota Department of Mineral Resources said Class VI wells in the state have had zero “significant noncompliance” issues — meaning those that would endanger underground sources of drinking water.
Still, she said there have been two minor issues that qualified as “reportable mechanical integrity issues,” with one involving a small leak in a well’s injection tubing and a second involving an issue with channeling and cement.
“Both situations highlight the effectiveness of the testing and monitoring plans in place and demonstrate they work as intended,” Owusu Barnie said this week in an email.
A CO2 leak detected at a Class VI well in central Illinois last year elevated concerns about potential leaks. EPA issued a proposed enforcement order to well operator and agribusiness company Archer-Daniels-Midland (ADM) in September, but the agency has not issued a final order.
Jackie Anderson, an ADM spokesperson, said the company is still waiting for EPA's feedback on next steps about the order.
“In the meantime, we are taking early actions consistent with the proposed" compliance requirements, Anderson said in a Feb. 4 email. “We have not yet resumed CO2 injection at the site.”
On his first day in office, Trump revoked a number of Biden’s executive orders — including one that called for an immediate review of environmental and energy-related agency actions taken during the first Trump administration.
Yet, carbon capture so far is out of the limelight and tax incentives that support the sector, such as the 45Q federal tax credit that provides a value per metric ton of stored CO2, have vocal supporters working to keep them safe.
A collection of more than 160 companies, power providers and other carbon capture supporters penned a letter last month to congressional leadership, calling on them to preserve 45Q during the budget reconciliation process.
From a regulatory standpoint, CCS is on a stronger footing than other areas — like the 45V clean hydrogen production tax credit and the long-term status of the hydrogen hubs program — in part because of its historic bipartisan backing, said Tom Torres, hydrogen program director at the Ohio River Valley Institute think tank.
Torres said it’s “likely” multiple states will secure Class VI primacy under Trump.
“There’s already a kind of built-in momentum for it,” he said, noting that multiple states are already in various application stages with EPA.
Class VI wells and CO2 storage can both be seen as emblematic of the Biden decarbonization policies, Torres said, but also aligned with GOP efforts to shift federal power to states.
One open question is what kind of role environmental justice will play in states’ applications for Class VI primacy, Torres said, particularly given Trump’s recent action against diversity, equity and inclusion programs.
EPA’s rule granting Class VI primacy to West Virginia does mention environmental justice, which involves efforts to ease pollution that takes a disproportionate toll on communities of color, as well as low-income communities.
Torres said the language included in the West Virginia rule is “largely symbolic” and would need more teeth to be effective, such as the possibility of a permit denial if granting an authorization would have a “disparate” impact on vulnerable communities.
Biden’s EPA released an environmental justice guidance document in 2023 for Class VI well permitting and primacy, outlining expectations for EPA to include environmental justice into Class VI activities.
In a Jan. 30 email, Trump’s EPA said that to be approved for Class VI primacy under a section of the Safe Drinking Water Act, a state or tribe must have an underground injection control program "that meets Federal requirements.” EPA did not specifically mention environmental justice in its statement to POLITICO's E&E News.
Arizona proposal
Arizona is the only other state in the “proposed rulemaking” phase, according to EPA’s website.
Gov. Katie Hobbs, a Democrat, sent a letter last February to EPA’s Region 9 submitting Arizona’s application for Class VI primacy, along with five other classes of injection wells.
The state and the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ) “have the statutory authority, expert personnel, the data management system, and the fiscal resources necessary to carry out a program of regulation of classes I through VI injection that effectively protects underground sources of drinking water,” Hobbs said in the letter.
However, EPA’s online permit tracker for Class VI wells shows no pending applications from Arizona.
Online materials from ADEQ indicate that the agency held a public comment period in 2023 about Arizona’s intent to apply for primacy for all six types of wells.
Trevor Baggiore, director of ADEQ’s water quality division, said the agency doesn’t know when the federal EPA will make a decision on its application. But he said ADEQ expects to be granted primacy sometime this year.
“ADEQ understands that EPA Region 9 has sent the final application to EPA Headquarters in Washington, D.C. for final approval,” he said in a statement in January.
“Adopting the program, including Class VI wells, will place primacy with ADEQ, which is focused on and knowledgeable about Arizona’s unique geology and climate, and its environment, laws, economy, and communities,” Baggiore said.
In mid-January before Trump took office, EPA said Arizona — which is also applying for primacy over the other types of injection wells, too — is in an application phase where EPA is evaluating “state regulations and other elements of the state’s primacy application or program revision package including coordinating with the state to gain clarity and confirm stringency or effectiveness.”
Texas discussions
Texas submitted its application for Class VI primacy in late 2022, but since then, it hasn’t moved past EPA’s “pre-application activities” phase.
The Railroad Commission of Texas, which regulates the state’s oil and gas industry and oversees other types of injection wells, is seeking to administer Texas’ Class VI program.
R.J. DeSilva, a commission spokesperson, said agency staff have met with EPA’s Region 6 staff on a monthly basis to “discuss the wording” of a memorandum of agreement that outlines a state’s responsibilities as it manages the program as well as a program description.
“Given the variety of geologic settings in which storage will be applied, the Railroad Commission is in the best position [to] evaluate the specifics related to well depth, geology and hydrogeology posed by Class VI wells and assist in the important mission to reduce carbon dioxide emissions,” DeSilva said in a statement.
“Primacy will streamline the application process for these important projects,” he said.
Conservative Texans for Energy Innovation is among the organizations in favor of Texas’ bid to secure primacy for CO2 well permits.
In a December opinion piece, Matt Welch, the group’s state director, said Zeldin could “restore sanity to an agency that is holding back billions of dollars in new investment — including the fast-growing carbon capture industry.”
Granting Class VI primacy to Texas makes sense, Welch asserted, given that “Texas regulators have more experience and knowledge in subsurface geology and drilling wells than the EPA.”
Still, environmental and watchdog groups have repeatedly voiced concerns about the Railroad Commission’s oversight of Class II injection wells, which are used to inject fluids associated with oil and natural gas production. Those can be disposal wells, enhanced oil recovery wells or hydrocarbon storage wells. EPA opened a probe last year into the Texas commission’s Class II program.
Environmental law organization Earthjustice and watchdog group Commission Shift argued to EPA in May that “through mismanagement and inadequate resourcing, the State of Texas has utterly failed to implement and enforce strong protections to ensure the oil and gas waste from Class II underground injection wells do not contaminate aquifers.”
DeSilva at the Railroad Commission said “claims made by outside groups about our Class II program are off-base and false.”
EPA’s Region 6 is still conducting the review, we have no additional updates or comments at this time,” said Vaseliou, the agency spokesperson.
Colorado rules
In December, a division of the Colorado Department of Natural Resources adopted state rules for Class VI wells, outlining a range of requirements around permitting, construction and well operation.
Kristin Kemp, a spokesperson for the Colorado Energy & Carbon Management Commission, said the rules “will form the basis for the State’s application to the US EPA for Class VI primacy.”
Colorado is seeking Class VI primacy because CCS “has been identified as a critical tool for helping the state decarbonize emissions and obtaining primacy will ensure projects in Colorado meet the State’s requirements,” Kemp said in a statement.
Two Class VI well applications from Colorado have been submitted to EPA, the agency’s online permit tracker shows.
Obtaining primacy would permit the state to have greater control over the regulatory process, Kemp also said, adding that Colorado’s regulations are more robust than federal standards.
As an example, she said any Class VI wells permitted by the state would have to be located “at least” 2,000 feet from schools, residences or commercial buildings.
“Additionally, Class VI applicants would need to submit a cumulative impact analysis with their Class VI permit application,” Kemp said. She said the Colorado Energy & Carbon Management Commission is required by statute to deny any permit with a net negative cumulative impact on a disproportionately impacted community.”
The state plans to submit its Class VI primacy application to EPA by spring 2025, she said.
