West Virginia Gov. Patrick Morrisey (R) may soon sign a bill that would let a state agency lease space for carbon dioxide storage under state parks.
S.B. 627 would end a prohibition on the leasing of state-owned pore spaces that lie under lands designated as West Virginia state parks. Access to pore space — or the tiny voids between underground rocks — is a key factor to boosting carbon capture and removal projects because geologic storage offers a home for trapped CO2.
Morrisey, who previously served as West Virginia’s attorney general, is expected to sign the legislation, opponents of SB 627 said. The bill that passed both chambers this month was sent to the governor this week, meaning it could become effective in July. With the state Legislature adjourned, the governor has 15 days to act on most bills, according to a state website.
The bill headed to Morrisey’s desk after EPA earlier this year granted the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection the ability to issue permits for CO2 injection wells for geologic storage of the climate-warming gas. West Virginia became the fourth state to secure that authority — known as primacy — behind North Dakota, Wyoming and Louisiana.
