§ 27A-3-5-101. Short title - Legislative findings and intent.

A.  This act shall be known and may be cited as the "Oklahoma Carbon Capture and Geologic Sequestration Act".

B.  The Legislature finds and declares that:

1.  Carbon dioxide is a valuable commodity to the citizens of the state, particularly for its value in enhancing the recovery of oil and gas and for its use in other industrial and commercial processes and applications;

2.  Carbon dioxide is a gas produced when carbon is oxidized by any process, including the combustion of material that contains carbon such as coal, natural gas, oil and wood, all of which exist in abundance in our state, and the production and use of which form one of the foundations of our state’s economy;

3.  Carbon dioxide is currently being released into the atmosphere in substantial volumes;

4.  In 1982, Oklahoma became the first state in the Union to inject anthropogenic carbon dioxide underground.  Since that time, the continued injection of carbon dioxide has benefited the citizens of the state by assisting enhanced oil recovery efforts.  When carbon dioxide is injected for enhanced oil recovery and not otherwise vented, emitted or removed, such carbon dioxide is sequestered and/or stored underground;

5.  In its first 100 years, Oklahoma produced approximately 15 billion barrels of oil.  The Department of Energy for the United States has determined that Oklahoma has the potential to produce at least 9 billion barrels of oil and possibly as much as 20 billion barrels of oil through the use of carbon dioxide in enhanced oil recovery.  To fully produce those natural resources, additional regulation is not necessary or appropriate but state incentives may be helpful;

6.  Storage of carbon dioxide in geological formations is an effective and feasible strategy to deposit, store or sequester large volumes of carbon dioxide over long periods of time;

7.  Geologic storage and sequestration of carbon dioxide allows for the capture of carbon dioxide emissions and the orderly withdrawal of the carbon dioxide as appropriate or necessary, thereby allowing carbon dioxide to be available for commercial, industrial, or other uses, including enhanced oil or gas recovery;

8.  The transportation of carbon dioxide to, and the storage or sequestration of carbon dioxide in, underground geological formations for beneficial use or reuse in industrial and commercial applications is expected to increase in the United States and in Oklahoma due to initiatives by federal, state and local governments, industry and commerce, and other interested persons, and may present an opportunity for economic growth and development for the state; and

9.  It remains in the public interest for carbon dioxide to be injected underground in this state.  The geologic sequestration and storage of anthropogenic carbon dioxide for purposes other than injection for enhanced oil or gas recovery will benefit the citizens of the state.

C.  It is the intent of the Legislature that:

1.  Efforts to capture, purify, compress, transport, inject, and store or sequester carbon dioxide will enhance the production of oil and natural gas in the state, further the development and production of natural resources in the state, and provide opportunities for economic growth and development for the state; and

2.  In the event the State of Oklahoma establishes a unitization process to support the establishment of CO2 sequestration facilities in this state, the Corporation Commission shall regulate all aspects of such process, including being responsible for making any necessary findings concerning the suitability of the reservoir targeted for carbon sequestration, whether its use for such purpose is in the public interest, and the impact of that use on the oil, gas, coal-bed methane and mineral brine resources in the State of Oklahoma.

Added by Laws 2009, c. 429, § 1, emerg. eff. June 1, 2009.