(a) Storage operators shall pay the secretary a fee on each ton of carbon dioxide injected for storage. The fee shall be in the amount set by legislative rule. The amount shall be based on the contribution of the storage facility and the source of the carbon dioxide to the energy and agriculture production economy of West Virginia and the secretary’s anticipated expenses associated with the long-term monitoring and management of closed storage facilities. This fee shall be deposited in the Carbon Dioxide Storage Facility Trust Fund.

Terms Used In West Virginia Code 22-11B-16

  • Carbon dioxide: means carbon dioxide produced by anthropogenic sources which is of such purity and quality that it will not compromise the safety of geologic storage and will not compromise those properties of a storage reservoir which allow the reservoir to effectively enclose and contain a stored gas. See West Virginia Code 22-11B-2
  • carbon dioxide storage: means the injection of carbon dioxide and associated constituents into subsurface geologic reservoirs intended to provide for the long-term containment of a gaseous, liquid, or supercritical carbon dioxide stream in subsurface geologic formations and thereby prevent its release into the atmosphere. See West Virginia Code 22-11B-2
  • Joint committee: Committees including membership from both houses of teh legislature. Joint committees are usually established with narrow jurisdictions and normally lack authority to report legislation.
  • Secretary: means the Secretary of the Department of Environmental Protection. See West Virginia Code 22-11B-2

(b) The secretary shall file with the Legislature’s Joint Committee on Government and Finance a report discussing whether the amount in the Carbon Dioxide Storage Facility Trust Fund and fees being paid into it are sufficient to satisfy the fund’s objectives. The first report is due December 31, 2025, and subsequent reports are due every four years thereafter.