West Virginia Code 22-11B-3 – Prohibition of underground carbon dioxide sequestration without a permit; injection of carbon dioxide for the purpose of enhancing the recovery of oil or other minerals not subject to the provisions of this article
(a) It is unlawful for any person to commence work on, or to operate, a carbon dioxide sequestration facility or storage site without first securing a Class VI underground injection control permit from the secretary or from the US EPA.
Terms Used In West Virginia Code 22-11B-3
- 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
- Permit: means a Class VI underground injection control permit issued by the secretary or by the US EPA, authorizing a person or business entity to drill an injection well and to construct and operate a carbon dioxide sequestration facility. See West Virginia Code 22-11B-2
- Secretary: means the Secretary of the Department of Environmental Protection. See West Virginia Code 22-11B-2
- sequestration facility: means the reservoir, underground equipment, and surface facilities and equipment used or proposed to be used in a carbon dioxide sequestration project, but does not include pipelines used to transport carbon dioxide to the storage facility. See West Virginia Code 22-11B-2
- US EPA: means United States Environmental Protection Agency. See West Virginia Code 22-11B-2
(b) The injection of carbon dioxide for purposes of enhancing the recovery of oil or other minerals pursuant to a project approved by the secretary shall not be subject to the provisions of this article.
(c) If an oil, natural gas or coalbed methane well operator proposes to convert its operations to carbon dioxide sequestration, then the underground carbon dioxide sequestration facility shall be regulated pursuant to this article and § 22-11-1 et seq. of this code.
(d) All applications for permits submitted after the effective date of this article shall be governed by the provisions of this article. Permits issued and applications submitted prior to the effective date of this article shall be governed by the provisions of §22-11-1 et seq. and § 22-11A-1 et seq. of this code. If the holder of a Class VI underground injection control permit or other carbon dioxide sequestration permit, granted prior to the effective date of this article, seeks a modification of that permit after this article becomes effective, then the permit holder shall have the option to proceed either according to the provisions of this article or the provisions of § 22-11A-1 et seq. of this code.