Section 696.6 - Authorization of projects(a) Carbon sequestration.--Carbon sequestration projects are authorized in this Commonwealth for the purposes of: (1) Injecting carbon dioxide into the pore space of an underground storage facility through at least one carbon dioxide injection well under a UIC Class VI permit.(2) Employing the underground storage of carbon dioxide.(b)Conditions for authorization.-- (1) To operate a carbon sequestration project under this section, a storage operator must obtain a UIC Class VI permit and all other permits as required by applicable statutes and regulations. The following apply: (i) The environmental quality board shall promulgate regulations and permitting criteria necessary to protect the Commonwealth's natural resources and public health, safety and welfare. The following apply: (A) The regulations shall incorporate and consider community and cumulative impacts analyses in permitting for carbon sequestration projects.(B) The department may condition or deny a permit based on the criteria specified in the regulations.(ii) In a permitting decision impacting an environmental justice area, the department may require additional impact assessments, public participation, transparency and reporting measures as part of a permit review or approval.(iii) The department may charge a permit or periodic management fee sufficient to maintain oversight and enforcement of carbon sequestration projects in this Commonwealth.(2) Upon submission of a UIC class VI permit application, the storage operator shall provide notice of application to the surface property interest owners and subsurface property interest owners in the vicinity of the storage facility.(3) The following apply to seismic monitoring:(i) A storage operator shall deploy prior to carbon sequestration, and periodically operate during carbon sequestration, a seismicity monitoring system to determine the presence or absence, magnitude and the hypocenter location to the best of the storage operator's ability of seismic activity within the vicinity of the storage facility as may be necessary to perform an array and a risk analysis and as required by the department. A storage operator may apply to the department for a waiver of this requirement if the storage operator presents a geohazard assessment and historical injection data demonstrating that induced seismicity does not pose significant risk.(ii) If a storage operator is unable to reasonably negotiate with a surface property interest owner for the right to conduct seismic monitoring on lands owned by the surface property interest owner, the secretary may issue an order for the entry onto the lands by the storage operator. In this instance, the storage operator shall pay the surface property interest owner just and reasonable compensation as established by the secretary.(iii) The storage operator shall defend, indemnify and hold harmless the surface property interest owner and subsurface property interest owner for all claims arising out of entry onto the property by the storage operator, its contractors and its agents.(iv) A storage operator shall provide for the submission to the department of any seismic data above a seismic threshold or frequency determined by the department in a manner provided for by the department.(4) To operate a carbon sequestration project under this section, a storage operator shall design the carbon sequestration project to isolate any existing or future production from the commercially valuable mineral, including of the coal, or oil and gas estate, from the carbon dioxide plume and shall indicate whether the storage facility contains commercially valuable mineral, including the coal, or oil and gas estates, and, if it does, a permit may be issued only if the department is satisfied that the interests of the mineral, including coal, or oil and gas estate, will not be adversely affected and the subsurface property interest owners have been notified by the storage operator. If a subsurface property interest owner is a producer of a commercially valuable mineral, including coal or oil and gas, the storage operator shall notify the subsurface property interest owner in writing and submit a copy of the notice to the department. If, upon receipt of the notice, the subsurface property interest owner expresses an objection to the department to the design of the carbon sequestration project based on the potential adverse effect to a commercially valuable mineral, including the coal or oil and gas estate, the storage operator shall address the objection to the satisfaction of the department.Added by P.L. (number not assigned at time of publication) 2024 No. 87,§ 6, eff. 7/17/2024.