Environmental Law ReSource : Environmental Lawyer & Attorney : Reed Smith Law Firm : Climate Change, Sustainability

This post was written by David Wagner.

As we previewed a few months ago, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) recently proposed a rule to exclude CO2 streams from Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) regulations if they meet certain conditions, including injection for the purpose of geologic sequestration into specific wells regulated under the Safe Drinking Water Act. The proposed rule, which was published on August 8, comes on top of an earlier Safe Drinking Water Act regulation finalized in December 2010 that sets requirements for geologic sequestration, including the development of a new class of injection well called Class VI, established under USEPA’s Underground Injection Control (UIC) program. The UIC Class VI requirements are designed to ensure that wells used for geologic sequestration of CO2 streams are appropriately sited, constructed, tested, monitored, and closed in a manner that ensures USDW protection.

In developing the proposed rule, USEPA determined that CO2 streams captured at power plants and industrial facilities destined for a UIC Class VI well for the purposes of geologic sequestration would be a RCRA solid waste, as it is a “discarded material” as defined in RCRA § 1004(27). In its discussion of the rule, USEPA indicated that, while there is little information available to conclude that CO2 streams would qualify as a RCRA subtitle C hazardous waste, there is the potential for some CO2 streams to meet the definition of a hazardous waste. USEPA concluded that the management of CO2 streams under the proposed conditions does not present a substantial risk to human health or the environment, and will encourage the geologic sequestration of CO2, in a safe and environmentally protective manner.

The proposed exclusion, if finalized, may apply to generators, transporters, and owners or operators of treatment, storage, and disposal facilities engaged in the management of CO2 streams that would otherwise be regulated as hazardous wastes under the RCRA subtitle C hazardous waste regulations as part of geologic sequestration activities. This includes entities in the following industries: operators of CO2 injection wells used for geologic sequestration; and certain industries identified by their North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code: oil and gas extraction facilities (NAICS 211111); utilities (NAICS 22); transportation (NAICS 48-49); and manufacturing (NAICS 31-33).
 

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This post was written by Jennifer Smokelin.

By September 30 of this year, 28 industrial sectors -- including power plants, petroleum refineries and landfills -- will be required to submit their 2010 greenhouse gas data under the U.S Environmental Protection Agency's (USEPA) Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program. You may recall that the September 30, 2011 deadline was pushed back from March 31. To facilitate the reporting, USEPA launched a new and improved greenhouse gas reporting tool this week known as the electronic Greenhouse Gas Reporting Tool, or e-GGRT, that will allow the top emitters in the country to submit their 2010 greenhouse gas pollution electronically. USEPA expects to receive 2010 greenhouse gas data from approximately 7,000 large industrial greenhouse gas emitters, including power plants, petroleum refineries and landfills. To provide a sense of the scale of the program, these emitters are responsible for 70 percent of the United States' greenhouse gas emissions. The Agency plans to publish non-confidential greenhouse gas data collected through the tool by the end of 2011

USEPA has indicated that, under the GHG Reporting Program, entities required to submit data must register with e-GGRT no later than 60 days before the reporting deadline, or August 1, 2011. If you have missed the August 1 deadline, USEPA still strongly encourages all reporting entities to register as soon as possible, and has stated that a good faith effort to register as soon as possible after the August 1 deadline "will be taken into consideration". This cryptic statement is open to interpretation and if you have not registered and wish to use e-GGRT, we recommend you register immediately then confirm with USEPA that your registration is accepted before relying on the registration to report using e-GGRT.

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This post was written Nicolle Bagnell and Ariel Nieland.

With Pennsylvania courts looking to increase administrative costs, it may get more expensive to be involved in Marcellus Shale leasing activity. On July 30, 2011, the Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts (AOPC) published an announcement that it intends to recommend that the state Supreme Court amend current financial regulations already providing for, inter alia, recorders of deeds to impose a fee of $23.50 on the recording of documents for purposes of funding the Judicial Computer System/Access to Justice/Criminal Justice Enhancement Account (JCS/ATJ/CJEA). The amendments will specify that the $23.50 JCS/ATS/CJEA fee should be imposed on each individual property interest conveyed in a filing, including all individual leases conveyed in a single blanket assignment.

The reasoning behind the proposed amendment is the inconsistent application of fees by recorders' offices, specifically with regard to the filing of oil and gas leases, assignments, and "bundled" memorandum filings (a/k/a blanket assignments). The AOPC has explained that under the proposed amendments, a "separate fee shall be imposed for each such referenced, incorporated or listed property transfer at the time of filing.''

The public may submit suggestions, comments, or objections concerning the proposal no later than August 30, 2011 by contacting: Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts, ATTN: Financial Regulations Comments, 1515 Market Street, Suite 1414, Philadelphia, PA 19102, financialregscomments@pacourts.us.

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