By Liz Hampton

(Reuters) – Top oil-producing States in the United States are trying to evict federal regulators of oversight over carbon capture wells. This is to accelerate oil’s preferred strategy to fight climate change, despite calls to limit fossil fuel production.

Many companies are proposing the creation of carbon capture-and storage (CCS), hubs that would sequester greenhouse gases from plants, chemicals, and refineries. It is a step to slow down global warming.

Federal approval is required for all carbon injection wells in most states. It takes around six years to get a permit.

Texas and Louisiana are among the oil-producing states that want to take back permit reviews from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for CO2 and other greenhouse gases storage sites.

North Dakota, the third-largest producer of oil, was given oversight in 2018, and received its first permit last January after an eight-month-long review. An official stated that New Mexico has started initial talks with the EPA to apply for regulation of carbon sequestration wells.

States need to demonstrate that the regulations they have in place are just as rigorous as those set by the EPA. Environmentalists fear that allowing state regulators to take control will result in lax oversight once the regulatory agencies from oil-friendly countries are in place.

The EPA initiated a probe last year into Texas’ air quality regulator, for failing to adequately monitor a major air polluter. Federal courts have also awarded multi-million-dollar settlements to environmental groups for polluting areas that were not penalized in Texas.

FASTER PERMITS

States that seek to be regulated are the home of big energy companies proposing underground CO2 storage. Texas Exxon Mobil Corp (NYSE 🙂 has been evaluating large carbon reserves off the coast with over a dozen other energy firms.

Exxon spokesperson Todd Spitler stated that the technology requires government support, stable policies and “a simplified permitting process for CCS plants.”

Sempra Energy (NYSE:) A request for a Louisiana facility that is linked to a liquefied gas plant has been filed with the EPA. According to a spokesperson, the company shared its plans with Louisiana’s regulator.

(For a map of carbon storage projects proposed along the U.S. Gulf Coast, click here: https://graphics.reuters.com/USA-OIL/MAP/gdvzykznlpw)

Giving states primacy over regulating carbon injection wells can speed up the permitting process through greater efficiency and less red tape, said Marcella Burke, a partner with law firm King & Spalding and former deputy general counsel at the EPA.

“It’s cooperative federalism. Burke said that delegating primary enforcement and regulatory authority to the State means it’s saying it can take care of things its way, provided the state meets federal standards.

PATCHWORK REGULATION or GAME-CHANGER

Environmentalists are concerned that the delegating of enforcement authority to states to carbon sequestration wells may lead to inconsistencies, loose monitoring, and possible hazards like carbon back-up to the atmosphere.

Patrick Drupp from the Sierra Club said that instead of a patchwork state regulation, “we need science-based federal backingstop with consistent and robust regulations to ensure carbon is sequestered” and that it will be sequestered forever.

According to him, the environmental group does not support carbon sequestration when it continues burning fossil fuels and instead promotes a more rapid transition towards renewable energy.

Jena Lococo was previously a ClearPath program director and also worked as an Exxon employee. She said that state control is “a game changer” to speed up carbon sequestration projects. She said that unpredicted federal processes can be a hindrance to projects getting off the ground.

Lococo stated that “States with primacy or active work towards primacy will attract greater projects within their boundaries, which will surely help local economies.

North Dakota has issued its second carbon-sequestration license this month. This was seven months after Minnkota Power Cooperative submitted. The approval of the first permit was granted eight months ago. ClearPath estimates that the only EPA permits currently available for wells – which were both linked to Archer Daniels Midland (NYSE) – took almost six years to obtain.

Scott Goldberg who is the head of EnLink Midstream’s Carbon Solutions group (NYSE:), said, “This will take a while.” The new Carbon Solutions group aims at converting some natural gas pipes in Louisiana into underground carbon storage facilities.

He said that Wyoming and North Dakota, both with carbon-well permits authority, were “ahead” of the pack.