A new California bill would establish state carbon dioxide pipeline safety regulations and allow the state to lift its pipeline moratorium, paving the way to transport carbon dioxide in California instead of waiting on federal regulations to move forward.
What happened: Assemblymember Cottie Petrie-Norris amended her spot bill AB 881 on Monday to direct the state fire marshal to develop carbon dioxide pipeline safety regulations and allow the state to lift its pipeline moratorium once they’re in place, according to a fact sheet her office provided to POLITICO. The amendments have yet to appear in print.
Why it matters: California regulators are relying on carbon capture, removal, utilization and storage projects to meet the state’s goal of carbon neutrality by 2045. But projects that would transport carbon dioxide to storage locations outside the project site can’t move forward until the state lifts its pipeline moratorium established as part of a negotiation with environmental justice groups in 2022 under state Sen. Anna Caballero’s SB 905.
Under that law, which aims to both accelerate and regulate carbon capture in California, the pipeline moratorium can’t be removed until the federal Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration updates its pipeline safety regulations.
