Liability relief for Carbon Dioxide Capture and Geologic Sequestration

A joint letter from various environmental and public interest organizations urging US federal agencies and officials to oppose liability relief and regulatory exemptions for operators of carbon dioxide (CO2) geologic sequestration (GS) sites.

• The signatories oppose efforts to exempt carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) operators from regulatory and statutory liabilities, arguing that such relief would be unprecedented compared to other industrial activities. They contend that similar high-risk activities, such as hydraulic fracturing for shale gas extraction, natural gas storage, enhanced oil recovery, and the underground injection of industrial or hazardous waste, do not receive the same level of liability relief.
• The authors specifically urge the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) not to grant a conditional exemption from the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) Subtitle C for hazardous CO2 streams. They argue that such an exemption would remove incentives for operators to clean up streams with high impurities, potentially encourage the intentional commingling of waste, and eliminate critical safeguards including enhanced public participation, more stringent technical requirements for Class I wells, and broader remediation authority.
• The document warns that granting liability relief creates a moral hazard and risks shifting the financial burden of poor operations to taxpayers. The authors cite previous environmental disasters, such as the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico and the coal ash spill in Tennessee, as evidence that regulatory exemptions can lead to careless design and operational decisions.

APA

Environmental and Energy Study Institute (2011). Liability relief for Carbon Dioxide Capture and Geologic Sequestration. https://www.eesi.org/files/CCS-Liability-Letter_Apr12_2011-2.pdf

Chicago

Environmental and Energy Study Institute. Liability relief for Carbon Dioxide Capture and Geologic Sequestration. 2011. https://www.eesi.org/files/CCS-Liability-Letter_Apr12_2011-2.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |author=Environmental and Energy Study Institute |title=Liability relief for Carbon Dioxide Capture and Geologic Sequestration |date=12 April 2011 |url=https://www.eesi.org/files/CCS-Liability-Letter_Apr12_2011-2.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{environmentalandenergystudyinstitute2011liability, author = {{Environmental and Energy Study Institute}}, title = {{Liability relief for Carbon Dioxide Capture and Geologic Sequestration}}, publisher = {Environmental and Energy Study Institute}, year = {2011}, month = apr, url = {https://www.eesi.org/files/CCS-Liability-Letter_Apr12_2011-2.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }