Administration backs carbon dioxide storage bill

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The Schweitzer administration is supporting a new bill to lay down the rules on storing carbon dioxide underground in Montana — and legislative Republicans are preparing their own approach as well.

The two bills, yet to be introduced, have emerged in the wake of Gov. Brian Schweitzer’s call last week during his State of the State address to tackle the issue, saying it’s vital for coal development in the state.

Future development of coal-fired power plants or other coal-burning technologies won’t happen in Montana without a way to store carbon dioxide, a major greenhouse gas and cause of global warming, the governor and others have said.

And storage of CO2 won’t happen without a legal framework that spells out who owns the underground “pore space” and who’s liable for any problems, Schweitzer said.

The administration is throwing itssupport behind a new bill to be sponsored by Rep. Mike Phillips, D-Bozeman.

“There is more than one way to skin a cat, and the fact is, this cat needs to be skinned,” Phillips said Monday. “How do you imagine a future for Montana’s coal otherwise?”

On the Republican side of the aisle, Sen. Keith Bales of Otter is working on a proposal to accomplish a similar goal.

Bales, however, wasn’t ready Monday to reveal the details of the proposal. He said the draft should be ready later this week.

Senate President Bob Story, R-Park City, said he doesn’t want the state to rush into anything it might later regret on CO2 storage.

“I don’t know that there’s any great race to move forward,” he said. “The worst thing you could do is pass something that just creates more confusion, that creates a whole ’nother set of roadblocks to development, when we’re trying to spur it.”

Phillips’ bill takes a new approach in the area of CO2 storage, declaring that the underground “pore space” is owned by the state, just as the state now owns most water in Montana.

As with water, developers or other private parties can get a permit to use it — although with CO2, they’d be getting a permit to use the underground pore space.

Schweitzer said Monday the bill will not only make it easier to store CO2 underground, but also enable ranchers to profit from the storage under or near their property.

“If you’re a developer and you want to pump some CO2 in (to the ground), all you’ve got to do is go in and get a permit from the state of Montana — and, make a deal with a surface owner,” he said. “You don’t have to go out and make 150 deals with everybody who owns the surface here.”

Developers would be paid by producers of CO2, such as coal-fired power plants, to store the carbon-dioxide underground. Oil producers also might buy the CO2 to inject into oil wells, to enhance oil recovery.

Surface owners, such as ranchers or farmers, would be paid by the developers who want to drill on their property to inject the CO2 underground. Under the Phillips bill, liability for the CO2 would fall to the developer.

Phillips said he’d be happy to see the Republicans’ proposal, and that more discussion and debate will help the Legislature come up with the best plan.

“The handwriting is on the wall” regarding the need for carbon capture, Phillips said. “We can craft the future with decisions that we make today, and I think that’s what this bill is about.”