The White House Council on Environmental Quality Announces Two New CCUS Task Forces
The White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) announced on July 27 it is seeking nominations for two new task forces that will provide input to inform the responsible development of Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Sequestration (CCUS).
The task forces, which are required by the Utilizing Significant Emissions with Innovative Technologies (USE IT) Act, will provide recommendations to the Federal government on how to ensure that CCUS projects, such as carbon dioxide pipelines, are permitted in an efficient manner, reflect the input and needs of a wide range of stakeholders, and deliver benefits rather than harms to local communities.
One task force that CEQ is creating will focus on CCUS permitting and development issues on Federal lands and the Outer Continental Shelf. The other will focus on CCUS permitting and development issues on non-Federal lands.
Consistent with the USE IT Act, CEQ is seeking nominations of a diverse range of qualified candidates to serve on the task forces; the call for nominations notes, in particular, a priority on ensuring that the experiences and perspectives of environmental justice communities are reflected in the task forces.
CEQ delivered new guidance in February to Federal agencies to help ensure that the advancement of Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Sequestration (CCUS) technologies is done in a responsible manner that incorporates the input of communities and reflects the best available science. That guidance built on CEQ’s June 2021 CCUS report and identifies measures to facilitate sound and transparent environmental reviews for CCUS projects.
Members of the public can begin submitting nominations via the Federal Register on Thursday, July 28, 2022, using the following links:
- Requests for Nominations: Carbon Dioxide Capture, Utilization and Sequestration Federal Lands and Outer Continental Shelf Permitting Task Force
- Requests for Nominations: Carbon Dioxide Capture, Utilization and Sequestration Non-Federal Lands Permitting Task Force
Vacancies are anticipated to be filled by December 31, 2022.
Source: The White House