SPRINGFIELD – The Capture Jobs Now coalition, which includes business, labor, and agriculture groups, has issued the following statement after Senate passage of the SAFE CCS Act (SB1289), which now heads to the Governor’s desk:
“We thank Senate and House lawmakers for their support of the SAFE CCS Act, which establishes a regulatory framework to smartly and safely advance carbon capture and storage in Illinois. Our state is uniquely positioned to take advantage of this technology, which can advance our clean energy goals while promoting economic development and creating new jobs. This measure is a careful compromise among environmental groups, organized labor, agriculture interests and the business community, resulting in a plan that includes strong landowner protections, stringent environmental monitoring and robust investments in environmental justice communities. We appreciate the leadership of Governor JB Pritzker’s administration, especially Deputy Governor for Public Safety, Infrastructure, Environment, and Energy Bria Scudder, as well as Senate President Pro Tempore Bill Cunningham, House Assistant Majority Leader Jay Hoffman, Senator Laura Fine and Representative Ann Williams in shaping this agreement. By working together, we can decarbonize our environment without deindustrializing our economy.”
Key provisions include:
- Protections for landowners
- Requires 30 years of post-injection air and soil monitoring at project sites – which goes further than existing federal requirements.
- Ensures existing well set back requirements under Illinois law apply to CCS projects too.
- Moratorium on CO2pipelines
- Puts in place a CO2pipeline moratorium until the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) – the federal agency responsible for regulating the transportation of carbon dioxide in the US –finalizes updated safety rules for CO2 pipelines OR July 2026, whichever is sooner.
- Safety and environmental justice
- Creates an emergency planning and training fund that can be accessed by the Illinois Emergency Management Agency-Office of Homeland Security to provide training exercises, equipment and support for local emergency services and disaster agencies to prepare for future CO2pipelines and sequestration projects.
- Establishes an environmental justice fund to be administered by the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency that can make grants to eligible entities representing areas of environmental justice concern and to fund environmental projects benefitting areas disproportionately burdened by environmental harms.
- Creates a long-term trust fund to ensure the citizens, resources and environment of the State will be protected in the future.
For more information about the Capture Jobs Now coalition, please visit https://capturejobsnow.com/.