On Friday, December 10, 2010, EPA published in the Federal Register its final rule governing the underground injection of carbon dioxide (CO2) for geologic sequestration (GS) under the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA). EPA released a pre-publication version of this rule back on November 22, 2010. Stoel Rives previewed the pre-publication version on our Renewable Energy + Law Blog. This alert highlights some key deadlines included in final rule, as published last Friday.

Background: Last Friday’s rule focuses on protecting underground sources of drinking water (USDW) from endangerment due to CO2 GS activities. The rule was promulgated pursuant to EPA’s SDWA authority. The rule, which becomes effective on January 10, 2011, resulted from a proposed rule issued by EPA on July 25, 2008 (73 FR 43492) and a notice of data availability and request for comment by EPA on August 31, 2009 (74 FR 44802).

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For more information about how last Friday’s rule could affect your CO2 injection plans, feel free to contact one of the following Stoel Rives’ attorneys.

Geoffrey Tichenor at (503) 294-9389 or gbtichenor@stoel.com
Jerry Fish at (503) 294-9620 or jrfish@stoel.com
Thomas Wood at (503) 294-9396 or trwood@stoel.com
Sara Bergan at (503) 294-9336 or sebergan@stoel.com
Sarah Johnson Phillips at (612) 373-8843 or sjphillips@stoel.com
Eric Martin at (503) 294-9593 or elmartin@stoel.com