In July, Illinois Governor JB Pritzker signed into law critical legislation providing safeguards against the risks and harms of carbon capture and sequestration (CCS). The law is a compromise agreed to by environmental advocates, labor unions, the fossil fuel industry and the Governor’s Office after more than a year of intense negotiations.

While this group may look like an unlikely alliance on the surface, these are the stakeholders that needed to come together to ensure that, given the onslaught of CCS proposals in Illinois, projects are implemented in a way that safeguards our communities and environment from the risks CCS poses.

The critical work of our coalition was underscored when it was revealed that a monitoring well at one of Archer Daniels Midland’s (ADM) two CO2 sequestration sites in Decatur, Illinois, began leaking in March. The leak happened as our groups were fighting for more rigorous public notification requirements, emergency response planning and more. There are significant risks at every step of the CCS process, and this incident shows why strict regulations are necessary to protect our communities and environment.

Illinois is a target for the CCS buildout. But communities need better safeguards. 

Carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) and carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) are technologies that capture carbon dioxide, or CO2, from polluting facilities such as fossil-fueled power plants and industrial sites. The carbon is then compressed and transported, usually by a network of pipelines, to sites where it is either sequestered underground or used to recover more fossil fuels. The fossil fuel industry wants to use carbon capture to enable its facilities to keep operating – and polluting – while claiming to be part of the climate solution. A buildout of CCS projects threatens to extend the life of fossil fuels and perpetuate the harms of pollution in overburdened communities.

The CCS buildout can pose serious risks. For example, a CO2 pipeline rupture in 2020 in Mississippi led to dozens of hospitalizations and prompted Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) officials to promise to update regulations for CO2 pipelines. High concentrations of CO2 can displace air, causing asphyxiation and harming health. It can also disable combustion engines, leaving vehicles – and the residents or first responders they carry – stranded.

Illinois is being heavily targeted for CCS, particularly sequestration. Illinois’ Mt. Simon sandstone provides what many geologists assert is prime geology for CO2 storage. There are currently applications pending for 22 wells in central Illinois, and there have already been three applications for CO2 pipelines running across dozens of counties in the state. CO2 sequestration sites can pose a significant risk to drinking water when leaks occur. With fossil-fueled power plants and major farm-products industries in the Midwest primed for carbon capture, even more applications to capture, transport, and sequester carbon dioxide are sure to come.

We fought for safeguards at the same table as the fossil fuel industry. Each provision was hard won.

With inadequate federal oversight and few state protections, the Illinois Clean Jobs Coalition (ICJC) demanded better safeguards before the CCS buildout really takes root. We got to work fighting for protections at every step of the CCS process – capture, transport, and sequestration. Our advocacy focused on the environment, public safety, and public participation.

At the negotiation table, we agreed to:

Climate protections: Existing facilities that seek a permit for carbon capture must provide a greenhouse gas (GHG) analysis that examines the emissions from the facility where the CO2 is “captured” as well as emissions from where the facility gets its power. To get a CCS permit, the analysis must show that for each year over the course of the capture facility’s operating life, captured GHGs will exceed emitted GHGs. The law also prohibits the use of CO2 captured in Illinois for enhanced oil recovery.

Air pollution limits: To obtain a capture permit, existing facilities must show that capturing carbon will not increase emissions of harmful air pollutants like particulate matter and NOx.

Complex modeling to inform emergency response plans: CO2 pipeline ruptures can impact areas measured in miles, not feet. Pipeline operators must perform complex, advanced modeling of potential pipeline ruptures, which they will use to develop a risk-based assessment and contingency plan, published on a public website and given to local first responders.

Pause on pipelines until safety standards updated: No new CO2 pipeline can be approved in Illinois until July 2026 or until PHMSA finalizes its new regulations. This was a particularly hard-fought provision to give PHMSA time to update critical safety standards for CO2 pipelines.

Tell PHMSA to release its proposed regulation for CO2 pipelines now!

Funding for emergency response: First responders will have the funds they need to attend and provide trainings, obtain desperately-needed equipment, and conduct exercises to prepare for and respond to CO2 emergencies. This victory is fundamental to ensure that Illinois’ many rural communities have the tools necessary to respond when accidents occur.

Public participation: New mandates for CO2 pipeline authorizations include two public meetings in every county through which proposed pipelines will pass, held prior to submission of the application. Permits for capture and sequestration will also provide for robust public engagement.

Financial protections and liability: To get a sequestration permit, operators must obtain insurance and set aside funds adequate to pay for proper monitoring, immediate response if something goes wrong, and site closure. Liability stays with the operator, deterring them from cutting corners.

While there were certainly difficult compromises, the protections secured are a significant victory. In the end, state legislators recognized that the risks posed by CCS were too severe to ignore and made sure those risks and harms were accounted for in the Act.

With the rapid expansion of CCS across the country, advocates can and should fight for strong state protections alongside federal regulations. It was an honor to serve as a member of the ICJC’s negotiating team, and I hope Illinois’ CCS legislation can serve as a model for other states to improve upon so no one’s health, water, or land is sacrificed at the altar of false solutions.