Midwestern Governors Association - Initiatives

In October 2009, the MGA Governors agreed to the Midwestern Energy Infrastructure Accord (Infrastructure Accord). By agreeing to the Infrastructure Accord, Midwestern governors commit to developing a robust energy infrastructure to position the Midwest as America’s leader in fostering energy security, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and spurring jobs and investment in low-carbon energy development and technology manufacturing.

A major component of the Infrastructure Accord is the formation of a Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) Task Force. The purpose of this task force, which consists of Midwestern stakeholders from state government, academia, the non-profit community, the business community and state government leaders, is assist in ensuring Midwest meet the MGA's established regional goals for commercial deployment of key advanced coal technologies with CCS between 2012 and 2015 and for incorporation of CCS into all new coal-based energy facilities by 2020.

In the Infrastructure Accord, this Task force is charged with the following responsibilities:

Review emerging CCS legislation in MGA jurisdictions and the MGA “Legal and RegulatoryInventory for Carbon Capture and Storage & Analogues” and the MGA “Toolkit for Carbon Capture and Storage: Statutory and Regulatory Issues” and implement immediatesteps needed to accomplish the development and harmonization of state/provincial CCS statutory and regulatory policies by 2010;

Review and inform the development of legislation and regulations emerging from the federal level, ensuring that federal programs do not preempt states that choose to develop comprehensive CCS regulatory programs;

Review and implement, as appropriate, recommended actions from the MGA Renewable Electricity, Advanced Coal and CCS Advisory Group, including:

State incentives for CCS deployment to complement existing and proposed federalincentives;

Establishment of publicly regulated state and/or geologic basin-wide CO2 sequestration utilities to provide commercial energy and other facilities with a comprehensive and predictable CO2 storage solution; and

Preliminary siting of Gulf Coast and other CO2 trunk lines to plan the build-out of a regional pipeline network