PHMSA Advances CO2 Pipeline Safety Regulations

On February 1, 2024, the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Transportation Safety Administration (PHMSA), part of the Department of Transportation, submitted a proposed Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) to the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for pre-publication review. The proposed NPRM would modify PHMSA's safety standards for CO2 pipelines.

CO2 pipelines are an increasingly important piece of climate infrastructure. Public and private sector actors around the world are researching and deploying a variety of technologies designed to remove greenhouse gasses like carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere. Some of these technologies, like “direct air capture” facilities that use chemical and electrochemical processes to capture atmospheric CO2 at relatively low concentrations, generate a stream of captured CO2. This stream must either be used or stored in a way that keeps it out of the atmosphere—ideally, for centuries or millennia. Linking direct air capture facilities to geologic storage sites will likely require a nationwide network of CO2 pipelines. To meet the U.S.'s 2050 net-zero emissions goal, the Department of Energy estimates that the United States will need to develop a network of between 30,000 and 96,000 miles of CO2 pipelines.

While the details of PHMSA's proposal are not yet public, the proposed rulemaking would amend PHMSA's Pipeline Safety Regulations to enhance the safe transportation of carbon dioxide by pipelines, in order to accommodate an anticipated increase in the number of carbon dioxide pipelines and volume of carbon dioxide transported. This proposed rulemaking would also include requirements related to emergency preparedness and response for carbon dioxide. 

The submission of this proposed NPRM to OMB for approval means that a public rulemaking process is likely imminent.