42 U.S.C. § 16298e: Carbon dioxide removal…

Summary

The Secretary of Energy must make and publish a report no later than 180 days after December 27, 2020 that explains carbon dioxide removal and how to scale it up. Carbon dioxide removal means taking CO2 out of the air or out of seawater and storing it; examples include direct air capture, enhanced mineralization, bioenergy with carbon capture, forest restoration, soil carbon management, and direct ocean capture. The report must estimate how much excess CO2 needs to be removed by 2050 to reach net‑zero and stabilize the climate, list and evaluate current and emerging removal methods, and give recommendations for laws, funding, rules, financing, or other federal policies to deploy enough projects. Those policy ideas can include grants, loans or loan guarantees, public‑private partnerships, direct procurement, incentives (including subsidized federal financing for developers), advance market commitments, regulations, or other tools the Secretary finds useful. The Secretary must send the report to the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources and the House Committees on Energy and Commerce and Science, Space, and Technology, and must make the report public as soon as possible. Within 60 days after December 27, 2020 the Secretary must set up a task force to find barriers, list federal policy options, help prepare the report and updates, and advise the Secretary. The Secretary will create rules to pick members and then select them. The task force must meet at least once a year. After the report is published, the Secretary must review it within 2 years and then every 2 years after that, consider the task force’s input, update the report if needed, and re‑submit and republish any updates. Not later than 7 years after December 27, 2020, the Secretary must reassess whether the task force should continue and tell Congress the recommendation.

Title 42, §16298e

The Public Health and Welfare, Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)Definition of carbon dioxide removal

In this section, the term “carbon dioxide removal” means the capture of carbon dioxide directly from ambient air or, in dissolved form, from seawater, combined with the sequestration of that carbon dioxide, including through—

(1)direct air capture and sequestration;

(2)enhanced carbon mineralization;

(3)bioenergy with carbon capture and sequestration;

(4)forest restoration;

(5)soil carbon management; and

(6)direct ocean capture.

(b)Report

Not later than 180 days after December 27, 2020, the Secretary of Energy (in this section referred to as the “Secretary”), in consultation with the heads of any other relevant Federal agencies, shall prepare a report that—

(1)estimates the magnitude of excess carbon dioxide in the atmosphere that will need to be removed by 2050 to achieve net-zero emissions and stabilize the climate;

(2)inventories current and emerging approaches of carbon dioxide removal and evaluates the advantages and disadvantages of each of the approaches; and

(3)identifies recommendations for legislation, funding, rules, revisions to rules, financing mechanisms, or other policy tools that the Federal Government can use to sufficiently advance the deployment of carbon dioxide removal projects in order to meet, in the aggregate, the magnitude of needed removals estimated under paragraph (1), including policy tools, such as—

(A)grants;

(B)loans or loan guarantees;

(C)public-private partnerships;

(D)direct procurement;

(E)incentives, including subsidized Federal financing mechanisms available to project developers;

(F)advance market commitments;

(G)regulations; and

(H)any other policy mechanism determined by the Secretary to be beneficial for advancing carbon dioxide removal methods and the deployment of carbon dioxide removal projects.

(c)Submission; publication

The Secretary shall—

(1)submit the report prepared under subsection (b) to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate and the Committees on Energy and Commerce and Science, Space, and Technology of the House of Representatives; and

(2)as soon as practicable after completion of the report, make the report publicly available.

(d)Evaluation; revision

(1)In general

Not later than 2 years after the date on which the Secretary publishes the report under subsection (c)(2), and every 2 years thereafter, the Secretary shall evaluate the findings and recommendations of the report, or the most recent updated report submitted under paragraph (2)(B), as applicable, taking into consideration any issues and recommendations identified by the task force established under subsection (e)(1).

(2)Revision

After completing each evaluation under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall—

(A)revise the report as necessary; and

(B)if the Secretary revises the report under subparagraph (A), submit and publish the updated report in accordance with subsection (c).

(e)Task force

(1)Establishment and duties

Not later than 60 days after December 27, 2020, the Secretary shall establish a task force—

(A)to identify barriers to advancement of carbon dioxide removal methods and the deployment of carbon dioxide removal projects;

(B)to inventory existing or potential Federal legislation, rules, revisions to rules, financing mechanisms, or other policy tools that are capable of advancing carbon dioxide removal methods and the deployment of carbon dioxide removal projects;

(C)to assist in preparing the report described in subsection (b) and any updates to the report under subsection (d); and

(D)to advise the Secretary on matters pertaining to carbon dioxide removal.

(2)Members and selection

The Secretary shall—

(A)develop criteria for the selection of members to the task force established under paragraph (1); and

(B)select members for the task force in accordance with the criteria developed under subparagraph (A).

(3)Meetings

The task force shall meet not less frequently than once each year.

(4)Evaluation

Not later than 7 years after December 27, 2020, the Secretary shall—

(A)reevaluate the need for the task force established under paragraph (1); and

(B)submit to Congress a recommendation as to whether the task force should continue.

Editorial Notes

Codification Section was enacted as part of the Energy Act of 2020, and not as part of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 which comprises this chapter.

§16298e Carbon Dioxide Removal Task Force and Report

Summary

Title 42, §16298e

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Citations & Metadata