Canada - Alberta: Bill 24: Carbon Capture and Storage Statutes Amendment Act, 2010

Bill 24: Carbon Capture and Storage Statutes Amendment Act, 2010 is in force since December 2, 2010, and its one of the first in the world to regulate C02 storage. The Bill is intended to guide large‐scale CCS projects and to clarify the ownership of the pore space where carbon dioxide will be stored.

The Bill proposes amendments or additions to the following statutes:

•   Energy Resources Conservation Act;
•   Mines and Minerals Act;
•   Oil and Gas Conservation Act;
•   Public Lands Act; and
•   Surface Rights Act.

The Bill provides that the Alberta Crown will own the subsurface pore spaces where carbon dioxide will be stored, and will accept permanent liability for injected carbon dioxide after an operator provides data showing the stored carbon dioxide has been contained over a specified period of time. CCS operators will be responsible for any mitigation work during operation and will remain responsible until a closure certificate has been issued by the Crown. Once a closure certificate is issued to an operator, the Crown will become the owner of the captured carbon dioxide and assume all liability.

The Crown will also establish and manage a post‐closure stewardship fund which will be financed by CCS operators for ongoing monitoring costs and required remediation.The Government has yet to decide how much time must pass before a closure certificate is issued and liability assumed by the Crown, or how much operators will have to pay into the postclosure stewardship fund. Such details will be included in regulations enacted following passage of the Bill.