Bill to amend Clean Air Act introduced in Senate

A bill that would amend the Clean Air Act to direct the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to support carbon utilization and direct air capture research.

The bill – called the Utilizing Significant Emissions with Innovative Technologies (USE IT) Act (S. 383) – would also direct the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) to establish guidance to assist project developers and operators of Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Storage (CCUS) facilities and CO2 pipelines. It would also establish task forces to hear input from stakeholders for updating and improving guidance. Further, it would create mechanisms to incentivize the build-out of CCUS projects.

“This bipartisan legislation is part of a smart all-of-the-above energy plan,” Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), one of the bill’s co-sponsors, said. “By providing incentives for the deployment of carbon capture technologies and regulatory certainty for those trying to reduce their emissions by using their carbon, we’re building on America’s energy leadership and investing in innovative ways to use our energy resources.”

Sens. John Barrasso (R-WY), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Tom Carper (D-DE), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Kevin Cramer (R-ND), Tina Smith (D-MN), Joe Manchin (D-WV), and Mike Enzi (R-WY).

“Congress needs to help make American energy as clean as we can, as fast as we can, without raising costs on consumers,” Barrasso said. “The USE IT Act will promote the long-term use of Wyoming’s natural resources and help make America more energy dominant. This bill supports groundbreaking innovation to address climate change. Carbon capture and utilization technologies hold the key to major emissions reductions. The bipartisan legislation supports efforts to find profitable uses for captured carbon dioxide and simplifies the process for building carbon dioxide pipelines.”

Whitehouse said reversing the carbon pollution is critical to avoid climate change.

“If we don’t, it will be nearly impossible to avoid the worst of climate change,” Whitehouse said. “That’s why I’ve been working across the aisle on ways to boost promising new technologies like direct air capture. We’ve proven we can pass sensible bills like this with broad bipartisan support. Now let’s do it again.”