![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/OYYNQ4SK65GWVOFE4JN3AM3JLI.jpg\")
The Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission office in Anchorage is seen on March 23, 2023. (Photo by Yereth Rosen\/Alaska Beacon) <\/p>\nThe Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission office in Anchorage is seen on March 23, 2023. (Photo by Yereth Rosen\/Alaska Beacon) <\/p>\n
The state of Alaska is close to finalizing rules for a program<\/a> that would allow companies to bury carbon dioxide deep underground, a process known as sequestration.<\/p>\n While sequestration can reduce carbon dioxide emissions by heavy industry, it also would be a boon to the proposed trans-Alaska natural gas pipeline. Many sources of natural gas on the North Slope are mixed with large amounts of carbon dioxide, and that carbon must be separated from the natural gas before shipment. <\/p>\n Venting that carbon dioxide to the atmosphere would notably increase global greenhouse gas emissions, accelerating climate change.<\/p>\n On Nov. 25, the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission said that it had completed draft regulations for the state\u2019s \u201ccarbon storage and underground injection\u201d program, which will involve the state taking over regulation of carbon dioxide wells from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.<\/p>\n The Alaska Legislature passed<\/a> \u2014 and Gov. Mike Dunleavy signed \u2014 a law in 2023 that allows the takeover. The initial phases of the project were funded by the Biden administration<\/a> under a federal grant. Subsequent years are expected to cost the state about $386,000 per year<\/a>.<\/p>\n Four other states<\/a> \u2014 Louisiana, North Dakota, West Virginia and Wyoming \u2014 have already assumed regulatory authority over \u201cclass VI wells\u201d used to inject carbon dioxide; state control has tended to permit faster action on carbon sequestration projects. <\/p>\n Alaska\u2019s proposed regulation changes cover 105 pages<\/a> of technically dense language. One important change: A carbon dioxide well wouldn\u2019t be permitted if it needed to pass through a drinking water aquifer. The state allows exemptions for other types of wells, including some that could later be converted to carbon dioxide wells.<\/p>\n The proposed regulations include clauses that require insurance or bonds to cover the costs of accidents and a requirement that carbon dioxide wells be firmly capped when abandoned.<\/p>\n The AOGCC has scheduled a public hearing on the draft rules for 10 a.m. Jan. 13 at its office in Anchorage. Members of the public interested in participating in person or by teleconference at that meeting should send an email to samantha.coldiron@alaska.gov<\/a> at least two days before the meeting. Written comments may also be emailed to that address.<\/p>\n When the new regulations are finalized, more work remains for the state. Alaska will have to formally draft its takeover application to the EPA, which will involve another public comment period.<\/p>\n That application will be submitted to the EPA \u201cASAP after public process,\u201d according to the state\u2019s published timeline<\/a>, and actually assuming authority over EPA-regulated carbon wells would take another 12-18 months, the state expects.<\/p>\n