The Nickel Report

An EPA notice of proposed rulemaking seeks comment on whether Utah should be granted primary enforcement responsibility (primacy) over Class VI wells used for geologic sequestration of carbon dioxide. Utah’s Division of Oil, Gas and Mining submitted its application in December 2025. After conducting a comprehensive technical and legal review of the state’s Underground Injection Control program to ensure it met all Safe Drinking Water Act and EPA regulatory requirements, EPA proposes to find that Utah’s UIC Class VI program meets all requirements and will be protective of underground sources of drinking water. Members of the public may comment on the proposal through December 7, 2026.

On October 13, the US Environmental Protection Agency published the final rule authorizing Colorado’s Energy and Carbon Management Commission to regulate all underground injection of carbon dioxide for long-term geological sequestration within the state. The final rule followed a comprehensive technical and legal review to ensure the state’s Underground Injection Control program met all requirements under the Safe Drinking Water Act section 1422.

Last week marked the close of the 30th Conference of the Parties (COP30) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in Belém, Brazil. COP30, billed by some as the COP of “truth” or “implementation,” sought to advance key issues tied to the climate goals established under the Paris Agreement, now ten years in effect. Below is an overview of the most notable developments from Belém and the emerging expectations for future climate action. 

On April 29, 2025, EPA Region 6 entered into a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with the Texas Railroad Commission (RRC) that outlines the state’s plans for administering its Class VI injection well program related to carbon capture, utilization, and sequestration. The MOA delineates the responsibility of authority for administering all Class VI injection well activities and regulation in the State of Texas. The signing of the MOA is a significant step towards RRC’s primacy over its Class VI injection well program and represents the end of the application phase of RRC’s primacy effort and the beginning of the proposed rulemaking phase.

Over the past six years, federal and State lawmakers have done much to promote carbon capture utilization and storage (CCUS) - capturing carbon dioxide from an industrial source or from the air, then transporting it either for use in making new products or for underground disposal.  CCUS is considered indispensable for meeting global CO2 emission reduction targets.  Moreover, captured CO2 has tremendous potential value.

Below are some key points from two CCUS-related events in Texas last week: the annual CO₂-EOR Conference in Midland, which has been going on for almost 30 years; and a symposium our firm hosted with the University of Houston on CCUS risk management. We’ll start with the latter.

Risk management is one of the few key policy issues to facilitate carbon capture and storage (CCS) in Class VI storage facilities that has not been the beneficiary of substantial policy revision in the past few years. Stakeholders are interested in the development of policy to effectively manage the safety, performance, and liability risks associated with containment of captured and stored CO₂.