Colorado continues to pursue primacy from federal government for geologic carbon sequestration
August 27, 2025 (Denver) -- Today the Energy and Carbon Management Commission (ECMC) announced the five inaugural members of the state’s Geologic Storage Stewardship Enterprise Board. The newly created Enterprise, housed within the Department of Natural Resources (DNR), was established by HB25-1165 to further support effective and safe carbon sequestration in Colorado and to oversee the long-term monitoring and stewardship of injection facilities.
The inaugural members of the volunteer Enterprise are:
- Anna Littlefield, Low Carbon Energy Program Manager, Payne Institute for Public Policy, Colorado School of Mines
- Julie Murphy, Director, Energy and Carbon Management Commission
- Robert Randall, Managing Partner, Kaplan Kirsch
- Jeffrey Robbins, Chair, Energy and Carbon Management Commission
- Ashleigh Ross, geologic storage consultant and engineer
View the compositional requirements of the Enterprise board and member’s biographies online at ecmc.colorado.gov/CCS-enterprise.
Geologic carbon capture and storage (CCS) is a set of technologies and processes designed to minimize or eliminate the release of CO2 emissions into the atmosphere, particularly from industrial emission sources. This is achieved by capturing CO2 gases from an industrial facility’s emission stream or from the ambient air, transporting the gas to a permitted storage site, and injecting it via wells. (These wells are called Class VI wells.) The CO2 is injected and stored permanently in deep underground rock formations located thousands of feet below the surface, typically far deeper than the lowermost underground source of drinking water.
The Enterprise will hold its first meeting on November 18, 2025, and will focus initially on setting operator fees associated with the injection of CO2. Information about that public, virtual meeting will be posted online.
HB25-1165 requires each geologic storage operator to pay an annual stewardship fee for each ton of injected carbon dioxide. The Enterprise board members will determine and impose that stewardship fee. ECMC will collect the stewardship fee on the Enterprise’s behalf. All money collected as stewardship fees is credited to the geologic storage stewardship enterprise cash fund, which is continuously appropriated to the Enterprise. That fund will be used to pay for long-term monitoring and stewardship of the injection facilities after operations have ceased and the site has been successfully closed. No Colorado taxpayer dollars are used.
“Geologic carbon storage is a critical component to fighting climate change and fulfilling our state’s ambitious yet achievable goal of net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050,” said ECMC Chair Robbins. “This Enterprise helps forge the path forward for regulating CCS in a protective manner as the new industry emerges in our state.”
Class VI CO2 injection wells are currently regulated at the federal level by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Senate Bill 2023-016 directed ECMC to seek Class VI primacy and built upon Senate Bill 2019-181 that changed ECMC’s mission. ECMC adopted Class VI rules in 2024 that moved the state of Colorado significantly closer to obtaining regulatory primacy for Class VI UIC injection wells from EPA.
To date, there are no Class VI injection projects in operation in Colorado, though there are two Class VI well permits that have been submitted to the EPA, and several feasibility projects already underway. According to the federal government, there are nearly 20 active Class VI projects and another 250 in development in the U.S. Four states have obtained primacy to regulate Class VI UIC injection wells from EPA: Louisiana, North Dakota, West Virginia, and Wyoming.
About the ECMC
The mission of the Colorado Energy & Carbon Management Commission (ECMC) is to regulate the development and production of the natural resources of oil and gas, deep geothermal resources, the capture and sequestration of carbon, and the underground storage of natural gas in a manner that protects public health, safety, welfare, the environment and wildlife resources. Visit the ECMC website for more information.