Summary/Abstract
Pennsylvania’s new Carbon Capture and Sequestration Act (CCSA) governs carbon capture and storage (CCS) project development in our Commonwealth. Section 5 of the CCSA allows CCS project developers with 75% or more of the necessary pore space ownership to apply to the Environmental Hearing Board (EHB) for a collective storage order (CSO) after the developer makes a good faith effort to find and negotiate with all pore space owners. Because Section 5 allows the Commonwealth to take pore space from “unknown, nonlocatable and nonconsenting pore space owners” and give it to project developers, the CCSA provides for compensation according to a “fairmarket valuation of the collective interest of the pore space owners.” The EHB must determine the basis for fair market valuation and its distribution to eligible pore space owners. To inform future conversations about CSOs in Pennsylvania, Section II of this Blog Post analyzes the taking of pore space under the CCSA and Section III analyzes the fair market valuation of such property.