Colorado Underground Injection Control (UIC) Program; Class VI Primacy
Key claim: EPA is letting Colorado permit and enforce underground wells used to store carbon dioxide, while EPA keeps that job on tribal lands and also writes earlier oil-and-gas injection-well program tweaks into the federal code.
Abstract
(Rule · Environmental Protection Agency) The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA or the Agency) is approving an application from the State of Colorado that requests primary enforcement responsibility (primacy) for Class VI injection wells under Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) section 1422. The EPA’s approval of the State’s UIC program primacy application will allow the Colorado Energy and Carbon Management Commission (ECMC) to issue and enforce UIC Class VI permits for geologic carbon sequestration. The EPA will remain the permitting authority for Class VI injection wells on Indian lands within the State. With this action, the EPA also intends to codify previously approved, non-substantial changes to Colorado’s UIC program for Class II injection wells.
Why this matters
Class VI primacy transfers determine who issues and enforces permits for the wells that inject captured CO2 underground — a core piece of the emerging carbon sequestration buildout. Colorado becomes the latest state to take over this program from EPA, which proponents argue speeds permitting and critics worry weakens federal oversight; tribal lands remain under EPA jurisdiction, preserving a split regulatory map.