WAC 463-85-220   Requirements for nongeologic permanent sequestration plans and sequestration programs.  In order to meet the emissions performance standard, all baseload electric generation facilities or individual units that are subject to this rule, and must use nongeologic sequestration of greenhouse gases to meet the emissions performance standard, will submit sequestration plans or sequestration programs for approval to EFSEC or ecology, as appropriate.

     (1) Sequestration plans and sequestration programs must include:

     (a) Financial requirements. As a condition of plant operation, each owner or operator of a baseload electric generation facility or unit or baseload electric cogeneration facility or unit utilizing nongeologic sequestration as a method to comply with the emission performance standard in WAC 463-85-130 is required to provide a letter of credit sufficient to ensure successful implementation, closure, and post-closure activities identified in the sequestration plan and sequestration program, including construction and operation of necessary equipment, and any other significant costs.

     (i) The owner or operator of a proposed sequestration project shall establish a letter of credit to cover all expenses for construction and operation of necessary equipment, and any other significant costs. The cost estimate for the sequestration project shall be revised annually to include any changes in the project and to include cost changes due to inflation.

     (ii) Closure and post-closure financial assurances. The owner or operator shall establish a closure and a post-closure letter of credit to cover all closure and post-closure expenses, respectively. The owner or operator must designate EFSEC as the beneficiary to carry out the closure and post-closure activities. The value of the closure and post-closure accounts shall cover all costs of closure and post-closure care identified in the closure and post-closure plan. The closure and post-closure cost estimates shall be revised annually to include any changes in the sequestration project and to include cost changes due to inflation. The obligation to maintain the account for closure and post-closure care survives the termination of any permits and the cessation of injection. The requirement to maintain the closure and post-closure accounts is enforceable regardless of whether the requirement is a specific condition of the permit.

     (b) The application for approval of a sequestration plan or sequestration program shall include (but is not limited to) the following:

     (i) A current site map showing the boundaries of the permanent sequestration project containment system(s) and all areas where greenhouse gases will be stored.

     (ii) A technical evaluation of the proposed project, including but not limited to, the following:

     (A) The name of the area in which the sequestration will take place;

     (B) A description of the facilities and place of greenhouse gases containment system;

     (C) A complete site description of the site, including but not limited to the terrain, the geology, the climate (including rain and snowfall expected), any land use restrictions that exist at the time of the application or will be placed upon the site in the future;

     (D) The proposed calculated maximum volume of greenhouse gases to be sequestered and areal extent of the location where the greenhouse gases will be stored using a method acceptable to and filed with EFSEC or ecology as appropriate; and

     (E) Evaluation of the quantity of sequestered greenhouse gases that may escape from the containment system at the proposed project.

     (iii) A public safety and emergency response plan for the proposed project. The plan shall detail the safety procedures concerning the sequestration project containment system and residential, commercial, and public land use within one mile, or as necessary to identify potential impacts, of the outside boundary of the project area.

     (iv) A greenhouse gases loss detection and monitoring plan for all parts of the sequestration project. The approved greenhouse gases loss detection and monitoring plan shall address identification of potential release to the atmosphere;

     (v) A detailed schedule of annual benchmarks for sequestration of greenhouse gases;

     (vi) Any other information that the department deems necessary to make its determination;

     (vii) A closure and post-closure plan.

     (c) In order to monitor the effectiveness of the implementation of the sequestration plan or sequestration program the owner or operator shall submit a detailed monitoring plan that will ensure detection of failure of the sequestration method to place the greenhouse gases into a sequestered state. The monitoring plan will be sufficient to provide reasonable assurance that the sequestration provided by the project meets the definition of permanent sequestration. The monitoring shall continue for the longer of twenty years beyond the end of placement of the greenhouse gases into sequestration containment system, or twenty years beyond the date upon which it is determined that all of the greenhouse gases have achieved a state at which they are now stably sequestered in that environment.

     (d) If the sequestration plan or sequestration program fails to sequester greenhouse gases as provided in the plan or program, the owner or operator of the baseload electric generation facility or unit or baseload electric cogeneration facility or unit is no longer in compliance with the emissions performance standard.

     (2) Public notice and comment. ESFEC must provide public notice and a public comment period before approving or denying any sequestration plan or sequestration program.

     (a) Public notice. Public notice shall be made only after all information required by the permitting authority has been submitted and after applicable preliminary determinations, if any, have been made. The applicant or other initiator of the action must pay the cost of providing public notice. Public notice shall include analyses of the effects on the local, state and global environment in the case of failure of the sequestration plan or sequestration program. The sequestration plan or sequestration program must be available for public inspection in at least one location near the proposed project.

     (b) Public comment.

     (i) The public comment period must be at least thirty days long or may be longer as specified in the public notice.

     (ii) The public comment period must extend through the hearing date.

     (iii) EFSEC shall make no final decision on any sequestration plan or sequestration program until the public comment period has ended and any comments received during the public comment period have been considered.

     (c) Public hearings.

     (i) EFSEC will hold a public hearing within the thirty-day public comment period. EFSEC will determine the location, date, and time of the public hearing.

     (ii) EFSEC must provide at least thirty days prior notice of a hearing on a sequestration plan or sequestration program.



[Statutory Authority: Chapters 80.70 and 80.80 RCW and RCW 80.50.040. 08-14-064, § 463-85-220, filed 6/25/08, effective 7/26/08.]