| Last Action | 04/14/26: became law without Governor's Signature (Acts Ch. 152) |
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| Title | AN ACT relating to energy production and byproduct management. |
| Bill Documents |
Acts Chapter 152
Current/Final Introduced |
| Bill Request Number | 2168 |
| Sponsors | J. Gooch Jr., J. Payne, W. Williams |
| Summary of Enacted Version | Creates new sections of KRS Chapter 353 to establish the purposes of the Act; define terms; require and specify the types of permits required before constructing or operating a carbon dioxide facility; exempt enhanced oil or gas recovery under KRS 353.592; require any oil, natural gas, or coalbed methane well converted to a carbon dioxide sequestration well to be governed by this Act; set forth the requirements and process to obtain a Class VI underground injection control permit; require permit fees to be put in the carbon dioxide sequestration facility administrative fund; set forth a process for commercially valuable minerals; require the consent of owners of pore space for an administratively complete application; specify when the Energy and Environment Cabinet can begin technical review of the application; require financial responsibility sufficient to cover specific activities and cabinet review of financial responsibility annually; provide that the cabinet's determination is considered final; allow for the adjustment of financial responsibility based on adjustments in cost estimates; list the type of financial instruments which can be used as qualifying financial responsibility instruments; authorize the cabinet to promulgate administrative regulations for financial responsibility; prohibit the approval or transfer of a permit to an operator for conditions specified and allow eligibility after an applicant, operator, or control person takes certain remedial actions; identify reasons why the cabinet shall deny an application for a permit; authorize the cabinet to restore applicant eligibility for permit under specific grounds and circumstances; require cabinet approval for a transfer of a permit and require rights and liabilities to pass to the new transferee; require periodic review of permits; prescribe the notice and comment requirements for a Class VI permit; delineate the cabinet's actions for applications that are complete and incomplete; establish requirements to maintain the integrity of carbon sequestration wells and notification of affected parties when activities occur on the well site; provide a mechanism of redress for parties that are not in agreement over activities on the well site; specify the requirements for plugging and abandoning a Class VI well or monitoring well; authorize the secretary of the Energy and Environment Cabinet to enter into cooperative agreements; specify the requirements for a completion certificate issued by the Energy and Environment Cabinet after demonstrating compliance for 50 years or another time frame designated by the cabinet, along with notice and a public hearing; require ownership of the stored carbon dioxide to be transferred to the Commonwealth as of the effective date of a completion certificate; establish that both pore and surface owners are held harmless from liability, unless the pore space owner or surface owner caused or contributed to migration or release of stored carbon dioxide; establish a carbon dioxide sequestration facility administrative fund; specify the moneys to be placed into the fund and the purposes and use of the fund; establish an application fee to be paid to the carbon dioxide sequestration facility administrative fund and authorize the cabinet to promulgate administrative regulations for a fee schedule; establish a carbon dioxide sequestration facility trust fund; specify the purposes and use of moneys in the fund; require sequestration operators to pay a fee on each ton of carbon dioxide sequestered and have the fees remitted to the carbon dioxide sequestration facility trust fund; require the cabinet to prepare an annual report on the Class VI underground injection control permit and the carbon dioxide sequestration facility trust fund; establish that the report is due December 31 of each year beginning with the receipt of the first application for an underground injection control permit; require the Energy and Environment Cabinet to certify the amount of carbon dioxide sequestered by each permittee and allow amounts sequestered to be used for a carbon dioxide credits, allowances, trading, emissions allocations, or offsets; prohibit the altering of legal rights or relationships of severed mineral estates and pore space owners in common law; specify methods for nonconsenting owners; allow for the cabinet to make a determination on missing or nonconsenting pore space owners for a sequestration facility and notice for a pooling order; require the applicant to pay the cost of the administrative hearing with a pooling order; establish notice for a pooling order and the compensation of owners; establish requirements for a seismic survey of lands; require the sequestration operator to deposit funds for unknown or missing pore space owners and allow funds to be moved to the carbon dioxide sequestration facility trust fund after 7 years; create a severability clause; establish violations and penalties; require notice and service for violations and establish courts with jurisdiction and a requirement for a stay of notice and administrative hearing; authorize the cabinet to promulgate administrative regulations to develop a regulatory program for the administration of the underground injection control program; amends KRS 278.704 to provide for minimum setback distances for proposed merchant electric structures used in connection with the generation, transmission, or storage of electricity; prohibit the construction of a merchant electric wind turbine with a maximum height that exceeds 350 feet, subject to local primacy; provide that the minimum merchant electric decommissioning bond amount is not subject to local primacy; amends KRS 278.706 to provide that changes to minimum decommissioning plan requirements can only be made by agreement of the current landowner at the time of decommissioning; require that the minimum decommissioning bond amount is the greater of the estimated cost of decommissioning or the bond amount set by local government; require that as part of an application for a construction certificate for a wind merchant electric generating facility the applicant shall certify that the wind facility will not be artificially lit and that shadowing and flicker impacts will be mitigated; provide that the entity carrying out the decommissioning plan be entitled to the proceeds from any salvage material recovered; amends KRS 278.710 to provide that as part of the criteria for the approval of a wind merchant electric generating facility's construction certificate, the board shall consider whether the applicant will comply with its required certifications regarding lighting, shadowing, and flicker impacts; require that discarded or replaced wind turbine components of a merchant electric generating facility be removed within 90 days of completion of the replacement; amends various statutes to conform; and repeals various statutes, relating to geologic storage of carbon dioxide. |
| Summary of Original Version | Create new sections of KRS Chapter 353 to establish the purposes of the Act; define terms; require and specify the types of permits before constructing or operating a carbon dioxide facility; exempt enhanced oil or gas recovery under KRS 353.592; require any oil, natural gas or coalbed methane well converted to a carbon dioxide sequestration well to be governed by this Act; set forth the requirements and process to obtain a Class VI underground injection control permit; require permit fees to be put in the carbon dioxide sequestration facility administrative fund; set forth a process for commercially valuable minerals; designate the consent of owners of pore space for a administratively complete application; specify when the Energy and Environment Cabinet can begin technical review of the application; require financial responsibility sufficient to cover specific activities and cabinet review of financial responsibility annually; provide that the cabinet's determination is considered final; allow for the adjustment of financial responsibility based on adjustments in cost estimates; list the type of financial instruments which can be used as qualifying financial responsibility instruments; authorize the cabinet to promulgate administrative regulations for financial responsibility; identify reasons why the cabinet would deny an application for a permit; authorize the cabinet to restore applicant eligibility for permit under specific grounds and circumstances; require cabinet approval for a transfer of a permit and allow obligations and rights to pass to the new transferee; require periodic review of permits; prescribe the notice and comment requirements for a Class VI permit; delineate the cabinet's actions for applications that are complete and incomplete; prohibit the approval or transfer of a permit to an operator for conditions specified and allow eligibility after an applicant, operator, or control person takes certain remedial actions; establish requirements to maintain the integrity of carbon sequestration wells and notification of affected parties when activities occur on the well site; provide mechanism of redress for parties that are not in agreement over activities on the well site; specify the requirements for plugging and abandoning a Class VI well or monitoring well; authorize the secretary of the Energy and Environment Cabinet to enter into cooperative agreements; specify the requirements for a completion certificate issued by the Energy and Environment Cabinet after demonstrating compliance for 50 years or another time frame designated by the cabinet along with notice and public hearing; require ownership transferred to the Commonwealth and that both pore and surface owners are held harmless from liability; establish a carbon dioxide sequestration facility administrative fund and specify the moneys to be placed into the fund and the purposes and uses of the fund; establish an application fee to be paid to the carbon dioxide sequestration facility administrative fund and authorize the cabinet to promulgate administrative regulations for a fee schedule; establish a carbon dioxide sequestration facility trust fund and specify the purposes and use of moneys in the fund; require sequestration operators to pay a fee on each ton of carbon dioxide sequestered and have the fees remitted to the carbon dioxide sequestration facility trust fund; require the cabinet to prepare an annual report on the Class VI underground injection control permit and the carbon dioxide sequestration facility trust fund; state that the report is due December 31 of each year beginning with the receipt of the first application for an underground injection control permit; require the Energy and Environment Cabinet to certify the amount of carbon dioxide sequestered by each permittee and allow amounts sequestered to be used for a carbon dioxide credits, allowances, trading, emissions allocations, or offsets; prohibit the altering of legal rights or relationships of several mineral estates and pore space owners in common law; specify methods for nonconsenting owners; allow for the cabinet to make a determination on missing or nonconsenting pore space owners for a sequestration facility and notice for a pooling order; require the applicant to pay the cost of administrative hearing with a pooling order; establish notice for a pooling order and the compensation of owners; establish requirements for seismic survey of lands; require operator to deposit funds for unknown or missing pore space owners and allow funds to be moved to the carbon dioxide sequestration facility trust fund after 7 years; create a severability clause; establish violations and penalties; require notice and service for violations and establish courts with jurisdiction and a requirement for a stay of notice and administrative hearing; authorize the cabinet to promulgate administrative regulations to develop regulatory program for the administration of the underground injection control program; repeal KRS 353.800, 353.802, 353.804, 353.806, 353.808, 353.810, and 353.812, relating to geologic storage of carbon dioxide. |
| Index Headings of Original Version |
Coal - Carbon sequestration, Class VI permit, regulatory and permitting Energy - Carbon sequestration, Class VI permit, regulatory and permitting Environment And Conservation - Carbon sequestration, Class VI permit, regulatory and permitting Fuel - Carbon sequestration, Class VI permit, regulatory and permitting Minerals And Mining - Carbon sequestration, Class VI permit, regulatory and permitting Oil And Natural Gas - Carbon sequestration, Class VI permit, regulatory and permitting Pollution - Carbon sequestration, Class VI permit, regulatory and permitting Reports Mandated - Energy and Enviroment Cabinet, carbon sequestration, Class VI permit, regulatory and permitting |
| Jump to Proposed Amendments |
House Committee Amendment 1 Senate Committee Substitute 1 Senate Committee Amendment 1 Senate Floor Amendment 1 |
| Votes | Vote History |
| 02/19/26 |
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| 02/24/26 |
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| 03/05/26 |
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| 03/06/26 |
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| 03/09/26 |
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| 03/10/26 |
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| 03/19/26 |
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| 03/25/26 |
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| 03/26/26 |
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| 03/27/26 |
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| 03/31/26 |
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| 04/01/26 |
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| 04/13/26 |
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| 04/14/26 |
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| Amendment | House Committee Amendment 1 |
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| Sponsor | J. Gooch Jr. |
| Summary | Clarify that, if a claim is made against the pore space or surface owner, then the Commonwealth has the responsibility to defend and indemnify the pore space and surface owners. |
| Index Headings |
Civil Procedure - Claims, pore space and surface owners, Commonwealth indemnifies Claims - Claims, pore space and surface owners, Commonwealth indemnifies Environment And Conservation - Claims, pore space and surface owners, Commonwealth indemnifies Pollution - Claims, pore space and surface owners, Commonwealth indemnifies |
| Amendment | Senate Committee Substitute 1 |
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| Summary | Retain original provisions; amend KRS 278.700 to change the definition of "residential neighborhood" to "residential structure"; amend KRS 278.704 to provide for minimum setback distances for proposed merchant electric structures used in connection with the generation, transmission, or storage of electricity; prohibit the construction of a merchant electric wind turbine with a maximum height that exceeds 350 feet, subject to local primacy; provide that the minimum merchant electric decommissioning bond amount is not subject to local primacy; amend KRS 278.706 to provide that changes to minimum decommissioning plan requirements can only be made by agreement of the current landowner at the time of decommissioning; require that the minimum decommissioning bond amount is the greater of the estimated cost of decommissioning or the bond amount set by local government; require that as part of an application for a construction certificate for a wind merchant electric generating facility, the applicant certify that the wind facility will not be artificially lit and that shadowing and flicker impacts will be mitigated; provide that the entity carrying out the decommissioning plan be entitled to the proceeds from any salvage material recovered; amend KRS 278.710 to provide that as part of the criteria for the approval of a wind merchant electric generating facility's construction certificate, the board considers whether the applicant will comply with its required certifications regarding lighting, shadowing, and flicker impacts; require that discarded or replaced wind turbine components of a merchant electric generating facility be removed within 90 days of completion of the replacement; amend KRS 278.714 and 278.718 to conform. |
| Index Headings |
Energy - Merchant electric generating facilities, decommissioning, salvage, bonding, requirements Energy - Merchant electric generating facilities, wind energy, height, setbacks, requirements Environment And Conservation - Merchant electric generating facilities, decommissioning, salvage, bonding, requirements Land Use - Merchant electric generating facilities, setback requirements Property - Merchant electric generating facilities, setback requirements Safety - Merchant electric generating facilities, wind energy facilities, maximum height, requirements |
| Amendment | Senate Committee Amendment 1 |
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| Sponsor | R. Mills |
| Summary | Make title amendment. |
| Index Headings | Title Amendments - HB 677/GA |
| Amendment | Senate Floor Amendment 1 |
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| Sponsor | J. Howell |
| Summary | Return the definition of "residential neighborhood" to existing language; delete merchant electric generating facility setback requirements for structures or facilities used in connection with the transmission of electricity. |
| Index Headings |
Energy - Merchant electric generating facilities, transmission structures, setback requirements, deletion Land Use - Merchant electric generating facilities, residential neighborhoods, setback requirements Property - Merchant electric generating facilities, transmission structures, setback requirements, deletion |
Last updated: 8/19/2026 3:46 PM (EDT)