Indiana Senate committee passes carbon sequestration bill

Nearing the deadline for bills to be heard in committee, the Senate Environmental Affairs Committee looked at legislation that would allow for more local regulation on carbon sequestration projects.

After hearing testimony, the committee passed the bill to second reading in the Senate.

State Sen. Rick Niemeyer, R-Lowell, authored Senate Bill 7, which would require a carbon storage operator to receive approval from a county legislative body or plan commission if the sequestration project would transport or store carbon dioxide outside the county where it’s generated.

Niemeyer, who’s also chair of the Senate Environmental Affairs Committee, said he created the bill because Benton County had an issue with a previously planned carbon sequestration project. Trucks were doing seismic testing on farmland with approval of the property owner, but the plan commission and county commissioners “had no idea” about the project.

“The bill says that when you’re bringing a carbon sequestration project from outside your county, and you’re taking it to another county and bringing carbon outside the jurisdiction, it has to be noticed by a plan commission or county executive,” Niemeyer said. “It’s a property rights issue, it’s about zoning, and it’s about local control.”

Niemeyer said the bill does not apply to pipelines, which transport the carbon dioxide from the capture site to its storage location, according to the Liquid Energy Pipeline Association.

According to the U.S. Geological Survey, carbon sequestration captures and stores atmospheric carbon dioxide, and it’s a method to reduce the atmosphere’s carbon dioxide “with the goal of reducing global climate change.”

According to Post-Tribune archives, in June 2025, BP indefinitely paused a previously announced carbon sequestration project, which would have required a pipeline to run through hundreds of miles in six Indiana counties to store carbon emissions underground.

“BP is committed to remaining a critical driver of this economic engine that powers Northwest Indiana and the Midwest,” a company spokesperson previously told the Post-Tribune. “While we are indefinitely pausing our low-carbon project in the region, our focus is on building a strong, economically competitive future for our Whiting Refinery.”

The Senate Environmental Affairs Committee heard six testimonies about the carbon sequestration bill on Tuesday, with the speakers evenly split on their bill opinions.

William Peebles, Vermillion County commissioner, was in support of the carbon sequestration bill during Tuesday’s committee meeting. Peebles and the other county commissioners support the ill because it gives the county a voice, he said.

“Projects of this nature can affect land use, infrastructure and public safety, and counties should have the ability to review and approve them,” Peebles said. “Senate Bill 7 respects local control and ensures decisions are made with community input for these reasons.”

During Tuesday’s meeting, Niemeyer said commissioners from Benton and Newton counties wrote letters in support of the bill.

Citizens Action Coalition Executive Director Kerwin Olson also testified in support of the carbon sequestration bill. Olson believes it’s “completely appropriate” for county governments to have a say on if they’ll accept carbon from another area.

“If they’re going to accept a waste product from another county, that does present a risk,” Olson said.

Multiple people testified in opposition to the bill, including oil and gas representatives who said that local governments wouldn’t have the necessary expertise of carbon sequestration to make these decisions.

Mark Shublak, representing CountryMark, said oil and gas law has not allowed local control for more than 100 years.

Shublak told the committee that it might be a better idea to have local leaders and residents to consult with IDEM, the DNR, or U.S. Environmental Protection Agency about their carbon sequestration concerns.

“The policy of the state for over 100 years, as it relates to natural resources, is to conserve and responsibly alienate valuable natural resources with oversight from (the Indiana Department of Environmental Management) and (Department of Natural Resources),” Shublak said. “This bill establishes a policy where local authorities can conflict with that state policy.”

The DNR was established in 1965, and IDEM was created in 1986.

mwilkins@chicagotribune.com