§1110. Carbon Dioxide Geologic Storage Trust Fund

A.(1) There is hereby established a fund in the custody of the state treasurer to be known as the Carbon Dioxide Geologic Storage Trust Fund, hereinafter referred to as the "fund", which shall constitute a special custodial trust fund which shall be administered by the commissioner, who shall make disbursements from the fund solely in accordance with the purposes and uses authorized by this Chapter.

(2) After compliance with the requirements of Article VII, Section 9(B) of the Constitution of Louisiana relative to the Bond Security and Redemption Fund, and after a sufficient amount is allocated from that fund to pay all of the obligations secured by the full faith and credit of the state which become due and payable within any fiscal year, the treasurer shall pay into the fund, an amount equal to the monies received by the state treasury pursuant to this Chapter. The monies in this fund shall be used solely as provided in this Section and only in the amount appropriated by the legislature. All unexpended and unencumbered monies remaining in this fund at the end of the fiscal year shall remain in the fund. The monies in the fund shall be invested by the state treasurer in the same manner as monies in the state general fund and all returns of such investment shall be deposited to the fund. The funds received shall be placed in the special trust fund in the custody of the state treasurer to be used only in accordance with this Chapter and shall not be placed in the general fund. The funds provided to the commissioner pursuant to this Section shall at all times be and remain the property of the commissioner. The funds shall be used only for the purposes set forth in this Chapter and for no other governmental purposes, nor shall any branch of government be allowed to borrow any portion of the funds. It is the intent of the legislature that this fund and its increments shall remain intact and inviolate.

B. The following monies shall be placed into the fund:

(1) The fees, penalties, and bond forfeitures collected pursuant to this Chapter. All fees and self-generated revenue remaining on deposit for the office of conservation at the end of any fiscal year shall be deposited into the fund.

(2) Private contributions.

(3) Interest earned on the funds deposited in the fund.

(4) Civil penalties for violation of any rules or permit conditions imposed under this Chapter, or costs recovered from responsible parties for geologic storage facility closure or remediation pursuant to this Section and R.S. 30:1104, 1105, and 1106.

(5) Any grants, donations, and sums allocated from any source, public or private, for the purposes of this Chapter.

(6) Site-specific trust accounts; however, the monies of such accounts shall not be used for any geologic storage facility other than that specified for each respective account.

C. The commissioner is hereby authorized to levy on storage operators the following fees or costs for the purpose of funding the fund:

(1) A fee payable to the office of conservation, in a form and schedule prescribed by the office of conservation, for each ton of carbon dioxide injected for storage. This fee is to be determined based upon the following formula:

(a) F x 120 < M

(b) "F" is a per unit fee in dollars per ton set by the office of conservation.

(c) "120" is the minimum number of months over which a fee is to be collected.

(d) "M" is the Maximum Payment of five million dollars and is the total amount of fees to be collected before the payment of the fee can be suspended as provided in this Section.

(e) The fee cannot exceed five million dollars divided by one hundred twenty divided by the total tonnage of carbon dioxide to be injected, (($5,000,000/120)/ total injection tonnage of carbon dioxide).

(f) Once a storage operator has contributed five million dollars to the trust fund, the fee assessments to that storage operator under this Section shall cease until such time as funds begin to be expended for monitoring and caretaking of any completed storage facility. The treasurer of the state of Louisiana shall certify, to the commissioner, the date on which the balance in the fund for a storage operator equals or exceeds five million dollars. The fund fees shall not be collected or required to be paid on or after the first day of the second month following the certification, except that the commissioner shall resume collecting the fees on receipt of a certification from the treasurer that, based on the expenditures or commitments to expend monies, the fund has fallen below four million dollars for the storage operator. If at any time the balance in the trust fund exceeds an authorized amount determined by multiplying five million dollars by the number of active and completed storage facilities within the state, the collection of fees from the operators of storage facilities that have already contributed five million dollars to the trust fund will be suspended until such time as the balance in the trust fund falls below such authorized amount, at which time they will be reinstated.

(g) At the end of each fiscal year, the fee may be redetermined by the commissioner based upon the estimated cost of administering and enforcing this Chapter for the upcoming year divided by the tonnage of carbon dioxide expected to be injected during the upcoming year. The total fee assessed shall be sufficient to assure a balance in the fund not to exceed five million dollars for any active storage facility within the state at the beginning of each fiscal year. Any amount received that exceeds the annual balance required shall be deposited in the fund, but appropriate credits shall be given against future fees or fees associated with other storage facilities operated by the same storage operator.

(2) An annual regulatory fee for storage facilities that have not received a certificate of completion of injection operations payable to the office of conservation, in a form and schedule prescribed by the office of conservation, on the carbon dioxide storage facility in an amount not to exceed fifty thousand dollars for Fiscal Year 2010-2011 and thereafter. Such fee shall be based upon the annual projected costs to the office of conservation for oversight and regulation of such storage facilities.

(3) An application fee payable to the office of conservation, in a form and schedule prescribed by the office of conservation, by industries under the jurisdiction of the office of conservation. The commissioner may, by rule in accordance with the Administrative Procedure Act, increase any application fee to an amount not in excess of eight and one-half percent above the amount charged for the fee on July 1, 2010.

D. The provisions of the Louisiana Tax Code shall apply to the administration, collection, and enforcement of the fees imposed herein, and the penalties provided by that code shall apply to any person who fails to pay or report the fees. Proceeds from the fees, including any penalties and interest collected in connection with the fees, shall be deposited into the fund.

E. The fund shall be used solely for the following purposes:

(1) Operational and long-term inspecting, testing, and monitoring of the site, including remaining surface facilities and wells.

(2) Remediation of mechanical problems associated with remaining wells and surface infrastructure.

(3) Repairing mechanical leaks at the site.

(4) Plugging and abandoning remaining wells or conversion for use as observation wells.

(5)(a) Administration of this Chapter by the commissioner in an amount not to exceed seven hundred fifty thousand dollars each fiscal year.

(b) The Oil and Gas Regulatory Fund created by R.S. 30:21 may be used for the administration of this Chapter as authorized by this Paragraph until June 30, 2014. Any such payments from the Oil and Gas Regulatory Fund shall be repaid from the Carbon Dioxide Storage Trust Fund by June 30, 2018.

(6) Payment of fees and costs associated with the administration of the fund or site-specific accounts.

(7) Payment of fees and costs associated with the acquisition of appropriate insurance for future storage facility liability if it should become available, either commercially or through government funding.

F. The commissioner is authorized to enter into agreements and contracts and to expend money in the fund for the following purposes:

(1) To fund research and development in connection with carbon sequestration technology and methods.

(2) To monitor any remaining surface facilities and wells.

(3) To remediate mechanical problems associated with remaining wells or site infrastructure.

(4) To repair mechanical leaks at the storage facility.

(5) To contract with a private legal entity pursuant to this Chapter.

(6) To plug and abandon remaining wells except for those wells to be used as observation wells.

G. The commissioner shall keep accurate accounts of all receipts and disbursements related to the administration of the fund and site-specific trust funds and shall make a specific annual report addressing the administration of the funds to the Senate Committee on Natural Resources, the House Committee on Natural Resources and Environment, and the Senate Committee on Environmental Quality before March first.

H. Every five years the commissioner shall submit a report to the Senate Committee on Natural Resources, the House Committee on Natural Resources and Environment, and the Senate Committee on Environmental Quality before March first, that assesses the effectiveness of the fund and other related provisions in this Part and provides such other information as may be requested by the legislature to allow the legislature to assess the effectiveness of this Chapter.

Acts 2009, No. 517, §2.