; (5) assess and ensure the safety of operations related to geologic sequestration of carbon dioxide; (6) determine the fate of carbon dioxide concurrent with and following injection into geologic formations; (7) support cost and business model assessments to examine the economic viability of technologies and systems developed under this program; and (8) provide information to State, local, and Tribal governments, the Environmental Protection Agency, and other appropriate entities, to support development of a regulatory framework for commercial-scale sequestration operations that ensure the protection of human health and the environment. (b) Geologic settings In carrying out research activities under this section, the Secretary shall consider a variety of candidate geologic settings, both onshore and offshore, including— (1) operating oil and gas fields; (2) depleted oil and gas fields; (3) residual oil zones; (4) unconventional reservoirs and rock types; (5) unmineable coal seams; (6) saline formations in both sedimentary and basaltic geologies; (7) geologic systems that may be used as engineered reservoirs to extract economical quantities of brine from geothermal resources of low permeability or porosity