The CCS provisions in H.R. 2454 and S. 1733 are very similar (some sections are identical), and both bills appear to share the goal of fostering the commercial development and deployment of CCS projects as an important component of mitigating greenhouse gas emissions. Both bills would require the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to regulate geologic sequestration of CO 2 under both the Safe Drinking Water Act and the Clean Air Act, and would also require that the EPA Administrator establish a coordinated certification and permitting process for geological sequestration sites. The second program would distribute emission allowances from the cap-and-trade portions of both bills to qualifying electric generating plants and industrial facilities. Although the programs in the two bills are similar in construct and scale, S. 1733 would award allowances to the first 20 gigawatts (Gw) of electricity generation that employs CCS technology via a formula that provides a significant financial incentive, as much as $106 per ton of CO 2 captured for 90% capture efficiency. In contrast, H.R. 2454 would award only the first 6 Gw via the same formula, and then employ a reverse auction scheme to allocate the rest, up to a total of 72 Gw. If so, then S. 1733 hedges in favor of CCS as a preferred technology by allocating allowances to a substantially larger proportion of electricity generating capacity in the first phase of the program, at bonus allowance values that could be significantly higher than their average market value. 2454 would require the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to submit to Congress, within one year of enactment, a report detailing a unified national strategy for addressing the key legal and regulatory barriers to deployment of commercial-scale carbon capture and sequestration. The report is to identify barriers and gaps that could be addressed using existing federal authority and those that would require new federal legislation, as well as barriers and gaps that would be best addressed at the state, tribal, or regional level. Within two years of enactment, the Administrator would be required to promulgate CAA regulations to protect human health and the environment by minimizing the risk of atmospheric release of carbon dioxide injected for geologic sequestration. Thus, H.R. 2454 allows for the creation of a Carbon Storage Research Corporation that would establish and administer a program to accelerate the commercial availability of CO 2 capture and storage technologies and methods by awarding grants, contracts, and financial assistance to electric utilities, academic institutions, and other eligible entities. One possible advantage of the program, if enacted, would be the creation of a consistent funding stream—exempt from the annual appropriations process—for development of CCS technology over 10 years. Performance Standards for Coal-Fueled Power Plants

			H.R. Plants covered by this section include those that have a permit issued under CAA Title V to derive at least 30% of their annual heat input from coal, petroleum coke, or any combination of these fuels. In S. 1733 , similar to H.R. Chairman's Mark

On October 23, 2009, Senator Boxer released the chairman's mark to S. 1733 , which contained a new provision to the emission allowance distribution program for CCS. 2454 and S. 1733 (as introduced), which would distribute emission allowances based on the total tons of CO 2 actually captured and sequestered.
The carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) provisions in H.R. 2454 and S. 1733 are similar (some sections are identical), and both bills appear to share the goal of fostering the commercial development and deployment of CCS projects as an important component of mitigating greenhouse gas emissions. The bills call for a unified national strategy for addressing the key legal and regulatory barriers to deployment of commercial-scale CCS. A required report detailing a national strategy would identify barriers and gaps that could be addressed using existing federal authority and those that would require legislation, as well as those that would be best addressed at the state, tribal, or regional level. Both bills would also amend the Clean Air Act (CAA) and Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) to require that the EPA Administrator establish a coordinated certification and permitting process for geologic sequestration sites, taking into account all relevant statutory authorities. The amended law would require regulation of geologic sequestration wells, and promulgation of regulations to protect human health and the environment by minimizing the risk of atmospheric release of carbon dioxide injected for geologic sequestration.
Both bills contain identical provisions establishing performance standards for CO2 removal for new coal-fired power plants. Plants covered by this section include those that have a permit issued under the CAA, Title V, to derive at least 30% of their annual heat input from coal, petroleum coke, or any combination of these fuels.
Both bills contain similar provisions that would create a program to accelerate the commercial availability of CO2 capture and storage technologies and methods by awarding grants, contracts, and financial assistance to electric utilities, academic institutions, and other eligible entities. The bills would allow the establishment of a corporation, by referendum among power industry organizations, that would derive revenue of approximately $1 billion per year via a "wires charge" on electricity delivered from the combustion of fossil fuels. One possible advantage of the program, if enacted, would be the creation of a consistent funding stream—exempt from the annual appropriations process—for development of CCS technology over 10 years.
Both bills would also create a second program that would distribute emission allowances from the cap-and-trade provisions to qualifying electric generating plants and industrial facilities. Although the programs in the two bills are similar in construct and scale, S. 1733 would award allowances to the first 20 gigawatts (Gw) of electricity generation that employs CCS technology via a formula that provides a significant financial incentive, as much as $106 per ton of CO2 captured for 90% capture efficiency. In contrast, H.R. 2454 would award only the first 6 Gw via the same formula, and then employ a reverse auction scheme to allocate the rest, up to a total of 72 Gw. Thus, S. 1733 allocates allowances to a substantially larger proportion of electricity generating capacity in the first phase of the program, compared to H.R. 2454, at bonus allowance values that could be significantly higher than their average market value.
A chairman's mark to S. 1733, introduced on October 23, 2009, would add an additional incentive for early deployment of CCS by allowing advanced distribution of emission allowances for CCS. In contrast to H.R. 2454 and S. 1733 (as introduced), the chairman's mark would award allowances before the plant has actually captured any CO2. In contrast, H.R. 2454 and S. 1733 (as introduced) would only distribute emission allowances based on the total tons of CO2 already captured and sequestered.