Committee advances bill to let state set CO2-pipeline safety rules as federal process stalls

Assemblymember Petrie Norris, author of AB 881, told the Senate Committee on Governmental Organization that the bill would allow California to set its own safety standards for pipelines carrying captured carbon and lift a moratorium the state placed in 2022. “Carbon capture technologies are a necessary and important part of California’s strategy to achieve our climate goals,” Petrie Norris said.

AB 881 would direct the State Fire Marshal to use the Biden administration’s recently released draft federal safety guidelines as a starting point and to develop state regulations that would permit construction of CO2 pipelines subject to state safety requirements. Supporters say the move is necessary because the federal rulemaking was paused after the 2025 administration transition and that California risks losing federal funding windows if the moratorium remains in place.

The bill’s supporters included Laura Lewis, chief legal and government affairs officer for SMUD, who said…