Overview of best practives of MRCSP Phase II geologic sequestration field validation tests addressing public acceptance, evaluation qualified sites, initial characterization, reservoir simulations, permitting, CO2 supply and handling, well design and installation, and monitoring injection operations.

Despite having a large geothermal power potential in the United States, only a small fraction has been developed for power generation. Various barriers, including technical, financial, and regulatory permit delays, are attributed to lower contribution of geothermal energy in the national grid. Unpredictable environmental reviews and permitting timelines are some of the non-technical barriers that can cause delays in geothermal exploration and utilization plans. This study shows that the geothermal permitting timelines can vary from six months to several years, depending on the presence or absence of biological resources, cultural resources, and sensitive environmental issues at the project site. The potential impacts of these permit barriers can range from investors abandoning geothermal development to making the product (i.e., electricity) more expensive and uncompetitive.

End of well report for the drilling of AK-3, the 3rd core hole in Hot Springs Bay Valley on Akutan Island. Project initiated and managed by the City of Akutan. Previous exploration and drilling of first 2 wells by Alaska Energy Authority, and this well partially funded by DOE. Drilled to 1955 ft in 2016.

This study focuses primarily on the Categorial Exclusions (CX) process and its applicability to geothermal exploration. In this paper, we: - Provide generalized background information on CXs, including previous NEPA reports addressing CXs, the process for developing CXs, and the role of extraordinary circumstances; - Examine the history of the Bureau of Land Management's (BLM) geothermal CXs; - Compare current CXs for oil, gas, and geothermal energy; - Describe bills proposing new statutory CXs; - Examine the possibility of standardizing geothermal CXs across federal agencies; and - Present analysis from the Geothermal NEPA Database and other sources on the potential for new geothermal exploration CXs. As part of this study, we reviewed Environmental Assessments (EAs) conducted in response to 20 geothermal exploration drilling permit applications (Geothermal Drilling Permits or Notices of Intents) since the year 2001, the majority of which are from the last 5 years. All 20 EAs reviewed for this study resulted in a Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI).

This report summarizes the process and work completed to develop and successfully submit an MRV plan to EPA. This work used the lessons learned from various MRCSP tasks to demonstrate the geologic understanding of the Niagaran reefs, successful monitoring and accounting methodologies, understanding of potential risks and leakage pathways, and mass balance of CO2 baseline and net storage. The plan currently encompasses 10 reefs and also provides a reporting plan for future reef development.

The Ground Water Protection Council (GWPC) developed the Risk Based Data Management System (RBDMS) for regulatory agencies to use in managing and analyzing oil and gas program data and water resources management information. The GWPC’s approach to increasing data availability through the RBDMS and its Web interfaces focuses on partnering with federal and state agencies, industry groups, and citizens. Since the program’s inception in 1992, the development of the award-winning RBDMS software has been underwritten through grants from the Department of Energy. Matching funding has been provided by state agencies in the forms of both donated, in-kind services and direct funding. Originally developed in Access version 1.1, RBDMS has evolved to the latest .NET technologies and has been adopted as a national standard. RBDMS.NET combines the best aspects of the e-commerce initiative’s Web interfaces: full-text searching, integrated GIS, automated notifications, and security that can be configured through defined system roles and user profiles. The same application is used both within agency offices and for field inspection. The result provides immediate access to data for purposes of area trend analyses, well and mine history tracking (ownership, bonding, permitting, location, construction, inspection, production, and plugging/ restoration), compliance monitoring, and complaint adjudication. The GWPC is now overseeing rollouts in Mississippi and Oklahoma. Other agencies also are planning to upgrade to RBDMS.NET. RBDMS.NET Web interfaces have been installed in many agencies, greatly leveraging efficiency in mission-critical tasks such as reporting UIC data directly to EPA from RBDMS, automating the collection of production and disposition data from operators, and offering electronic permitting of oil and gas wells. RBDMS development has historically been and continues to be directed by RBDMS states. Ongoing RBDMS development, legacy data conversion and migration, and system setup efforts in multiple states are overseen by both the GWPC and the RBDMS Technical Committee, a users’ group whose participation is drawn from multiple states. In addition to telephone and remote [Terminal Services and/or Virtual Private Network (VPN)] help desk support, GWPC provides user support, code sharing, and development updates through peer-to-peer networking, bi-annual training meetings, open-attendance weekly conference calls, and an interactive feature request site.

The Ground Water Protection Council (GWPC) developed the Risk Based Data Management System (RBDMS) for regulatory agencies to use in managing and analyzing oil and gas program data and water resources management information. The GWPCs approach to increasing data availability through the RBDMS and its Web interfaces focuses on partnering with federal and state agencies, industry groups, and citizens. Since the programs inception in 1992, the development of the award-winning RBDMS software has been underwritten through grants from the Department of Energy. Matching funding has been provided by state agencies in the forms of both donated, in-kind services and direct funding. Originally developed in Access version 1.1, RBDMS has evolved to the latest .NET technologies and has been adopted as a national standard. RBDMS.NET combines the best aspects of the e-commerce initiatives Web interfaces: full-text searching, integrated GIS, automated notifications, and security that can be configured through defined system roles and user profiles. The same application is used both within agency offices and for field inspection. The result provides immediate access to data for purposes of area trend analyses, well and mine history tracking (ownership, bonding, permitting, location, construction, inspection, production, and plugging/ restoration), compliance monitoring, and complaint adjudication. The GWPC is now overseeing rollouts in Mississippi and Oklahoma. Other agencies also are planning to upgrade to RBDMS.NET. RBDMS.NET Web interfaces have been installed in many agencies, greatly leveraging efficiency in mission-critical tasks such as reporting UIC data directly to EPA from RBDMS, automating the collection of production and disposition data from operators, and offering electronic permitting of oil and gas wells. RBDMS development has historically been and continues to be directed by RBDMS states. Ongoing RBDMS development, legacy data conversion and migration, and system setup efforts in multiple states are overseen by both the GWPC and the RBDMS Technical Committee, a users group whose participation is drawn from multiple states. In addition to telephone and remote [Terminal Services and/or Virtual Private Network (VPN)] help desk support, GWPC provides user support, code sharing, and development updates through peer-to-peer networking, bi-annual training meetings, open-attendance weekly conference calls, and an interactive feature request site.

The Regulatory and Permitting Information Desktop (RAPID) Toolkit combines the former Geothermal Regulatory Roadmap, National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) Database, and other resources into a Web-based tool that gives the regulatory and utility-scale geothermal developer communities rapid and easy access to permitting information. RAPID currently comprises five tools: Permitting Atlas, Regulatory Roadmap, Resource Library, NEPA Database, and Best Practices. Because of the huge amount of information involved, RAPID was developed in a wiki platform to allow industry and regulatory agencies to maintain the content in the future so that it continues to provide relevant and accurate information to users. The content was expanded to include regulatory requirements for utility-scale solar, hydropower, and bulk transmission development projects. Going forward, development of the RAPID Toolkit will focus on expanding the capabilities of current tools, developing additional tools, including additional technologies, and continuing to increase stakeholder involvement.

The National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Southern Methodist University Geothermal Laboratory, Eastman Chemical, Turbine Air Systems, and the Electric Power Research Institute are evaluating the feasibility of using geothermal heat to improve the efficiency of natural gas power plants. The area of interest is the Eastman Chemical plant in Longview, Texas, which is on the northwestern margin of the Sabine Uplift. Part 2 focus on: 1) Permit report and spreadsheet on Federal, State, and Local agency requirements for a geothermal deep direct-use project in the vicinity of East Texas for Harrison, Gregg, Rusk, and Panola Counties. 2) Evaluation of the Geologic Variability of Travis Peak Formation as a reservoir. 3) Updated Heat Flow Memo with additional references.

The regulatory permitting action plan for the PCOR Partnership Phase II terrestrial field validation test

The Title V Permitting Statistics Inventory contains measured and estimated nationwide statistical data, consisting of counts of permitted sources, types of permits issued, and the timeliness of permit issuance, for the operating permits programs being implemented under CAA authority (40 CFR parts 70 and 71). This data is non-source specific. The statutory authority leading to the collection of this information comes from Title V of the Clean Air Act.Prior to July 2008, data collected on state permit programs (part 70) was not equivalent to that collected when EPA was the permitting agency (part 71). Current system includes semiannual data from 2006-present; prior data is archived.Data is currently not publicly available, certain statistical data has been made available in the past, but not currently. This data is mostly used for ICR and PART reporting purposes.

This is the final topical report for the Phase 2B Utah FORGE project, which is located near Roosevelt Hot Springs, Utah. This PDF format report details results associated with the conceptual geologic model, deep well 58-32, rock geomechanics, reservoir temperatures, seismic surveys, seismic monitoring, certainty, and NEPA. The report also provides an overview of all of the deliverables which were used to produce the results and full appendices.