Alaska Admin. Code tit. 20, § 25.1320 – Certificate of completion; public process

(a) After cessation of carbon dioxide injection and compliance with the post-injection site care and monitoring plan, or any amendments to the plan approved by the commission, a storage operator shall apply to the commission, in a format approved by the commission, for a certificate of completion under AS 41.06.170. If, at the time of application, any changes have been made to the original post-injection site care and site closure plan, the storage operator shall also provide the revised plan. The storage operator shall apply for a certificate of completion not less than 120 days before its proposed final site closure date. An application under this section must demonstrate, based on monitoring and other site-specific data, that no additional monitoring is needed to ensure that the storage facility does not pose a danger to underground sources of drinking water or otherwise endanger human health, human safety, or the environment.
(b) Before an authorization for a certificate of completion under AS 41.06.170 and under this section, the storage operator shall submit to the commission for review and approval a demonstration, based on monitoring and other site-specific data, that no additional monitoring is needed to ensure that the storage facility does not pose a danger to human health, human safety, the environment, or underground sources of drinking water.
(c) The commission may, before or after a hearing under this section, request information from the storage operator sufficient to allow the commission to consider the factors in AS 41.06.170(b). The commission will provide public notice and a hearing to consider an application for a certificate of completion. The commission will provide notice of the hearing in the same manner as a notice under AS 31.05.050(b) and will provide notice to persons identified in AS 41.06.170(a)(2) and AS 41.06.125(b)(1) - (3). The commission will provide not less than 30 days' notice of a hearing and will provide not less than 30 days for public comment. In addition to specifying the date, time, and location of the hearing, and process to submit public comments, the notice under this section must
1. (1) identify the storage operator, storage facility permit, and storage facility; identification of the storage facility must include an accurate plat certified by a registered surveyor that includes the location of the Class VI well relative to permanently surveyed benchmarks; and
2. (2) summarize the reasons for the request.
(d) After a hearing under this section, the commission may deny or approve a request for a certificate of completion. If the commission denies the request, it will issue a decision stating the reasons for the denial, and the steps the storage operator shall take to continue monitoring the storage facility or to re-apply for a certificate of completion. To approve a request for a certificate of completion, the commission must find that all conditions of 20 AAC 25.1000 - 20 AAC 25.1320 and AS 41.06.170(b) have been met. No less than two commissioners must approve issuance of a certificate of completion. A certificate of completion must identify all actions the storage operator has taken for final site closure, including the plugging of all monitoring wells in a manner approved by the commission, which will not allow movement of injection or formation fluid that endanger underground sources of drinking water.
(e) Not more than 90 days after the commission approves a certificate of completion, the storage operator shall submit a report to the commission. The report shall be retained at a location designated by the commission for not less than 10 years. The report must include:
1. (1) documentation of appropriate injection and monitoring well plugging as specified in 20 AAC 25.1300 and (d) of this section;
2. (2) documentation that a survey plat has been submitted to the state recorder's office; the plat must indicate the location of the Class VI well relative to permanently surveyed benchmarks, and the storage operator shall also submit a copy of the plat to the Regional Administrator of the appropriate United States Environmental Protection Agency Regional office;
3. (3) documentation of appropriate notification and information to each state, local authority and tribe authority over drilling activities to allow the state, and local authority, and tribe to impose appropriate conditions on subsequent drilling activities that may penetrate the injection and confining zone; and
4. (4) records reflecting the nature, composition, and volume of the carbon dioxide stream.
(f) Each owner or operator of a Class VI well identified in the certificate of completion issued by the commission shall record, before transfer of the storage facility to the Department of Natural Resources under AS 41.06.170, a notation on the deed to the facility property or any other document that is normally examined during title search that will in perpetuity provide any potential purchaser of the property the following information:
1. (1) the fact that land has been used to sequester carbon dioxide;
2. (2) the name of the department with which the survey plat was filed, as well as the address of the Environmental Protection Agency Regional Office to which it was submitted; and
3. (3) the volume of fluid injected, the injection zone or zones into which it was injected, and the period over which injection occurred.
(g) The storage operator shall retain for 10 years following issuance of the certificate of completion, records collected during the post-injection site care period. The storage operator shall deliver the records to the Department of Natural Resources at the conclusion of the retention period, and the Department of Natural Resources will maintain the records. The commission will be notified by the Department of Natural Resources when the records are delivered to the department.
(h) A certificate of completion issued under this section does not release a storage operator from liability arising from a knowing or intentional concealment or misrepresentation of material fact related to a storage facility, including the mechanical integrity of the storage facility or the chemical composition of carbon dioxide injected into the facility.