In early February of this year, President Obama announced the formation of a Federal government Interagency Task Force on Carbon Capture and Storage to be led by the Secretary of Energy and the Administrator of EPA. By early August, 2010, the Task Force is required to report to the President on the following:

"The Task Force shall develop within 180 days of the date of this memorandum a proposed plan to overcome the barriers to the widespread, cost-effective deployment of CCS within 10 years, with a goal of bringing 5 to 10 commercial demonstration projects online by 2016. The plan should explore incentives for commercial CCS adoption and address any financial, economic, technological, legal, institutional, social, or other barriers to deployment. The Task Force should consider how best to coordinate existing administrative authorities and programs, including those that build international collaboration on CCS, as well as identify areas where additional administrative authority may be necessary. The Co Chairs shall report progress periodically to the President through the Chair of the Council on Environmental Quality."

CURC has been significantly involved in the deliberations of the Task Force first in making a presentation to a Task Force committee on incentives for CCS and long-term CO2 stewardship and then in arranging for a group of associations to meet with Task Force representatives. At that meeting in May, the CURC trade industry associations presented a collective set of concerns and recommendations related to CCS technology development and deployment.

On July 2, CURC arranged for several associations to sign and send to the Task Force a letter further setting forth our collective concerns and recommendations related to CCS. That document is attached.