Carbon capture benefits plans in the works

Dec. 2—A new kind of social contract is beginning to take shape in Kern as local oil producers engage with community and labor groups on how to make sure giant carbon capture projects the companies have proposed in the county would balance potential drawbacks with measurable benefits.

The benefits work is required under last year's federal Inflation Reduction Act, which in exchange for hundreds of millions of dollars' worth of subsidies calls for operators of direct-air capture hubs to share their prosperity with neighbors in an equitable way.

Drafts of so-called community benefits plans have not been disclosed publicly, either because early negotiations with federal authorities could revise the documents or because the projects are too early in their development to offer much detail.

But oil producers say privately their options may include financial contributions toward pre-apprenticeship programs offered by labor unions, scholarships, college internships, workforce development programs, support for entrepreneurs, contracting certification drives and greater investment in STEM education.

The benefits plans under design locally and across the country would eventually become formal agreements the Biden administration deems critical to a fair transition to lower-carbon energy, with long-lasting impacts and particular relevance for counties like Kern that are considered overburdened by pollution.

The plans would, at least indirectly, address the skepticism that continues to pose a challenge to direct-air capture, or DAC, which is designed to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, instead of pulling it from smokestacks, and inject it permanently deep underground.

In August, the U.S. Department of Energy selected three locally operating oil producers to receive federal DAC subsidies, pending negotiations that may be concluded as soon as this month. California Resources Corp. stands to receive $11.8 million to help it design but not yet build a DAC hub. Chevron and Aera Energy LLC got about $3 million each to study the feasibility of moving to the design phase of their DAC proposals.

Long Beach-based CRC said in a statement the company and its subsidiary Carbon TerraVault are committed to engaging with community-based organizations throughout the development of its community benefits plan.

CRC said it holds many face-to-face and small-group meetings to gather input and concerns from various worker, union, civic, environmental justice and other community groups. It said the result will ensure members of the local community have a voice in planning and implementing the project while preparing residents for jobs in the carbon management industry.

"Open and meaningful dialogue with our diverse stakeholders is a top priority when developing a community benefits plan," CRC stated.

The company's community benefits plan is being led by the Kern Community College District, whose California Renewable Energy Laboratory has hosted meetings in Arvin, Taft and Shafter, sometimes drawing more than 100 people.

One group that has viewed the process with suspicion, the Center on Race, Poverty & the Environment, has taken no official position on DAC activity generally but questions whether oil companies should lead the work, given the industry's efforts to block buffer zones state lawmakers approved last year between oil field operations and sensitive sites like homes. An industry referendum process has halted the law, which will go before California voters in November.

CRPE staff attorney Dan Ress said there's no sense among members of the group that DAC operators are out to help the community, and that it doesn't help that no official information about the plans has been released publicly.

A true negotiation would allow communities to withhold their consent and walk away, Ress said, adding that CRC appears to have been selective about who it considers to be potentially affected by its project.

"It can be difficult to figure out who the community is when you're looking at a project like this," they said.

The Department of Energy spelled out what it expects community benefits plans will look like during a community briefing in September in south Texas. It started by saying the overall goal is to help enable 100% clean energy by 2035 and net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 through an equitable energy transition.

It said the plans will weigh as 20% of a project's score in a federal selection process while the administration decides which two, among more than a dozen DAC proposals nationwide, will move on to the subsidized construction phase, as two proposals in Texas and Louisiana already have. At each of several go/no-go decisions, applicants must show how their benefits plan has progressed and adjusted with lessons learned.

Slides from the DOE's presentation say the plans must help ensure broadly shared prosperity by addressing community and labor; diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility; investment in the American workforce; and the administration's Justice40 program, planned to give communities burdened by pollution no less than 40% of the benefits created by federal investment in clean energy.

According to the presentation, the plans must show actionable goals; outcomes supported by adequate money, people and time; transparency and accountability to the community; clear metrics; and actions that match community needs and priorities.

It said the idea is to minimize or mitigate DAC projects' negative impacts, and that the department wants to see good-paying jobs, equitable access and investment in workforce development.

Because Aera and Chevron are not as far as along as CRC in their bids to win larger federal subsidies, the two companies' benefits plans are not as far along.

Aera said it was still premature to talk about its project's community benefits, but that the company expects to provide more information about its plan later this month.

Chevron has not decided just where it would build its proposed DAC plant, and partly for that reason the company has not engaged closely with any specific community to discuss the proposal.

The expectation is that Chevron's benefits plan, in addition to investing in workforce development and support for local innovation, would be drawn up with consideration of the San Ramon-based company's legacy of giving to the local community in various ways.

Chevron said in a statement community benefits planning is a critical part of its DAC project.

"Listening to and understanding the DOE and the community's input and perspective will help inform the design and implementation of a meaningful community benefits plan," it stated.