On November 12, 2025, the Railroad Commission of Texas (“RRC”) and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) announced that EPA had granted Texas primary enforcement authority (“primacy”) under the Safe Drinking Water Act to administer the Class VI Underground Injection Control program in the state of Texas.  Texas applied for Class VI primacy in December 2022, and EPA proposed to approve Texas’s application in June 2025.  Texas is now the sixth state to receive primacy over Class VI carbon sequestration wells.

To this point, geologic storage projects in Texas have been required to obtain both a state- and a federally-issued authorization.  Going forward, such projects will only require a RRC-issued permit to authorize the construction of a Class VI well and the underground injection of CO2 for geologic storage. 

The final rule will become effective 30 days after its publication in the Federal Register. A copy of the prepublication final rule is attached, along with EPA’s response to public comments, and November 12 press statements from EPA and the RRC. 

Please feel free to contact the authors if you have any questions about this development. For additional information about the Baker Botts CCS practice, click here. 

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