Class VI Primacy Update

As part of an ongoing Blog series, Arnold & Porter's cross-practice Energy and Energy Transition team is highlighting key legal and regulatory developments for clients across economic sectors.

A recent Fifth Circuit decision has eased the path for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to delegate authority to state agencies to issue and enforce Class VI injection well permits, a key permit needed for most carbon capture and storage (CCS) projects.

In Deep South Center for Environmental Justice v. EPA, a group of NGOs had challenged the Biden administration's 2024 decision to grant Louisiana Class VI permitting authority — referred to as "primacy" under the Safe Drinking Water Act's Underground Injection Control (UIC) Program. The Fifth Circuit dismissed the case after concluding that the groups lacked either organizational or associational standing. First, the court determined that petitioners "cannot manufacture its own standing" by alleging that the