Collins, Colleagues Urge Administration to Implement Carbon Grant Program in Bipartisan Infrastructure Law as Congress Intended

Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Susan Collins (R-ME) and a bipartisan group of her colleagues urged the Department of Energy (DOE) to implement the Direct Air Capture (DAC) Hub Program established under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) the way Congress intended. Currently, DOE is imposing onerous, one-size-fits-all requirements on grant applicants, limiting the program's ability to work. Senator Collins was part of the core group of 10 Senators who negotiated the text of IIJA.

DAC technologies extract CO2 directly from the atmosphere.  Carbon removal is expected to be key in the transition to a net zero energy system.

“While each of us supports a broad suite of CDR technologies, Congress established the DAC Hub Program to advance specifically the deployment of DAC Technologies, or mechanized direct air capture technologies that capture carbon dioxide from ambient air.  Congress designed this program to assist in deploying and bringing down the long-term cost of DAC. For this reason, we encourage the Department to implement the Direct Air Capture Program in accordance with congressional intent. Doing so will still support other forms of Carbon Dioxide Removal (CDR) and point source carbon capture enabled by the hub model,” wrote the Senators.

“[W]e ask that the Department fulfill the intent of the legislation by considering the adjustments requested in this letter,” continued the Senators.

In addition to Senator Collins, the letter was co-signed by Senators Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA), Joe Manchin (D-WV), Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ), Mitt Romney (R-UT), John Hickenlooper (D-CO), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Kevin Cramer (R-ND), and Rob Portman (R-OH).

Click HERE to read the full letter.

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In June, Senators Collins and Maria Cantwell (D-WA) introduced the Carbon Removal and Emissions Storage Technologies (CREST) Act, bipartisan legislation that directs DOE and the Department of the Interior to establish new research programs and evaluate the feasibility of carbon removal and storage pathways, quantify the net impact of carbon removal solutions, and establish an innovative pilot reverse auction purchasing program to accelerate carbon removal market commercialization.

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