**4.4 European Union**

258 Fossil Fuel and the Environment

In Australia the federal government shares jurisdiction with the state and territorial governments for both onshore and offshore geological sequestration (out to the 3-nautical mile limit). The federal government has sole jurisdiction on the continental shelf beyond this limit. In June 2011, the Australian government approved the "Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage (Greenhouse Gas Injection and Storage) Regulations 2011". These regulations, issued under the authority granted by the Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage Act, approved by Parliament in 2006, basically cover the following interrelated elements:

Information necessary for a declaration of a geological formation as adequate for

In July 2011, the Australian government presented its Clean Energy Future Plan, which calls for a tax of Au\$ 23 (about US \$25) per tonne of CO2 starting in July 2012. This taxation includes all activities that emit more than 25,000 tonnes of CO2 per year. It does not include emissions from light vehicles and farming activities. To maintain the country's industrial competitiveness, steelmakers, coal miners and electricity generators will receive compensations. An energy security plan will assure sufficient electricity generation in the face of possible problems, since 75% of the country power is generated by coal-fired plants. Tax cuts for consumers are also planned to offset possible increases in the cost of living due to the CO2 emission tax. The adoption of this tax was the fruit of suggestions by companies from the coal mining sector, which in 2010 proposed that the government adopts a CO2 emission tax along with a requirement that part of the revenue be allocated to develop clean

technologies to permit the companies to remain competitive in the global market.

inter-provincial commerce, taxation and criminal legislation.

In Canada, the central government shares jurisdiction over CCS with the provincial governments. The latter governments' jurisdiction covers natural resources within the borders of each province, including exploration and development of non-renewable natural resources and management of power plants. This means the provinces have authority over certain aspects of CCS while others fall under federal jurisdiction, such as international and

Norway established a CO2 emission tax in 1991, mainly applying to offshore oil and gas extraction. Other sectors in the country with a large carbon footprint were exempted, such as fishing, metallurgy, cement making, aviation and others. The power generation sector was not affected because 98% of the country's electricity comes from hydroelectric plants. Because of this policy of taxation centered on exploitation and consumption of fossil fuels,

Testing the risk of a significant adverse impacts;

Local injection and storage plans;

**4.1 Australia** 

storage;

**4.2 Canada** 

**4.3 Norway** 

 Incident reporting; Decommissioning; and Discharge of securities. Both the European Commission and the governments of the state members are involved in regulating the geological sequestration of carbon. The member states are required to put into practice the directives and regulations issued by the European Union, including the Emission Trading System (RTS) and the CCS Directive, which function as framework legislation. The CCS Directive has to be transposed to the law of each member state by June 2011. This process permits each country to develop its own legislation on CCS to fit the particular circumstances of each one, within the overall European Union framework.
