Texas has received approval to administer its own Class VI Underground Injection Control (UIC) program, shifting permitting authority from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) to the state. This article outlines how the Texas primacy transition changes the Class VI permitting pathway and what it means for applicants navigating the state regulatory process.
Transfer of Class VI Permitting Authority from EPA to the Railroad Commission of Texas
Under the Safe Drinking Water Act, the UIC program allows the USEPA to delegate primary enforcement authority, known as primacy, to states whose regulatory programs meet or exceed federal requirements. Following Texas’ Class VI primacy approval, permitting authority for Class VI wells transfers from USEPA to the Railroad Commission of Texas (RRC), which has jurisdiction over onshore and near-offshore carbon dioxide (CO₂) injection wells. The RRC previously regulated Class II enhanced oil recovery injection wells and CO₂ storage incidental to enhanced oil recovery prior to receiving Class VI primacy. Texas is the sixth state granted Class VI primacy, and pending Class VI permit applications are handled under the EPA–RRC Memorandum of Agreement (MOA).
Texas Class VI Permitting Process Changes under State Primacy
For projects already in progress, the EPA–RRC MOA establishes how pending Class VI permit applications and pre-application activities are handled during the transition. The MOA provides for transfer of pending Class VI permits and applications to the RRC upon finalization of primacy approval, which became effective on December 15, 2025. Project administration and status tracking now occur through RRC permitting systems rather than the EPA Class VI project tracker. Applicants with active pre-application discussions or draft submittals are coordinating with regulators to confirm which agency has review authority and how materials are processed following the primacy effective date. In addition to federal UIC criteria, Texas Class VI permit applications also include state-specific components, including RRC Groundwater Advisory Unit (GAU) review letters and Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) coordination letters, critical pressure calculations, defined financial assurance mechanisms, and Texas well construction requirements.
Texas Class VI applicants must also comply with other applicable RRC oil and gas regulations in addition to geologic storage requirements under Title 16 of the Texas Administrative Code (TAC) Chapter 5. Public notice, protest, and hearing procedures for Class VI permits under RRC primacy follow Texas administrative procedures rather than USEPA’s federal permitting process. Texas Class VI permit applications continue to be submitted through USEPA’s Geologic Sequestration Data Tool (GSDT), and there is not currently a single public RRC Class VI project status tracker comparable to EPA’s former Class VI tracker.
Texas joins a small group of states with Class VI primacy (North Dakota, Wyoming, Louisiana, Arizona, and West Virginia), while other states are preparing or have submitted primacy applications.
Further detail on Texas-specific Class VI permitting elements and the Class VI review workflow is covered in Trihydro’s UIC and Carbon Management webinar series, From Uncertainty to Delivery: RealWorld Lessons from Class VI Projects.
