mCDR: The Current U.S. Law and Policy Landscape

Marine carbon dioxide removal (mCDR) is a set of experimental technologies designed to accelerate the ocean’s uptake and storage of heat-trapping carbon dioxide from the atmosphere to reduce the pace of global temperature rise.

At present, the U.S. and its constituent states have no dedicated management framework in place to govern the appropriate use of mCDR as a climate solution, nor to regulate, steer, or foster the research and development that may be needed in the short term to test mCDR techniques and understand what role they could play in a climate mitigation portfolio. However, at least four international treaties, twelve federal statutes, and multiple Tribal treaties and state laws and regulations may be pertinent to mCDR projects, despite being created with other needs in mind. The applicability of these rules varies according to the specific mCDR method in question, where it is conducted, and how it interacts with the environment. 

This policy brief reviews this current landscape.