On Thursday, August 13, the Champaign Zoning Board of Appeals is holding a public hearing on amendments to the County’s Zoning Ordinance with regard to how, when, and where a Carbon Dioxide Sequestration Facility may or may not be allowed in Champaign County (Case 212-AT-26).
Prairie Rivers Network and Eco-Justice Collaborative support the amendments to the County Zoning Ordinance.
Both organizations participated in the Carbon Sequestration Activities Task Force that created these amendments. We feel that the proposed amendments create strong protections for Champaign County against the possible negative impacts of carbon sequestration, particularly by banning sequestration that could impact the Mahomet Aquifer and creating strong, protective requirements on proposed projects that would not impact the aquifer.
We applaud the work of our fellow task force members and of Zoning Administrator John Hall on the amendment.
If approved by the Zoning Board, the amendments will return to the Environmental Land Use Committee, followed by the County Board for approval (necessary before the expiration of the moratorium on carbon sequestration in Champaign County).
Champaign Zoning Board of Appeals website
Carbon Sequestration Activities Task Force
