S. 5170 — Carbon Dioxide Removal Leadership Act of 2026

This section requires the Secretary of Energy to remove 50,000 net metric tons of carbon dioxide for each of fiscal years 2026 and 2027, 500,000 tons annually for fiscal years 2028 through 2030, 5,000,000 tons annually for fiscal years 2031 through 2035, and 10,000,000 tons annually beginning in fiscal year 2036, using eligible technologies that capture the gas directly from ambient air or seawater and store it durably on a geologic timescale, provided removal can be accomplished at or below per-ton price caps declining from $750 to $150.

This section requires the Secretary of Energy, in consultation with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Environmental Protection Agency, Department of Agriculture, and other relevant agencies, to submit a report within 1 year of enactment to the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources and the House Committee on Energy and Commerce. The report must evaluate program design elements and financing options for a Federal carbon dioxide removal offtake program scaled to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and oceans at a gigaton scale annually by 2050, and consider organizational structures including a government-sponsored enterprise, government corporation, program office, or contracted service provider.