The Environmental Protection Agency is poised to give Texas authority to regulate underground wells meant to permanently dispose of carbon dioxide, the agency announced Monday.

Texas is becoming a hotbed of new projects meant to capture carbon dioxide from industry or remove it from the atmosphere and store it deep underground to stop it from warming the climate. These projects are fueled by massive tax breaks included in the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act.

If approved, Texas would join four other states – North Dakota, Wyoming, Louisiana, and West Virginia – in having state control over these wells. The EPA has also proposed letting Arizona take control of carbon well permitting. Critics have said that Texas regulators cannot be trusted to manage the program, citing a long history of leaks from abandoned oil and gas wells.

However, the EPA’s recent proposal drew praise from multiple Texas politicians from both parties, as well as the Texas Oil & Gas Association, Trump-appointed EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin, and the EPA’s regional administrator, Scott Mason.

The EPA will hold a virtual public hearing on the issue 5-8 p.m. Central on July 24. To register for the hearing, click here.