Wyoming can designate zones for natural-gas manufacturing

County commissioners may nominate industrial sovereign zones, and the Wyoming Energy Authority would establish a nominated zone when it finds a production and distribution opportunity. A zone may cover one county or a shared area nominated by two or more neighboring counties, with access to natural gas and a defined boundary. The authority may reduce a zone's size. The authority may not enlarge a zone unless every affected county formally agrees. Facilities in an established zone could seek help with state licenses and would qualify for an expedited permit process. The expedited process may not reduce public health or environmental protections or interfere with the state's authority to run its permitting programs. These provisions would take effect immediately after all constitutional steps required for the act to become law are completed.

The Wyoming Energy Authority would set standards and could certify a product as a gold-standard Wyoming product. The certification would cover value-added products made in Wyoming, including products made by substantially transforming natural gas into hydrogen, ammonia, or another distinct product. A producer would need to show methane intensity of no more than 0.2 percent for the gold-standard certification. Using the certification would be voluntary. The authority may charge participating producers annual fees limited to program administration costs. The authority may suspend or revoke certification if the recipient fails to meet the authority's requirements. The certification provisions would take effect immediately after all constitutional steps required for the act to become law are completed.

The state would set aside $180,000 for Wyoming Energy Authority personnel and contract services needed to carry out the act. The money would be limited to personnel expenses in the personal-services or contractual-services budget categories and could not be used for other purposes. Any unused and unobligated money would return to the state as required by law. The legislature states that this money should not be included in the authority's standard budget for the next two-year budget period. The funding period would begin when the act takes effect and end June 30, 2028.