Why It Matters
Targa Resources Partners LP filed its 2026 third-quarter lobbying report on Oct. 14, covering carbon capture, sequestration, and its tax policy; National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) regulatory reforms; a Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) proposed rulemaking; drilling bans; and Section 301. All five issues touch federal decisions that directly affect the permitting, construction, and operating costs of midstream energy infrastructure.
By the Numbers
The third-quarter filing reports $150,000 in lobbying expenditures, down $10,000 from the second quarter of 2026 but up $20,000 from the third quarter of 2025. All lobbying is conducted in-house; no outside firms appear on any filing in the history.
Two lobbyists are named on the filing: Vincent DiCosimo, vice president of government affairs, and Sanjay Lad, vice president of finance. Lad first appeared on the second-quarter 2026 filing and was retained in the third quarter; DiCosimo has been the sole lobbyist on every earlier filing in the record. Neither lobbyist's record shows prior congressional or government experience.
Broader Context
Rep. Scott Perry (R-PA) introduced H.R. 1946, the 45Q Repeal Act of 2025, to repeal the carbon dioxide sequestration tax credit; the record lists two cosponsors and a latest action of referral to the House Ways and Means Committee. The Carbon Capture Coalition, a collaboration of more than 100 companies, labor unions, and conservation organizations, urged Treasury in August 2025, according to its published letter, to preserve existing Section 45Q "beginning of construction" guidance, arguing that changing the rules could chill investment in carbon capture projects.
The Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) issued an interim final rule in February 2025 removing its NEPA regulations, with the rule taking effect April 11, 2025; CEQ also released updated NEPA implementation guidance in September 2025. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and a coalition including the American Petroleum Institute, the American Gas Association, and the GPA Midstream Association called on the Senate in February to pass comprehensive permitting reform, arguing slow permitting delays investment and raises construction costs. The National Parks Conservation Association and 227 other organizations and Tribes argued in August 2025 that limited comment periods and differing agency rules would reduce transparency and invite litigation.
The Department of Transportation announced a proposed rule in January 2025 to strengthen safety requirements for carbon dioxide pipelines; a subsequent report indicates the proposal was later withdrawn, though the precise withdrawal date is not available from the cited sources. In July, PHMSA proposed modernizing anomaly-response criteria for gas-transmission and hazardous-liquid pipelines, saying newer engineering practices could help operators identify and remediate anomalies more effectively and at lower cost.
The Bottom Line
Targa's third-quarter 2026 spend of $150,000 pulled back from the $160,000 peak in the second quarter of 2026, but it stayed above every 2025 quarter, which ranged from $120,000 to $130,000; the issue codes have been unchanged since the second quarter of 2025.
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