The American Petroleum Institute has asked US Interior Sec. Ryan Zinke to instruct the Bureau of Land Management to defer compliance dates under its methane emissions control rule for 2 years. “We make this request in view of directives in recent presidential and secretarial orders that may lead to changes to or withdrawal of the final rule,” API Pres. Jack N. Gerard told Zinke in a May 16 letter.
US President Donald Trump issued an executive order on Mar. 28 aimed at lifting federal restrictions on energy development (OGJ Online, Mar. 29, 2017). Its directions to Zinke included reviewing BLM’s final rules on methane emissions and hydraulic fracturing on onshore federal and American Indian lands.
Zinke issued a pair of secretarial orders the following day, one of which set a timetable for reviewing agency actions that may hamper responsible energy development and for reconsidering regulations related to US oil and gas development (OGJ Online, Mar. 30, 2017).
With such reconsiderations under way, Gerard said postponing compliance requirements under BLM’s final methane rule “is critical and immediately necessary so that companies subject to the rule are relieved not only from the burdens of compliance with currently applicable requirements, but also expenditures and other burdensome actions necessary to comply with upcoming requirements” which may be changed or withdrawn under the secretarial order.
Swift action is needed since requirements under BLM’s methane rule already apply and deadlines to comply are approaching, Gerard said. “Accordingly, we request that you direct BLM to expeditiously publish a notice in the Federal Register to postpone the compliance dates in light of the fact that any final determinations from the review and rulemaking processes will likely take several months,” he said.
Contact Nick Snow at [email protected].