Methane leaks from oil and gas fields, processing plants, storage and pipelines will not be separately regulated from other “fugitive emissions,” the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said Aug. 13.
The technologies that prevent leaks of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) also prevent fugitive emissions of methane without the need of redundant monitoring and reporting obligations, EPA said.
The agency also said leak monitoring requirements would not be applied to wells producing less than 15 b/d of oil.
“These low-producing wells are usually owned and operated by small businesses that do not have the same access to capital as larger companies,” EPA said.
Policy changes, technical changes
The reductions in requirements were issued as two final rules—a policy package and a set of technical amendments—for new source performance standards (NSPS) under the Clean Air Act. To a large extent, the changes rolled back requirements imposed by the Obama administration in 2012 and 2016.
In addition, the policy package establishes EPA’s position that the Clean Air Act requires EPA to make a finding that a pollutant contributes significantly to air pollution before setting NSPS requirements.
EPA concluded the Obama administration’s methane regulations for production, storage, and processing operations were improper because the EPA had never studied the matter to determine the regulations were needed and appropriate.
EPA also reduced monitoring of leaks at gathering and compressor stations from quarterly to twice a year, which the agency said would be more cost effective. Repairs are supposed to be made within 30 days, but EPA added a proviso allowing repair deferral if a repair is not feasible in 30 days.
The rule changes should provide net savings of $750-850 million over the 10 years starting with 2021, the agency said.
The policy rule will become effective when published in the Federal Register. The technical rule will go into effect 60 days after publication.
‘We will see EPA in court’
Environmental activist groups reacted negatively, and one of the first responses was a warning of litigation by the Natural Resources Defense Council. The group released a statement from David Doniger, its senior strategic director of climate and clean energy.
“The Trump EPA is giving the oil and gas industry a green light to keep leaking enormous amounts of climate pollution into the air,” Doniger said. “We will see EPA in court.”
The Independent Petroleum Association of America released a statement by Executive Vice-President Lee Fuller welcoming the rules and stressing that methane will continue to be controlled through the VOC controls.
“The technical changes made by the EPA regulations are important corrections that are necessary to address flawed programs resulting from the politically driven rush to complete the 2016 regulations,” Fuller said.
The American Petroleum Institute addressed the idea that the changes would allow an increase in air pollution. Methane emission rates from top US oil and gas producing regions have been going down while production rates have increased dramatically in recent years, the trade group said.
“Under these modified rules, operators will still be required to control emissions, and the industry continues to make progress in reducing methane emissions through new technologies,” the group said.
