The U.S. EPA announced earlier this week a proposed rule to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases (GHG) and volatile organic compounds (VOC) from the oil and natural gas industry. The proposal is nearly 600 pages long. Proposed rule (August 18, 2015).
The proposed rule will add methane to the list of gasses regulated at new, modified, and reconstructed equipment at completed hydraulically fractured oil and gas well sites, compressor stations, and processing plants. The proposed rule also expands the regulation of VOCs to cover certain existing sources such as storage tanks, pneumatic controllers, compressors, and fugitive emissions in ozone nonattainment areas.
The oil and gas industry has expressed concern that the proposed regulations will hurt productivity and points out that the industry has already taken great strides to reduce methane emissions at well sites.
We had previously blogged about the Administration's goal, under the President's Climate Action Plan, to cut methane emissions from the oil and gas sector to 40 to 45 percent below 2012 levels by 2025. EPA indicated that methane is the second most prevalent greenhouse gas emitted in the United States "from human activities," and that nearly "30 percent of those emissions come from oil production and the production, transmission and distribution of natural gas." Pound for pound, methane's impact on the environment is 25 times greater than carbon dioxide.
The proposed standards will affect certain new, modified, and reconstructed equipment, processes and activities, and are "based on practices and technology currently used by industry." To cut methane and VOC emissions, the proposed rule requires:
- Finding and repairing leaks;
- Capturing natural gas from the completion of hydraulically fractured oil wells;
- Limiting emissions from new and modified pneumatic pumps; and
- Limiting emissions from several types of equipment used at natural gas transmission compressor stations, including compressors and pneumatic controllers.
The Agency's fact sheet on the proposed rule indicates that the rule is "a step estimated to yield a 95 percent reduction in VOCs, and a similar methane reduction as a co-benefit."
In addition to the proposed rule, the Agency also issued a 310 page Control Techniques Guidelines for the Oil and Natural Gas Industry (Draft). EPA-453/P-15-001 (August 2015). The fact sheet provides guidance to states for the regulation of VOCs in ozone nonattainment areas and the mid-Atlantic and northeastern states in the Ozone Transport Region.
The Agency will accept public comment on the proposed rule for 60 days after the publication in the Federal Register.
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