Obama’s methane rule could be scrapped

Time is running out for lawmakers to wipe away regulations enacted in the last stretch of Barack Obama’s presidency.

The Congressional Review Act — which had been used only once before — gives lawmakers 60 legislative days to overturn recently adopted agency rules.

Together, President Donald Trump and Congress have used the act to erase 13 Obama-era regulations, of which four were related to natural resources. They have indicated an interest in doing more and have about a week left if they intend to undo as many as 20 more before the deadline.

At risk of rollback is a rule limiting methane emissions from oil and gas wells on federal

lands. The resolution has awaited a Senate vote since the House passed it in February.

And Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, is one of the last uncommitted senators.

“He’s still undecided,” Portman spokeswoman Emily Benavides said in an email statement.

Critics say the Congressional Review Act is a blunt tool that’s rarely used for a reason. But its historic use this session matches the Trump administration’s upheaval of political conventions, said Curtis Copeland, a former senior staff member at the Congressional Research Service.

“They wanted to shake things up,” he said.

Ohio environmental advocacy groups are keeping a close eye on Portman’s potential vote.

“He’s one of those who could go either way on this,” said Melanie Houston, oil and gas director for the Ohio Environmental Council.

What’s the Congressional Review Act?

The 1996 Congressional Review Act provides lawmakers a limited opportunity to erase regulations put on the

books in the midnight hour of an outgoing presidency.

Before 2017, it had been used only once, when George W. Bush’s administration undid a Department of Labor ergonomics rule in 2001.

Using the act requires a simple majority in both houses and the president’s signature, making the law useful only when there is unilateral control in Congress and the White House.

The president already has signed Congressional Review Act bills nullifying rules on internet privacy, abortion, gun rights and the environment — including a controversial rule that had required coal companies to restore streams and return mined areas to predevelopment conditions.

A clause in the act prevents agencies from introducing a regulation that is “substantially the same” once a rule has been rolled back. When it comes to excising regulation, those terms make the act more of a saw than a scalpel, critics say.

What’s the methane rule?

In November, the Bureau of Land Management updated its rules to limit flaring, venting and leaks of natural gas at oil wells on public and tribal lands.

The rules would require operators to periodically

inspect for leaks, replace outdated equipment and use best practices to limit gas losses.

According to the Department of Interior, enough natural gas was lost between 2009 and 2015 to serve more than 6 million households for a year and generate millions in royalty revenues.

Officials and environmental advocates also stress that methane is a greenhouse gas 25 times more potent than carbon dioxide.

Republicans and industry advocates, however, say that the rules are costly and overstep the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's authority to curb emissions under the Clean Air Act.

The "venting and flaring rule was simply one more way for President Obama’s administration to take aim at the oil and gas industry by trying to over-regulate in a similar fashion to how he targeted the coal industry," Shawn Bennett, Ohio Oil and Gas Association executive vice president, said in an email statement.

In February, the House voted 221-191 to pass a Congressional Review Act resolution to erase the methane rules. It has not come to a Senate floor vote yet, though its proponents voiced confidence in the bill as recently as last week.

What effect would it have in Ohio?

The Obama-era methane rules are supposed to protect public health from air pollution, address greenhouse emissions and save lost revenue from wasted natural gas, said Houston, of the Ohio Environmental Council.

And for Ohioans who live near the 1,200 existing oil and gas wells in the Wayne National Forest, for example, regulations to prevent methane leaks literally hit home, she said.

“Clean air, clean water — we expect that when we go out in nature,” Houston said. “People don’t want to smell foul air from methane and other pollutants.”

But state regulations complicate the issue in Ohio, said Jackie Stewart, a spokeswoman for Energy in Depth, an organization that promotes the oil and gas industry.

Regulatory reforms and voluntary action by industry members in Ohio have reduced methane emissions from oil and gas operations by 55 percent across the state.

“Ohio has some of the most stringent fugitive methane emission regulations in the country,” Stewart said in an email statement. “The new federal methane and flaring rule is particularly duplicative and burdensome for Ohio, as we are already ahead of the curve.”

James Lee, a spokesman for the Ohio EPA, said the methane rule — if left unchecked — would not affect the state agency’s air pollution regulations.

"Whether the current federal venting and flaring rules stay in place or are repealed, we do not anticipate an impact on Ohio’s rules at the state level (which meet or exceed current federal standards)," Lee said in an email statement.

What happens if Congress misses the deadline?

The Congressional Review Act expedites regulatory rollback — briefly.

After its deadline passes, the process of undoing federal rules returns to its usual, crawling pace. It can take longer than a presidential term to get a new rule through public notice, comment periods, several drafts and the usual legal challenges.

“It can take a long, long time,” Copeland said. “That’s one of the attractions of the (act): You can go bang, bang bang and get rid of rules.”