EPA moves ahead on methane rule rollback
WASHINGTON — Oil and gas lobbyists clashed with environmentalists this week ahead of a hearing by the Environmental Protection Agency on its proposed rollback of limits on methane emissions from drilling sites.
The EPA is holding a public hearing Wednesday in Denver, to allow the public to comment on a proposal that would reduce the frequency with which oil companies must inspect drilling and production equipment for leaks of methane, the principal component of natural gas.
The changes to a 2016 regulation ordered by former President Barack Obama have been championed by the American Petroleum Institute, the oil sector’s largest lobbying arm. The Trump administration estimates that shifting from twice-a-year reviews to annual reviews, along with other changes, would save the oil and gas sector $75 million a year.
“The data we submitted to EPA shows the occurrence of leaks is much lower than EPA has estimated,” said Howard Feldman, API senior director of regulatory and scientific affairs. “On leak detection and repair, we think EPA has requirements in the final rule that are not cost-effective.”
The proposed rollback has drawn fierce opposition around the country, particularly in Colorado, where leaks from oil and gas drilling have contributed to climate change and elevated levels of ozone and other pollutants that contribute to human respiratory ailments like asthma.
On Tuesday afternoon, the environmental group Earthworks planned to project footage of methane leaks at oil and gas sites shot with an infrared camera onto a building in downtown Denver, where the EPA hearing is scheduled.
The group said in a statement that methane is 86 times more potent a greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide and pointed to “methane leaks at every step of the oil and gas production process. This air pollution is associated with cancer, respiratory illness, fetal defects, blood disorders and neurological problems. 12.6 million Americans live within (a half ) mile of an active oil and gas well.”
In a proposal made public in September, the EPA under President Donald Trump is moving ahead on a catalog of changes to the 2016 rule.
Oil companies would have 60 days to make repairs, not 30 days. And drill sites in California, Texas, Colorado, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Utah, which have existing regulations on methane leaks, have the option of complying with those regulations instead of the EPA’s.