On November 2, the U.S. EPA announced comprehensive new protections to sharply reduce pollution from the oil and natural gas industry through regulation of methane emissions. The proposed regulations will, for the first time, seek reductions from existing sources nationwide. The proposed rule would eliminate 41 million tons of methane emissions from 2023 to 2025. It will accomplish this through updated and broadened methane and VOC emission reduction requirements for new, modified, and reconstructive oil and gas sources, by requiring states to develop plans to limit methane emissions from hundreds of thousands of existing sources.
The EPA will take public comment on the proposed rule for 60 days after it is published in a federal register. For more information on the November 2nd announcements, please visit https://www.epa.gov/controlling-air-pollution-oil-and-natural-gas-industry, or contact Phillip Hoover at SGR.