Imposing a one-size-fits-all scheme could stifle innovation and discourage investment in new technologies to reduce emissions, said Kyle Isakower, vice president of regulatory policy at the American Petroleum Institute.
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“Industry has been making great strides to voluntarily reduce its methane emissions because doing so makes economic sense”, Snyder said. The request will require the companies to inform the EPA about their emissions and technology they could use to stop methane leaks.
This is the first time that the Barack Obama administration has presented this kind of federal regulation to contain emissions of methane, the second most detrimental greenhouse gas behind carbon dioxide. Those compounds and toxins can include chemicals such as benzene, which is known to cause cancer.
The final standards will significantly curb methane emissions from new, reconstructed and modified processes and equipment, along with reducing VOC emissions from sources not covered in the agency’s 2012 rules, says EPA. EPA also expects benefits to be seen from reductions in VOCs and air toxics, but could not quantify those benefits.
Methane frequently escapes during the hydraulic fracturing process used to extract natural gas, while it also escapes during leaks at oil and gas wells.
The EPA says the rule will produce an estimated 700-million dollars in climate benefits.
When people are doing measurements at a certain facility, companies will go in and tighten any leaks they find, Feldman explained. “This is really an issue in regard to who’s going to regulate the industry”.
Rachel Richardson, director of the Stop Drilling program for Environment America, another advocacy group, called the new rule a step forward, but said it “falls short of what’s needed to avert climate disaster”.
“This is simply a case of the president taking one last whack at the oil and gas piñata on his way out the door”, he wrote. The number of pieces of equipment that could emit methane also was overestimated, Feldman said.
“Today, we are underscoring the Administration’s commitment to finding commonsense ways to cut methane – a potent greenhouse gas fueling climate change – and other harmful pollution from the oil and gas sector”, said EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy in a statement.
Controlling methane emissions is considered critical to combat global warming, because methane emissions are about 80 times more powerful than carbon dioxide as a greenhouse gas in the first 20 years after release.
“Public data show that the amount of global warming avoided by imposing costly new methane regulations on oil and natural gas activities would be nearly zero”, wrote Energy in Depth’s Steve Everley. The ICR is meant to gather a broad range of information, including the types of technologies that could be used to reduce emissions and their associated costs.
The U.S. EPA today announced a sweeping schedule of steps created to curb methane emissions, sparking praise from environmental groups but protests from utilities and oil and gas groups.
The agency plans to expand the regulations to existing sources and is starting a “general survey for all owners/operators” to do so.
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Since the agency does not expect data collection will be finished before early 2017, those regulations would have to be issued under a new administration.
