The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has finalized a host of new obligations for upstream and midstream oil and gas owners and operators. These new source performance standards (“NSPS”) and emission guidelines (“EG”) for...more
On Dec. 2, 2023, the Environmental Protection Agency issued its final rule titled “Standards of Performance for New, Reconstructed, and Modified Sources and Emission Guidelines for Existing Sources: Oil and Natural Gas Sector...more
On December 2, 2023, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced a Final Rule under the Clean Air Act that will sharply reduce methane emissions from the oil and gas sector. The rule applies to sources involved...more
Key Takeaways - • What Is Happening? On December 2, 2023, during the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP28), the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced a final Clean Air Act (Act) rule designed to...more
This article is the second in a two-part series analyzing recent proposals by federal agencies to reduce methane emissions from oil and gas production. The first article addresses the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM)...more
Last November, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published a regulatory preamble describing its plans for proposed standards to reduce methane emissions and other air pollutants from affected sources within the...more
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) recently announced that it is conducting another round of aerial inspections of upstream and midstream facilities in the Texas and New Mexico Permian Basin....more
What? The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has announced that it is conducting helicopter flyovers of oil and gas operations in the Permian Basin to identify and pursue enforcement for unauthorized emissions of...more
The Administrator of the United States Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) issued a January 28th Order granting a Petition objecting to the issuance of a Clean Air Act Title V Operating Permit (“Permit”) for the ETC Waha...more
On November 15, 2021, the Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) published a proposed rule that included three separate actions under the Clean Air Act that target new and existing air emission sources at oil and natural gas...more
EPA proposes new emissions control requirements for new sources and existing sources and aims to reduce methane emissions by 74 percent by 2030. Regulations would require newly constructed oil and gas production facilities...more
Last week, as world leaders met at the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26) in Glasgow, Scotland, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”), issued a proposed rule under the Clean Air Act (“CAA”) designed...more
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,...more
On November 2, 2021, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) issued a proposed rule that is intended to significantly reduce emissions of greenhouse gases (“GHGs”) and other air pollutants from the crude oil and...more
The first action proposes first-time emission guidelines to reduce methane emissions from almost 1 million existing oil and gas wells, almost 2,000 existing interstate natural gas compressor stations, and over 500 existing...more
In the upcoming weeks, the Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) is expected to release a proposed rule that would greatly expand methane regulations for the oil and gas sector. While EPA has previously issued regulations...more
On June 30, 2021, President Biden signed into law a resolution under the Congressional Review Act (CRA) that disapproved a final rule adopted by the prior administration that made significant changes to 40 C.F.R. Part 60,...more
On June 30, 2021, President Biden signed into law a joint resolution of Congress repealing a Trump administration rule that removed methane as a pollutant regulated under the Clean Air Act in the oil and gas industry...more
On April 6, 2021, more than 400 environmental non-governmental organizations (ENGOs) submitted to EPA a “Petition for Rulemaking to Remove Methane and Ethane from ‘Negligibly Reactive’ Volatile Organic Compounds List.” If...more
As discussed in this previous post, the state of methane regulation for the oil and gas industry has been in flux over the past few years as federal regulations issued by the Obama administration were challenged in court and...more
Overview of the current energy mix, and the place in the market of different energy sources - Due in large part to the COVID-19 pandemic, U.S. total energy consumption in 2020 is on pace to decline for a second straight...more
As discussed in this previous post, EPA recently released two rules changing the volatile organic compound (“VOC”) and methane emissions requirements for new sources in the oil and gas sector, which alter or roll back some of...more
On August 13, 2020, EPA released two rules changing the volatile organic compound (“VOC”) and methane emissions requirements for new sources in the oil and gas sector, which alter or roll back some of the requirements put in...more
On August 13, 2020, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued two rules (Policy Amendments and Technical Amendments) to roll back portions of its 2012 and 2016 New Source Performance Standards (NSPS) for the Oil...more
Welcome to Alston & Bird’s Environmental & Land Use Briefing, a summary of emerging issues and recent developments in environmental and land use law. ...more