Coming up on a month since the presidential election, some things are starting to become clearer, though many questions remain. We will release a Viewpoints article in the next week that will be a more in-depth assessment of...more
On March 4, 2024, MethaneSat, a satellite developed by a subsidiary of the Environmental Defense Fund that will locate and quantify methane emissions from oil and gas operations, was launched into orbit. According to the...more
On January 12, 2024, the EPA announced a proposed new rule entitled Waste Emissions Charge for Petroleum and Natural Gas Systems (the "Proposed Rule"). As required by Congress pursuant to the Inflation Reduction Act ("IRA"),...more
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has released proposed and final rules that will regulate methane emissions from oil and gas operations, implement a methane emissions tax, and change greenhouse gas reporting...more
Key Takeaways - • What Is Happening? On January 12, 2024, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced a proposed rule to implement the Inflation Reduction Act’s (IRA) Methane Waste Emissions Charge (WEC)....more
We wrote an overview of the methane tax after the Inflation Reduction Act was signed into law in August 2022 and Congress directed the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to impose the first-ever direct tax on methane...more
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has published a proposed rule to assess and collect billions of dollars in methane “waste emission charges” from the oil and gas sector....more
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency ("EPA") has proposed regulations for calculating methane emissions fees required beginning this year under the Inflation Reduction Act ("IRA"). Section 136 of the Clean Air Act (added...more
The Situation: The Inflation Reduction Act ("IRA") requires the U.S Environmental Protection Agency ("EPA") to finalize new greenhouse gas reporting rules for the petroleum and natural gas industry based on "empirical...more
EPA released a supplemental proposed rule to its already sweeping proposed methane rule with major EJ impacts. In a first for the Clean Air Act, under the proposed rule, where a designated facility would qualify for a less...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
This article is the first in a two-part series analyzing recent proposals by federal agencies to reduce methane emissions from oil and gas production. This first article will address the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM)...more
Overview - On November 28, the Department of the Interior’s (DOI) Bureau of Land Management (BLM) released its proposed methane rule. This action furthers the Biden-Harris administration’s whole-of-government response to...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
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, 2021, the EPA announced a proposed rule aimed at reducing methane emissions from oil and gas sources. The proposed rule is part of the Biden Administration’s U.S. Methane Emissions Reduction Action Plan, which...more
Join V&E environmental lawyers Matthew Dobbins, Corinne Snow, and Patrick Traylor as they host a CLE via webcast on the EPA’s new proposed rule for methane from the oil and gas sector, provide an update on air enforcement and...more
Last year, we reported on EPA’s decision to allow the expiration of a moratorium on the 2016 Obama Climate Action Plan rule and guidelines seeking to reduce landfill methane emissions (“Methane Rule and Guidelines”)....more
CARB Adopts Blueprint for AB 617 Community Air Protection Program - This fall, the California Air Resources Board (“CARB”) adopted its first measures under the Community Air Protection Program (“CAPP”), which focuses on...more
On September 11, 2018, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced a proposed rule to amend various provisions of a key Obama-era regulation that sought to reduce methane emissions from oil and natural gas...more
BAAQMD Developing Rules to Regulate Methane Emission - The Bay Area Air Quality Management District (“BAAQMD”), as part of its Methane Strategy, is pursuing rules to address methane emissions from several source categories....more