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 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
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced its final rule on Dec. 2, 2023, to sharply reduce emissions of methane and other air pollution from oil and natural gas operations. The final action, which is more than...more
Fourteen environmental organizations submitted a June 22nd Petition to the United States Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) asking that it strengthen the Clean Air Act Section 111 New Source Performance Standards...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 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
EPA has received more than 300,000 comments on its November 2021 proposal to regulate methane from new and existing sources in the oil and gas production sector. We previously wrote about EPA’s proposal. Now we’ve analyzed a...more
After years of attempts with varying success to regulate methane emissions from new oil and gas wells, the Biden administration has shifted strategy in proposing a regulatory program covering both new and existing oil and...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
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 29, 2021, the Senate passed a resolution (the “Resolution”) to disapprove a rule adopted by the Trump administration which lifted certain requirements that had been put in place by an Obama-era methane rule, also...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
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
Last week, EPA finalized its rollback of Obama administration regulations governing methane emissions from the oil and gas industry. The move is not exactly a surprise. Regarding the purpose of the rollback, I stand by my...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
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency ("EPA") has proposed rulemaking revisions to the regulation of methane and volatile organic compounds ("VOCs"). The proposed rulemaking was published in the Federal Register on...more
A proposed rule by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) could reduce costs for oil and gas producers and processors by eliminating certain air emission requirements. The EPA issued a proposed rule on August 29 to roll...more
Oilfield operators of every size have been busy implementing the Obama Administration’s labor-intensive requirements to detect and repair vapor leaks from well site equipment, often called the Quad Oa requirements, in...more
Two years ago, the EPA adopted the New Source Performance Standards (NSPS) Subpart OOOOa (commonly known as the Methane Rule), which allowed the EPA – for the first time – to regulate directly the emissions of methane gas...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