WASHINGTON, Aug. 4, 2016 - At least fifteen states have
filed lawsuits against the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to try and
block the agency’s rule on methane emissions in
the oil patch.
The lawsuits ask the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals to
review the EPA's rule regulating methane emissions from new, reconstructed and
modified oil and gas wells that use fracking, saying the agency is exceeding
its statutory authority.
The agency’s final rule finalizes amendments to the new
source performance standards in the Clean Air Act, forming new compliance
schedules for the control of volatile organic compounds. The rule, for the
first time, also establishes emission standards limitations on greenhouse
gases, specifically methane, and creates new categories of oil and gas
facilities.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton called the agency's
rules “a gross demonstration of federal overreach” and accused regulators of
failing to consider the “steep costs” for oil and gas producers to comply.
In addition to Texas, the lawsuit includes officials from
Alabama, Arizona, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Montana, North
Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, West Virginia and
Wisconsin.
When announcing the final rule in mid-May, EPA
administrator Gina McCarthy said the new rules will help the U.S. cut emissions
from the oil and gas sector, reducing emissions by 11 million tons per year of
CO2 equivalent by 2025.
Environmentalists largely welcomed the rule as a positive
first step, but some groups asked for additional restrictions.
In a statement, the National Wildlife Federation
described the rule as a “common-sense, cost-effective rules to curb methane
pollution and waste from new and modified sources of oil and gas
operations.
“Methane pollution poses a direct threat to wildlife —
and capturing leaking emissions will help companies make more money. That sort
of common-sense, win-win solution deserves bipartisan support. Methane is a
super-pollutant — when compared with carbon dioxide, methane has over 80 times
the impact on climate change over the course of a 20 year period,” said Collin
O’Mara president and chief executive officer of the National Wildlife
Federation.
#30
For more news, go to: www.Agri-Pulse.com
