methane
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Congressional Review Act Resolution Introduced to Revoke EPA Methane Rule—Does this Open the CRA Floodgates?
On March 25, 2021, Democrats in the Senate and House of Representatives introduced joint resolutions pursuant to the Congressional Review Act (CRA) that if approved by Congress and signed by President Biden would rescind the Trump-era rollback of Obama-era regulations that (1) imposed methane-specific emission limits on “production and processing” segments of the oil and… Continue reading
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EPA Finalizes Rollback of Obama-Era Methane Regulations for the Oil and Natural Gas Industry
On August 13, 2020, EPA issued two final rules that will have a significant impact on methane emissions, a potent greenhouse gas. The final rules were issued under the Clean Air Act’s New Source Performance Standards (“NSPS”) for the oil and natural gas industry and rescind Obama-era rules issued in 2012 and 2016. Continue reading
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EPA Proposes Rule to Rescind Methane Regulations for the Oil and Gas Industry
On August 28, 2019, EPA issued a proposed rule titled Oil and Natural Gas Sector: Emission Standards for New, Reconstructed, and Modified Sources Review (the “Proposed Rule”). The Proposed Rule, if adopted, would rescind certain parts of the New Source Performance Standards (“NSPS”) related to methane and volatile organic compounds (“VOCs”) in the oil and… Continue reading
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U.S. EPA’s Stay of Methane Rule May Have Hit a “Speed Bump”
On July 3, 2017, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia issued an opinion which vacated U.S. EPA’s stay of certain provisions of new source performance standards (“NSPS”) relating to fugitive emissions of methane and other pollutants by the oil and natural gas industries. Continue reading
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Senate Rejects Resolution to Repeal Obama Administration Climate Change Methane Rule
In a surprising move, on Wednesday May 10th, the U.S. Senate voted 51 to 49 to reject a resolution under the Congressional Review Act (CRA) to repeal a 2016 Bureau of Land Management (BLM) rule aimed at reducing methane releases from oil and gas wells on public land. Continue reading