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EPA issues final methane emissions rule New regulations limiting air emissions will apply to new or modified oil and gas industry equipment and transmission systems ALAN BAILEY Petroleum News
The Environmental Protection Agency has published a final rule for new regulations for limiting methane and some other emissions from new or modified oil and gas industry equipment and natural gas transmission systems.
The EPA originally announced the new regulations in August 2015, since when the agency has made modifications to the proposed version of the regulations following a public comment period. Although primarily aimed at methane emissions, as part of President Obama’s Climate Action Plan, the regulations also address the emission of volatile organic compounds and certain toxic hydrocarbons. Volatile organic compounds are particularly linked with the formation of ozone that is associated with health issues such as lung functions and asthma attacks.
The mandatory emissions regulations complement a voluntary oil industry methane emissions reduction program that EPA implemented at the end of March.
Investigating existing facilities EPA is also starting to investigate the potential for limiting methane emissions from existing oil and gas industry facilities by issuing for public comment a proposed information collection request. The information collection request would require companies in the oil and gas industry to provide information that EPA needs to figure out how to reduce methane emissions from those existing emission sources.
Methane, the primary constituent of natural gas, is a particularly powerful greenhouse gas. EPA says that it expects the new rule to result in a reduction of 510,000 short tons of methane emissions in 2025, a quantity equivalent to 11 million metric tons of carbon dioxide. The president’s Climate Action Plan targets cutting methane emissions from the oil and gas sector by 40 to 45 percent of 2012 levels by 2025.
“Today, we are underscoring the administration’s commitment to finding commonsense ways to cut methane - a potent greenhouse gas fueling climate change - and other harmful pollution from the oil and gas sector,” said EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy on May 12 when announcing publication of the new rule and the proposed information request. “Together these new actions will protect public health and reduce pollution linked to cancer and other serious health effects while allowing industry to continue to grow and provide a vital source of energy for Americans across the country.”
Many facilities already regulated EPA says that the new regulations cover most emissions sources already subject to regulations issued in 2012 for the reduction of volatile organic compound emissions - emission control technology installed to comply with the 2012 regulations will also serve to comply with the new methane emission rule. However, the new regulations also include emissions sources not covered by the 2012 regulations. Those sources, which will presumably now require emissions controls, include hydraulically fractured oil wells, EPA says. The agency also says that the new regulations require owners and operators of oil industry facilities to find and repair equipment leaks that result in pollutant emissions.
The regulations also require the limitation of emissions from new and modified pneumatic pumps; and the limitation of emissions from several types of equipment used in natural gas compressor stations. However, certain types of pumps, pressure relief devices and connectors used on the Alaska North Slope are exempted from routine monitoring.
The regulations do not apply to offshore operations. And a special rule applies to oil and gas production in Indian country.
Modifications to proposed regs EPA says that, based on comments received on its originally proposed regulations, the final rule sets a fixed schedule for monitoring leaks, rather than employing a variable schedule - monitoring may be quarterly or twice yearly, depending on the nature of the equipment involved. The final rule allows some flexibility in the method used to detect leaks; the rule provides a mechanism for the approval of new techniques for monitoring leaks; and EPA, in the final rule, has included a mechanism for phasing in a process called a “green completion” for capturing emissions from hydraulically fractured wells.
In terms of 2012 dollars, EPA has estimated a climate benefit of $690 million in 2025 from implementation of the new regulations, set against an estimated cost of $530 million resulting from application of the regulations in that year. The agency says that it has not been able to quantify the benefits to be gained from the reduced emissions of pollutants such as volatile organic compounds.
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