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BOEM issues new air quality regulations
Final rule updates rules established 40 years ago, does not include some new provisions proposed during Obama administration Alan Bailey for Petroleum News
The federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management has issued a final rule for changes to the air quality regulations applicable to activities on the U.S. outer continental shelf, including offshore oil and gas operations subject to Department of the Interior oversight. Offshore operators, when filing plans such as exploration plans, must specify anticipated air emissions from their activities and assess whether those emissions will meet the regulatory requirements. In 2011 the Environmental Protection Agency transferred all jurisdiction for outer continental shelf air quality from itself to Interior - previously Interior had only been responsible for oversight of air quality in part of the Gulf of Mexico.
Proposed rule In 2016 the Obama administration published a proposed rule for revised regulations. At that time the existing regulations were several decades old and needed updating. However, in its proposed update the administration also wanted to expand the regulations, requiring, for example, the aggregation of emissions from closely spaced activities and facilities, regardless of whether the activities fall within a single plan. The proposals also included provisions such as a need to consider emissions from support vessels during the entirety of their transits to offshore sites.
The new rule that has now been finalized has resulted from significant modifications to the 2016 proposed rule, taking into account a 2017 directive by President Donald Trump to review the rule in the light of the president’s desire to implement an America-first offshore energy strategy. BOEM says that it has removed a number of provisions from the proposed rule, while also bringing the air quality regulations up to date within the fundamental structure of the original regulations.
“Under the president’s leadership, the department has taken numerous commonsense actions resulting in billions of dollars in deregulatory savings, and we will continue to take actions to better serve the American people,” said Interior Secretary David Bernhardt. “The final rule released today incorporates current standards, creates consistency with statutory authorities and is one more step in the right direction.”
The final rule The final rule includes, for example, an update to the table of significant levels of pollutants, revised criteria for particulates suspended in the air, updated emissions exemption thresholds and clarified terminology.
The list of regulations in the 2016 proposed rule that are not in the final rule includes the consideration of emissions from transiting support vessels, vehicles or aircraft; the required periodic recertification of existing facilities for air quality compliance; a change in the location relative to an offshore installation at which BOEM would evaluate air quality impacts; new criteria for aggregating emissions from multiple facilities; a methodology for using emission reduction credits; and recognition of the right of Indian tribes, as well as states, to comment on BOEM’s consideration of an offshore plan.
The new rule continues the previous practice of using pollutant significance levels, as specified within EPA regulations, but without incorporating the significance levels used by states, as envisaged in the proposed rule.
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