The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has outlined a series of steps it plans to take to address methane and VOC emissions from the oil and gas industry. EPA will initiate a rulemaking effort to set standards for methane and VOC emissions from new and modified oil and gas production sources, and natural gas processing and transmission sources. EPA will issue a proposed rule in the summer of 2015 and a final rule will follow in 2016. In developing these standards, EPA will work with industry, states, tribes, and other stakeholders to consider a range of common-sense approaches that can reduce emissions from the sources discussed in the agency’s Oil and Gas White Papers, including oil well completions, pneumatic pumps, and leaks from well sites, gathering and boosting stations, and compressor stations.
Administration Actions to Reduce Methane Emissions
- Propose and Set Commonsense Standards for Methane and Ozone-Forming Emissions from New and Modified Sources
- New Guidelines to Reduce Volatile Organic Compounds
- Consider Enhancing Leak Detection and Emissions Reporting
- Lead by Example on Public Lands
- Reduce Methane Emissions while Improving Pipeline Safety
- Drive Technology to Reduce Natural Gas Losses and Improve Emissions Quantification
- Modernize Natural Gas Transmission and Distribution Infrastructure
- Release a Quadrennial Energy Review (QER)
Industry Actions to Reduce Methane Emissions
Several voluntary industry efforts to address these sources are underway, including EPA’s plans to expand on the Natural Gas STAR Program by launching a new partnership in collaboration with key stakeholders later in 2015. EPA will work with DOE, DOT, and leading companies, individually and through broader initiatives such as the One Future Initiative and the Downstream Initiative, to develop and verify robust commitments to reduce methane emissions. This new effort will encourage innovation, provide accountability and transparency, and track progress toward specific methane emission reduction activities and goals to reduce methane leakage across the natural gas value chain.
Voluntary efforts to reduce emissions in a comprehensive and transparent manner hold the potential to realize significant reductions. Achieving significant methane reductions from these voluntary industry programs and state actions could reduce the need for future regulations.