The House Environmental Resources and Energy Committee is scheduled to meet on August 2 to vote on a concurrent resolution disapproving of Part I of a final Environmental Quality Board regulation reducing VOC/methane emissions from unconventional (shale) oil and gas facilities.

Republicans on the Committee will no doubt vote to support the resolution, even though the unconventional oil and gas industry has supported the first version of the final regulations reducing methane emissions from their facilities in March at the EQB [Read more here] and did not oppose the revised Part I regulation that applied to only their facilities when the Environmental Quality Board approved it in June.  Read more here.

On July 21, the Independent Regulatory Review Commission unanimously voted to approve the regulation.  Read more here.

A concurrent resolution must pass both the House and Senate and be presented to the Governor for his action.  Since this regulation is related to climate change issues, Gov. Wolf is likely to veto it.

Part II of the final regulation covering conventional oil and gas operations is expected to come before the Environmental Quality Board “soon,” according to the Department of Environmental Protection.  Read more here.

Loss Of Federal Funds

Pennsylvania is required by federal law and regulations to adopt regulations reducing volatile organic compounds [methane] from both conventional and unconventional oil and gas facilities.

If the final regulations meeting these EPA requirements are not adopted and submitted to EPA by December 16, 2022, Pennsylvania risks losing federal highway funds.

Comments On Resolution

On July 28, the PA Environmental Council and Environmental Defense Fund wrote to Committee members opposing the resolution--

“On behalf of the Pennsylvania Environmental Council and Environmental Defense Fund, we are writing to express our opposition to the proposed concurrent resolution to disapprove Regulation #7-544 (Control of VOC Emissions from Unconventional Oil and Natural Gas Sources). The Committee is scheduled to consider this resolution on August 2nd.

“This concurrent resolution is ill-advised, threatens noncompliance and sanctions with respect to long-standing federal requirements (that Pennsylvania has yet to meet), and runs counter to accepted practice in the industry and statutory and regulatory requirements in other oil and gas producing states.

“Regulation #7-544 has been in development for years, driven by mandatory requirements under the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Clean Air Act. It has been approved by both the Environmental Quality Board and the Independent Regulatory Review Commission.

“The arguments to advance this concurrent resolution are unfounded.

“While Regulation #7-544 was bifurcated to separately address unconventional and conventional sources – a step we believe was unnecessary given that the measures required to address VOC emissions are common across the industry, cost-effective, and equally required by Federal law – no other substantive changes were made.

“Oil and gas operations in Pennsylvania are a substantial source of emissions including 63,000 tons of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and 1.1 million tons of methane. While we were disappointed that the final iteration of the proposed rule failed to address emissions from smaller, low-producing wells with leak-prone equipment, there are modest but important emissions reductions to be gained from this rule.

“Recent claims that the DEP has overstepped its authority, and that these standards are more rigid than other states, are demonstrably false.

“DEP in fact can use its authority to enact standards that go beyond the Control Technique Guidelines (CTGs) established by EPA.

“CTGs are designed to serve as the threshold standard for determining what measures should be considered during the rulemaking process. As such, while states cannot create a rule that is less stringent than the EPA baseline, there is no prohibition on enacting rules that go beyond the federal requirements.

“The CTG-led process is purposefully framed to allow states to tailor their rules to address state-specific needs.

“This has in fact happened in other oil and gas producing states.

“In 2017 Colorado adopted their covered source regulations, which included control thresholds for storage tanks, that went above and beyond the federal CTG baseline.

“California also enacted stronger regulations when adopting its 2018 rule that included a requirement for quarterly leak detection and repair (LDAR) inspections.

“New York enacted more stringent controls over the use of gas-powered pneumatic controllers and required an even more comprehensive LDAR program.

“Wyoming and New Mexico are not required to meet CTG standards, even though they are major oil and gas producers, and their regulations still go beyond current CTG requirements.

“Recent EPA action confirms the reasonableness of DEP’s regulation. Since the CTGs were originally promulgated in 2016, EPA has proposed more robust rules to regulate emissions from covered sources.  These new standards are required to sufficiently prove that cost and other factors are considered when implementing the “best system of emissions reduction”.

“EPA has further determined that, accounting for compliance costs, current work practices can produce even higher emissions reductions than the original CTG requirements.

“These EPA actions and those taken by other major oil and gas producing states disprove that Regulation #7-544 will overburden industry.

“These regulations, which are in the public interest and eminently achievable, are long past due and should be finalized. In fact, the Commonwealth faces considerable programmatic sanctions if it fails to complete this rulemaking (and one for the conventional industry) before the end of this calendar year.

“Advancing this concurrent resolution will not achieve any public benefit; it will merely further delay implementation of overdue, mandatory, and modest emission control requirements that are already practiced in the industry and required by other states.

“If Pennsylvania is going to lay claim as a leader in responsible resource development, it cannot continue to obstruct or undercut fundamental requirements.

“We ask that you oppose this Concurrent Resolution. Thank you for your consideration.”

Click Here for a copy of the letter.

Meeting Information

The Committee meeting will be held in Room G-50 Irvis Building at 9:00 a.m.  Click Here to watch it online.

Rep. Daryl Metcalfe (R-Butler) serves as Majority Chair of the House Environmental Committee and can be contacted by calling 717-783-1707 or sending email to: dmetcalf@pahousegop.com. Rep. Greg Vitali (D-Delaware) serves as Minority Chair and can be contacted by calling 717-787-7647 or sending email to: gvitali@pahouse.net.

Related Article:

-- IRRC Unanimously Approves Part I Of Final Reg. Reducing VOC/Methane Emissions From Unconventional Shale Gas Facilities; DEP Moves To Avoid Federal Highway Funding Sanctions

Related Articles This Week:

-- Gov. Wolf Announces Evaluation Of How DEP Regulates Conventional Oil & Gas Drilling & The Industry’s Compliance With Environmental Safeguards [PaEN]

-- Penn State Study: Potential Pollution Caused By Road Dumping Conventional Oil & Gas Wastewater Makes It Unsuitable For A Dust Suppressant, Washes Right Off The Road Into The Ditch  [PaEN]

-- Environmental Health Project: PA’s Natural Gas Boom - What Went Wrong? Why Does It Matter?  What Can We Do Better To Protect Public Health?  [PaEN]

-- Environmental Health Project Profile: Dr. John Stolz, Duquesne University - Monitoring Impact Of Shale Gas Extraction On Private Water Wells, Groundwater In SW PA  [PaEN]

-- 16 Oil & Gas Facility Spill, Soil, Water Contamination Cleanups Under Act 2 Land Recycling Program During July  [PaEN]

[Posted: July 26, 2022]

8/1/2022