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EQB To Meet Nov. 30 To Consider Emergency Regulation Setting VOC/Methane Limits For Conventional Oil & Gas Facilities

On November 22, Gov. Wolf instructed DEP to schedule an Environmental Quality Board meeting November 30 to consider an emergency regulation setting VOC/methane emission limits for conventional oil and gas facilities.

The regulation is identical to a final-omitted regulation approved by the Independent Regulatory Review Commission on November 17. Read more here.

The Regulatory Review Act allows an agency to immediately implement a final-form regulation when the Governor or Attorney General certifies that it is necessary to respond to an emergency.

The Independent Regulatory Review Commission and House and Senate Committee still have an opportunity to review the regulation, but the regulation is allowed to take effect prior to the completion of the process. Read more here.

“We are considering this emergency rulemaking in an effort to comply with federal requirements and prevent sanctions that could cost Pennsylvania hundreds of millions of dollars in federal highway funds,” said DEP Acting Secretary Ramez Ziadeh. “Due to the actions of the House Environmental Resources and Energy Committee, we have no choice but to consider this emergency certified rulemaking in order to comply with federal regulations.”

The November 30 meeting was made necessary by a letter sent by Republicans on the House Environmental Resources and Energy Committee to the IRRC on November 14 disapproving the regulation.

The disapproval blocks consideration of a final-omitted regulation until after a December 16 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency deadline to finalize the regulation.

Failure to meet the deadline means Pennsylvania is at risk of losing nearly $1 billion of federal transportation funding.

“As a result of the House Republicans’ actions, state and local governments across the Commonwealth will lose the authorization to spend hundreds of millions of dollars of federal transportation funding on affected projects,” Gov. Wolf said. “Because these regulations are required under the Clean Air Act, failure to submit them in final form to U.S. EPA by December 16, 2022, will result in EPA imposing non-discretionary sanctions, and the federal government would thus withhold nearly $1 billion of transportation funding – funding that cannot be recuperated. Sanctions can threaten a variety of projects, including highway expansion, new roadway construction, and many highway/bridge restoration and maintenance projects. This could result in some roads and bridges being closed or weight limited, longer commutes, longer ambulance response times, more wear and tear on Pennsylvanians’ cars, and Pennsylvanians’ federal gasoline tax dollars going to other states.

“This regulation is not controversial. It is a federally mandated, technology-based standard. There is no good reason to block the rulemaking but there are extreme consequences for doing so. We have been sounding the alarm for months about the real consequences of these actions and yet they insisted on disapproving the state’s VOC rule.”

More Background

Conventional oil and gas facilities account for 80 percent of methane emissions from the oil and gas industry in Pennsylvania because they have done little or nothing to control them.

The unconventional shale gas industry accounts for 20 percent because they have implemented some controls and was approved on July 21 by the Independent Regulatory Review Commission. Read more here.

The conventional regulation would affect 4,719 conventional well owners of approximately 27,260 facilities.

DEP estimates it will cost the conventional natural gas industry approximately $9.8 million annually to comply with the regulation, but that cost will be offset by preventing $36.4 million of their product not leaking into the atmosphere, at current natural gas prices.

DEP said both parts of the regulation are needed to comply with a mandate from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to adopt controls on methane emissions from oil and gas operations by December 16 or face the potential loss of federal highway funds. Read more here.

The meeting will be held on November 30 in Room 105 Rachel Carson Building in Harrisburg starting at 9:00 a.m. Click Here to register to join the meeting via WebEx or by telephone call 1-415-655-0003 Access code: 2634 579 7250.

For more information and available handouts, visit the Environmental Quality Board webpage. Questions should be directed to Laura Griffin, laurgriffi@pa.gov, 717-772-3277.

(Photo: Conventional natural gas well leaking methane in Allegheny County, EarthWorks.)

Oil & Gas Compliance Dashboard:

-- Pennsylvania Oil & Gas Weekly Compliance Dashboard - Nov. 19 To 25 [PaEN]

-- PA Oil & Gas Industrial Facilities: Permit Notices/Opportunities To Comment [PaEN]

NewsClips:

-- AP: Court Plea Hearing Scheduled Tuesday On Criminal Charges Against Coterra Energy [Fmr Cabot Oil & Gas] For Contaminating Water Supplies In Dimock, Susquehanna County

-- AP: PA American Water To Provide Clean Drinking Water To Residents Of Dimock, Susquehanna County Who Have Gone Without For 14 Years Due To Contamination From Shale Gas Drilling

-- Post-Gazette Editorial: Catastrophic Natural Gas Storage Well Leak In Cambria County Shows Need For New Regulations; Incoming Shapiro Administration Should Expand DEP Oil & Gas Methane Leak Rule

Related Articles This Week:

-- DEP Oil & Gas Advisory Board To Hear Updates On Chapter 78 Regulation Changes; Federal Abandoned Well Plugging Program Dec. 1 [PaEN]

-- EQB To Meet Nov. 30 To Consider Emergency Regulation Setting VOC/Methane Limits For Conventional Oil & Gas Facilities [PaEN]

-- Delaware River Basin Commission Meets Dec. 7 On Shale Gas Fracking Wastewater Regulations [PaEN]