On January 12, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency issued a proposal for a methane waste charge on large sources of oil and gas methane pollution.

The proposed methane waste charge is part of the Methane Emissions Reduction Program authorized by Congress through the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act.

In response, Evangelical Environmental Network President & CEO Rev. Dr. Jessica Moerman issued the following statement:

“The methane waste charge is a forward-looking proposal that will incentivize economic innovation in methane mitigation.

“Cutting wasteful and dangerous methane emissions from the oil and gas sector is one of the fastest ways to slow global warming now. It is also crucial to defending our children’s health from toxic gases associated with methane emissions.

“Many industry operators understand the need to lower their emissions and have already set goals to do so. The methane waste charge will further enable oil and gas operators to successfully and efficiently achieve these goals.”

As a separate component of the Methane Emissions Reduction Program, the Department of Energy) and EPA also recently announced $350 million in funding to 14 states to identify, measure, and permanently reduce methane emissions from low-producing (marginal) conventional oil and gas wells.

[DEP was awarded $44.4 million to plug active, conventional oil and gas wells to stop leaking methane.  Read more here.]

These funds will facilitate states to support industry efforts to cut methane emissions from wells on non-federal lands and support the environmental restoration of well sites.

The announcement begins a 45-day public comment period on the proposed structure.

For more information on programs, initiatives, upcoming events and how you can get involved, visit the Evangelical Environmental Network website.   ENN is based in New Freedom, York County.

The mission of ENN is to inspire, equip, educate, and mobilize evangelical Christians to love God and others by rediscovering and reclaiming the Biblical mandate to care for creation and working toward a stable climate and a healthy, pollution-free world.

(Photo: Conventional well leaking methane in Allegheny County, courtesy of Earthworks.)

Resource Link:

-- EPA Announces Proposed Rule To Reduce Wasteful Methane Emissions From Oil & Gas Facilities

PA Oil & Gas Industry Public Notice Dashboards:

-- PA Oil & Gas Weekly Compliance Dashboard - Jan. 4 to 12 - 9 More Abandoned Conventional Wells; Leaking Wastewater Tanks; Rager Mountain Gas Storage Area Cleanup Continues; Pipeline Land Slips  [PaEN]

-- PA Oil & Gas Industrial Facilities: Permit Notices/Opportunities To Comment - January 13  [PaEN]

-- DEP Posted 61 Pages Of Permit-Related Notices In January 13 PA Bulletin  [PaEN] 

2023 Oil & Gas Compliance Reports:

-- DEP Issued At Least 512 Violations To 95 Conventional Oil & Gas Operators For Abandoning Wells Without Plugging Them In 2023; 10 Shale Gas Operators Were Issued NOVs For Abandoning Wells  [PaEN]

-- DEP Issues Record 6,860 Notices Of Violation To Conventional Oil & Gas Operators In 2023-- Nearly 52% More Than In 2021; ‘Culture Of Non-Compliance’ Continues  [PaEN] 

-- 2023 Shale Gas Operator Compliance Report: 1,310 Violations; Explosions; Pad Fire, Evacuation; Uncontrolled Gas Venting; Frack-Outs; Polluting Water Supply; Spills; Pipeline Crashing Thru A Home; More  [PaEN]

-- PA Environment Digest: Articles On Oil & Gas Facility Impacts

Related Articles This Week:

-- Environmental Hearing Board Allows Protect PT Appeal Of Olympus Shale Gas Well Permits In Westmoreland County To Proceed; Olympus Was Trying To Deprive Protect PT Of Its Rights  [PaEN]

-- PJM Interconnection: Winter Weather Forces Natural Gas Pipeline Fuel Restrictions, ‘Conservative Operations’ Declared To Assure Electric Grid Reliability Through Jan. 17  [PaEN]

-- DEP Issues Water Quality Certification For Equitrans Project To Replace Abandoned Natural Gas Storage Wells In Greene County Due To Coal Mining  [PaEN]

-- DEP Reviewing Equitrans Act 2 Soil Cleanup Report On Rager Mountain Gas Storage Area Conventional Well That Failed Venting 1.1 Billion Cubic Feet Of Natural Gas In Cambria County  [PaEN]

-- DEP Issued Air Quality Permit For Leachate Evaporation System At Westmoreland  Landfill With Special Radiation Monitoring Due To The Disposal Of Shale Gas Drilling Waste  [PaEN]

-- DEP Sets Feb. 27 Hearing On Helix Ironwood Gas-Fired Power Plant Air Quality Permit Renewal, Lebanon County  [PaEN]

-- No False Solutions PA Coalition Issues Position Statement On Hydrogen, Carbon Capture & Storage, Chemical Recycling Of Plastics, Other Climate 'Solutions'  [PaEN]

-- Jewish Earth Alliance, Beth Am Israel Hosting Jan. 23 Online Program Rethinking Our Connection To Fossil Fuels - A Discussion  [PaEN]

-- Evangelical Environmental Network: EPA Proposes Waste Charge On Methane Leaking From Large Oil & Gas Facilities  [PaEN]

NewsClips This Week - Oil & Gas:

-- Bob Donnan Blog: Fracking Groundwater Study Underway In SW PA

-- TribLive: Olympus Energy Contends Natural Gas Compressor Station For Penn Twp. Not Harmful To Environment In Westmoreland County

-- Bob Donnan Blog: What’s Not To Hate About Natural Gas Compressor Stations?

-- The Center Square - Anthony Hennen: PA Natural Gas Pipeline Capacity Problem Persists [Industry Points To Out-Of-State Pipeline Delays As Examples]

-- The Center Square - Anthony Hennen: Partisan Split On Energy, Environment Makes Compromise Unlikely

-- Post-Gazette - Anya Litvak: Chesapeake Energy Buys Southwestern Leapfrogging EQT As Biggest Gas Producer In US

-- Bloomberg Columnist: US Oil And Gas Boom Doesn’t Feel Like One To Workers

-- Wall Street Journal - Kris Maher: Democrat PA Gov. Shapiro, CNX Fracking Executive And The Deal They Struck, Can It Work?

-- TribLive Editorial: Hydrogen Isn’t Clean If It Adds To Climate Pollution; Biden’s Rules Are A Good Start

[Posted: January 12, 2024]

1/15/2024