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DEP Advisory Group To Hear How DEP Proposes To Implement New Federal Methane Reduction Rule For Conventional Oil & Gas, Shale Gas Wells, Infrastructure Oct. 10

DEP’s Air Quality Technical Advisory Committee is scheduled to meet on October 10 to hear a presentation and discuss how DEP proposes to implement the new federal methane reduction rule for conventional oil and gas and shale gas wells and infrastructure.

The agenda also includes a discussion of how natural gas-fired compressor engines covered by Air Quality GP-5 and GP-5A General Permits will be required to comply with the new federal methane reduction regulation. Read more here.

New Oil & Gas Methane Rule

DEP’s presentation on the new federal methane rule will be lead by Panna Chibber and Naishadh Bhatt and will begin with an overview of the federal regulation and how it compares to existing DEP regulations on reducing oil and gas methane emissions adopted as final in December 2022.

DEP delayed implementation of its rule for a year moving the first reporting deadline for conventional and shale gas well owners back to June 1, 2024. Read more here.

During the process of adopting this regulation, DEP said conventional oil and gas facilities account for 80% of methane emissions from the oil and gas industry in Pennsylvania because they have done little or nothing to control them. Read more here.

The conventional oil and gas industry filed a lawsuit against DEP seeking to block implementation of these regulations in December 2022. Read more here.

DEP’s 37 slide presentation on the new federal rule goes into detail about what the new federal rule will require of conventional and shale gas methane emission sources.

Public Comment Period

Anyone interested in providing public comments pertaining to a meeting agenda topic during the Public Comment Period is encouraged to pre-register prior to the start of the meeting by emailing the AQTAC Liaison at: RA-EPAQTAC@pa.gov.

Join The Meeting

The meeting will be held in Room 105 of the Rachel Carson Building starting at 9:15 a.m. Visit the Committee webpage for options for joining the meeting remotely by Microsoft Teams and by telephone.

For available handouts and more information, visit DEP’s Air Quality Technical Advisory Committee webpage. Questions should be directed to Joseph Martini martjos@pa.gov.

PA Oil & Gas Industry Public Notice Dashboards:

-- PA Oil & Gas Weekly Compliance Dashboard - Sept. 28 to Oct. 4 - Five More Abandoned Shale Gas Well Violations; Failure To Disclose Fracking Chemicals; Failure To Report Waste Generation & Disposal; Lawnmower Causes Conventional Pipeline Gas Leak [PaEN]

-- DEP Issues Violations To 7 Shale Gas Drillers For Failure To Submit Monthly Waste Generation, Disposal, Production Reports - 1 Company For 3 Years; 2 More Drillers Fail To Disclose Fracking Chemicals [PaEN]

-- PA Oil & Gas Industrial Facilities: Permit Notices, Opportunities To Comment - October 5 [PaEN]

-- Susquehanna River Basin Commission Sets Oct. 30 Hearing On The Proposed 2025 Fee Schedule; Water Withdrawal Requests, Including 4 Supporting Shale Gas Development [PaEN]

-- DEP Posted 72 Pages Of Permit-Related Notices In October 5 PA Bulletin [PaEN]

Related Articles This Week:

-- DEP Begins Accepting Grant Applications Oct. 9 To Plug Orphan Conventional Oil & Gas Wells Abandoned By Their Owners [PaEN]

-- DEP Advisory Group To Hear How DEP Proposes To Implement New Federal Methane Reduction Rule For Conventional Oil & Gas, Shale Gas Wells, Infrastructure Oct. 10 [PaEN]

-- State Fire Commissioner Now Accepting Applications From Local Fire, Emergency Services For Training, Equipment To Respond To Shale Gas Infrastructure Fires, Emergencies [PaEN]

-- Center For Coalfield Justice Hosts Oct. 16 In-Person Program In Waynesburg, Greene County On Protecting Public Health, Resources From Shale Gas Development [PaEN]

-- Sen. Yaw Introduces Bill To Prohibit State Government From Owning Any Clean Energy Credits; Would Force The Use Of More Taxpayer Money To Plug Conventional Oil & Gas Wells Routinely Abandoned By Conventional Well Owners [PaEN]