As part of President Barack Obama’s clean energy agenda, U.S. Secretary of Interior Sally Jewell announced Friday a proposal to update 30-year-old regulations to reduce flaring and venting from oil-and-gas operations on public and American Indian lands.
“I think most people would agree that we should be using our nation’s natural gas to power our economy – not wasting it by venting and flaring it into the atmosphere,” Jewell said. “We need to modernize, cut down on harmful methane emissions, and use this captured gas to generate power.”
Public comments are being sought on a proposed rule that would strengthen emission rules on BLM lands, including Canyons of the Ancients National Monument and around the Chaco Cultural Park.
It would require oil-and-gas producers to adopt currently available technologies to limit the rate of flaring and venting at oil and gas wells.
The proposed rule would also:
Require operators to conduct more leak inspections, and replace outdated equipment that vents large quantities of gas into the air.
Require operators to limit venting from storage tanks and limit gas losses when removing liquids from wells.
Clarify when operators owe royalties on flared gas, and ensure that BLM’s regulations provide congressionally authorized flexibility to set royalty rates at or above 12.5 percent of the value of production.
According to the Department of Interior, vast amounts of natural gas from public and Indian lands are lost through venting, flaring, and leaks from oil and gas operations. The DOI reports that between 2009 and 2014, enough natural gas was lost to power more than five million homes for a years.
According to a 2010 Government Accountability Office report, states, tribes, and federal taxpayers lose $23 million annually in royalty revenues when natural gas is wasted
The BLM’s current rules addressing venting and flaring were adopted 30 years ago, long before new technologies such as advanced hydraulic fracturing unlocked vast new natural gas supplies.
The GAO report estimates that 40 percent of natural gas now vented or flared from on shore federal leases could be economically captured with current technologies.
“By asking operator to take simple, common sense actions to reduce wasted, like swapping out old equipment and checking for leaks, we expect to cut this waste almost in half,” said BLM director Neil Kornze
The proposed updated regulations would be phased in over several years.
“It would not only get more of our nations’s natural gas into pipelines, but also reduce pollution and cut greenhouse gas emissions that are contributing to climate change,” said Janice Schneider, Interior assistant secretary for land and minerals.
In 2014, satellite data was released that revealed a massive methane bloom in the atmosphere above the Four Corners. It is being investigated by the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Association, and emissions from oil and gas production are a suspected contributor to the methane hot spot, a greenhouse gas and contributor to smog.
Environmental groups expressed optimism at the proposed new rules, while industry groups were critical of it.
“It’s timely that BLM acknowledges finally acknowledges its responsibly to participate in reducing air emissions from the hundreds of oil and gas projects they approve yearly,” said Mike Eisenfeld, energy and climate programs manager for the San Juan Citizens Alliance, based in Durango.
“Capturing the wasted methane from BLM-permitted oil and gas facilities will potential reduce the 2,500 square-mile methane hot spot in the Four Corners.”
Western Energy Alliance, which represents 450 oil and natural gas companies in the West, said the proposed rules are redundant with state rules and ignores industry efforts to reduce emissions.
“Industry has achieved dramatic emission reductions without federal regulations,” said Kathleen Sgamma, of Western Energy Alliance. “Technological innovation, driven by market forces has greatly increased gas capture and reduce leakage rates.”
The Alliance reports that “since 1990, oil and gas producers have decreased methane emissions by 21 percent even as natural gas production has climbed 47 percent.”
The public will have 60 days to submit comments on the proposal once it is published in the Federal Register. The BLM plans to hold a series of public meetings on the proposed rule in February and march.
To view the 298 pages of proposed new rules and learn how to comment go to http://on.doi.gov/1UgvCvS