AGA January 2022 Comments on EPA’s Methane Standards Proposal

AGA January 2022 Comments on EPA’s Methane Standards Proposal
On January 31, 2022, AGA filed comments on EPA’s Nov. 15, 2021 Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on methane standards for the oil and natural gas industry. AGA joined its sister trade associations INGAA, API and APGA in supporting clear and reasonable Federal regulation of methane emissions. We noted that given the 69% emission reduction gas utilities have already achieved since 1990, EPA exempted gas utility operations inside and including the local gas distribution company (LDC) custody transfer station from the 2016 methane rule, and EPA has proposed to retain that exemption in this proposal. We asked EPA to make that exemption easier to find and understand by including more explicit language in the regulatory text. AGA noted that it is difficult to comment in detail on EPA’s plans given the fact that EPA did not include a proposed rule in its “notice of proposed rulemaking.” AGA supported IGAA’s technical comments on issues for interstate natural gas transmission and storage operations that will need to be clarified when EPA publishes the proposed rule text.