Gabby Brown, gabby.brown@sierraclub.org
Washington, DC -- Today, the Environmental Protection Agency will host the first of three days of hearings to receive public comments on the agency’s draft rules to reduce methane and associated pollution from new and existing oil and gas operations. Methane is a greenhouse gas that is 80 times more powerful than carbon dioxide at warming the planet over a 20-year time frame. When emitted from oil and gas equipment, it is released alongside other harmful pollutants that cause smog and soot, as well as carcinogens like benzene and formaldehyde.
Although the Trump administration sought to eliminate Obama-era limits on methane pollution from new oil and gas infrastructure and to deregulate transmission and storage equipment entirely, President Biden signed legislation this past June reinstating those safeguards. If finalized, EPA’s new proposed rule would expand on those protections by strengthening the limits on pollution from new sources and including the first-ever controls on pre-existing infrastructure.
The draft rules, released earlier this month, would achieve critical reductions in methane and associated pollution, but need to be strengthened in order to achieve a 65 percent reduction in methane pollution from all new and existing oil and gas operations by 2025, which is an achievable target that can be met at low cost using existing technologies
Sierra Club Senior Attorney Andres Restrepo, who will testify tomorrow, released the following statement:
“The dual crises of climate change and air pollution demand aggressive reductions in emissions of methane and associated pollution. EPA’s proposal to curtail those emissions is a welcome and much-needed step in the right direction. In particular, Sierra Club and its allies have for years advocated for EPA protections against methane and other emissions from existing oil and gas sources, and the agency has finally answered that call in this draft rule. The proposal’s requirements for new oil and gas equipment also reflect more protective standards than those that were finalized in the Obama administration in 2016.
“However, the agency must go further.. For example, in its current form, EPA’s proposal would exempt a large number of oil and gas wells from the obligation to regularly find and fix leaking equipment, and would do little to scale back the harmful practice of routine flaring of gas from oil wells. EPA’s final rule must instead establish regular leak detection and repair practices for all oil and gas wells and must crack down on routine flaring. Over the next three days, EPA will hear from dozens of advocates and affected communities demanding strengthened safeguards to protect our families. We urge them to listen and to act on these calls."
Livestreams from the hearings and speaker lists are available HERE.
For interviews with experts about EPA’s proposed rules and this week’s hearings, contact Gabby Brown, gabby.brown@sierraclub.org or 914-261-4626.
About the Sierra Club
The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with millions of members and supporters. In addition to protecting every person's right to get outdoors and access the healing power of nature, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit www.sierraclub.org.