Colorado Strengthens Oil and Gas Air Quality Regulations and Clarifies Requirements for Inspections at all Production Facilities

(DENVER) Today Colorado’s Air Quality Control Commission unanimously adopted rules that continue the state’s national leadership on addressing oil and gas methane pollution.

These new revisions to Regulation 7 bring Colorado’s methane regulations into further alignment with the 20 24 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Methane Rule.

The finalized rules phase out the use of intentionally polluting equipment for the transmission and storage of natural gas and clarify that instrument-based leak detection and repair at all oil and gas well sites is required, including low-producing, wellhead-only production facilities.

At a minimum, wellhead-only production facilities must be inspected annually by an approved instrument method, with the inspection frequency increasing based on emissions and proximity to occupied areas or locations within disproportionately impacted communities inside Colorado’s ozone non-attainment area. Surveys conducted by Earthworks found examples of leaks from well casings that can occur at wellhead-only well sites in Routt County in 2021 and Fremont County in 2022.

Since marginal wells are also characterized by low production and high emission rates, instrument-based inspections at all well sites regardless of production will help Colorado find and fix methane leaks that would otherwise go unabated. 

“Colorado, like all energy-producing states, has a responsibility to its citizens to establish strong state-level regulations that ensure the cleanest possible oil and gas practices to improve public health and mitigate climate risk. What sets Colorado apart from so many others is the way regulators have embraced that responsibility and seized rulemaking opportunities like this one to raise the bar. State ambition on climate is more important now than ever.” said Nini Gu, Regulatory & Legislative Manager at Environmental Defense Fund.

Methane is a powerful greenhouse gas with a warming potential more than 80 times greater than carbon dioxide in the short term. A warming climate hastens strange and severe weather events, such as droughts and wildfires that have significantly impacted Colorado. Methane is responsible for about a third of the climate change we’re experiencing today, and cutting those emissions is the best way to slow the rate of climate change in our lifetime.

Today’s rulemaking will also help the state’s ozone problem, as ozone-forming pollutants are reduced alongside methane during oil and gas operations. Cleaner production is important for the state’s ozone non-attainment areas in the Denver Metro and Northern Front Range. Breathing ozone can irritate the lungs, reduce lung function, and trigger asthma attacks and worsen respiratory diseases such as asthma and emphysema.

The hearing that concluded today is the second in a series of rulemakings to integrate requirements for existing oil and gas sources from the 2024 EPA Methane Rule into state regulations. Colorado took the first step a year ago by voting to phase out natural gas-emitting pneumatic devices. The Air Quality Control Commission has indicated that an upcoming hearing this fall would complete state-level alignment with the EPA guidelines for existing sources.