Environmental Defense Fund and Allies File Joint Comments on Environmental Protection Agency’s Methane Reporting Rule

(WASHINGTON) EDF and allies submitted public comments on the Environmental Protection Agency’s proposed regulations to update reporting of methane and other greenhouse gas emissions from the oil and gas industry. 

With the Inflation Reduction Act, Congress directed EPA to update methane reporting protocols based on empirical data to improve accuracy. Reported methane will soon be subject to a waste emissions charge under the Methane Emissions Reduction Program. To be effective, it is critically important that the charge is based on the oil and gas industry’s real-world pollution impacts.

In their joint comments, EDF, Clean Air Task Force, Earthworks, Natural Resource Defense Council and Sierra Club call on EPA to finalize a  rule that:

• Requires operators to report large emission events, often called “super-emitters,” that contribute significantly to the industry’s total pollution.
   
• Updates emissions factors (the formula used to estimate equipment emissions) so that they include the latest data on emissions from leaks, and other operational problems.  

• Uses funding from the Methane Emissions Reduction Program for:
  •  Gathering and incorporating top-down basin-level data 
  •  Monitoring for large release events and focusing on sites that are not otherwise monitored.
     
• Provides all reported emissions data in publicly-accessible and easy to use formats and audits and validates all reported emissions for accuracy. 

• Requires operators to use data from regulatory leak inspections to strengthen the accuracy of their reported emissions.

Read the official comment submission here.