Independent Regulatory Review Commission Meets April 20 On Final Emergency Regs Setting VOC/Methane Emission Limits On Conventional Oil/Gas Operations

The Independent Regulatory Review Commission is scheduled to meet April 20 on final EQB emergency regulations setting emission limits on conventional oil and gas operations.

The regulation was adopted by the Environmental Quality Board on November 30 and delivered to the IRRC on the same day.  

Because the regulation was received when the General Assembly had adjourned the session it had to be redelivered to IRRC and House and Senate Committees on March 21, after the committees were organized.

As of April 11, there are no comments on file with the IRRC on the regulation.

Although the IRRC has the opportunity to review the emergency regulation, the regulation did go into effect on December 2 as authorized under the Regulatory Review Act.  Read more here.

The IRRC already approved VOC/methane limits on unconventional shale gas operations and they were published in the PA Bulletin and became effective December 10.

On December 14, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency wrote a letter to DEP accepting DEP’s final regulations setting VOC/methane limits on conventional and unconventional oil and gas facilities for evaluation which “stops the imposition of federal highway funding sanctions that were set to take effect in Pennsylvania on December 15, 2022.”  Read more here.

The IRRC meeting will be held in the 14th Floor Conference Room, 333 Market Street, Harrisburg starting at 10:00 a.m.  Click Here to watch online.

Background

Conventional oil and gas facilities account for 80 percent of methane emissions from the oil and gas industry in Pennsylvania because they have done little or nothing to control them.

The unconventional shale gas industry accounts for 20 percent because they have implemented some controls.

From November 6 to 19, a leaking conventional gas well at the Equitrans Rager Mountain Storage Area in Cambria County vented an estimated 1 billion cubic feet of natural gas that could be seen from space.  Read more here.

On January 26, the Environmental Defense Fund and Taxpayers for Common Sense released a study showing thousands of conventional natural gas wells in just the Allegheny National Forest released 6.06 billion cubic feet of natural gas in 2019.  Read more here.

The Allegheny National Forest covers over 514,000 acres in Warren, McKean, Forest and Elk counties.

The provisions in the regulation are identical to a final-omitted regulation applying to conventional oil and gas facilities approved by the Independent Regulatory Review Commission by a vote of 4 to 1 on November 17.  Read more here.

Conventional Industry Attempts To Block Regulation

The PA Independent Oil and Gas Association, PA Independent Petroleum Producers and the PA Grade Crude Oil Coalition actively continue their efforts to block the regulation in any way they can.

On November 28, representatives of the conventional oil and gas industry wrote a letter to the Environmental Quality Board urging them to reject the emergency final-omitted rulemaking covering their VOC/methane emissions and start the rulemaking process all over again.

When the EQB overwhelmingly approved the regulation by a vote of 16 to 2, these groups filed a lawsuit in Commonwealth Court on December 5 in an attempt to block implementation, as reported by Marcellus Drilling News.  Read more here.

(Photo: Diversified Prod Co. conventional gas well leaking methane in Allegheny County courtesy of Earthworks.)

Related Articles - Conventional Wells:

-- EPA Accepts Final DEP Oil/Gas Facility VOC/Methane Emission Limits Regulations For Review, Stops Imposition Of Federal Highway Funding, Other Sanctions

-- Marcellus Drilling News: 3 Conventional Oil & Gas Industry Groups File Lawsuit To Block Rule Limiting VOC/Methane Emissions From Conventional Oil & Gas Facilities

-- EQB Overwhelmingly Approves Emergency Regulation Setting VOC/Methane Limits For Conventional Oil & Gas Facilities; Republicans Vote Against

-- IRRC Approves Final VOC/Methane Emission Limits On Conventional Oil & Gas Wells - Federal Highway Funds Still At Risk; And First State MCL For PFOS/PFOA

-- Republicans On House Committee Disapprove Final Reg. To Reduce VOC/Methane Emissions From Unconventional Oil & Gas Facilities Risking $500 Million In Federal Highway Funds

-- IRRC Unanimously Approves Part I Of Final Reg. Reducing VOC/Methane Emissions From Unconventional Shale Gas Facilities; DEP Moves To Avoid Federal Highway Funding Sanctions

PA Oil & Gas Public Notice Dashboards:

-- Pennsylvania Oil & Gas Weekly Compliance Dashboard - April 8 to 14; Shale Gas Drillers Create New Brownfields, 8 Wells Found With Defective Casing/Cementing  [PaEN]  

-- PA Oil & Gas Industrial Facilities: Permit Notices/Opportunities To Comment - April 15  [PaEN] 

PA Oil & Gas Compliance Reports

-- Feature: 60 Years Of Fracking, 20 Years Of Shale Gas: Pennsylvania’s Oil & Gas Industrial Infrastructure Is Hiding In Plain Sight [PaEN]

-- Conventional Oil & Gas Well Owners Failed To File Annual Production/Waste Generation Reports For 61,655 Wells; Attorney General Continues Investigation Of Road Dumping Wastewater  [PaEN]

-- DEP Issued 754 Notices Of Violation For Defective Oil & Gas Well Casing, Cementing, The Fundamental Protection Needed To Prevent Gas Migration, Groundwater & Air Contamination, Explosions  [PaEN]

-- DEP Report Finds: Conventional Oil & Gas Drillers Routinely Abandon Wells; Fail To Report How Millions Of Gallons Of Waste Is Disposed; And Non-Compliance Is An ‘Acceptable Norm’  [PaEN]

-- DEP 2021 Oil & Gas Program Annual Report Shows Conventional Oil & Gas Operators Received A Record 610 Notices Of Violation For Abandoning Wells Without Plugging Them  [PaEN]

-- PA Oil & Gas Industry Has Record Year: Cost, Criminal Convictions Up; $3.1 Million In Penalties Collected; Record Number Of Violations Issued; Major Compliance Issues Uncovered; Evidence Of Health Impacts Mounts  [PaEN] 

Related Article This Week:

-- Natural Gas Pipeline Pigging Facility Malfunction Dec. 27 Released 1.1 Million Cubic Feet Of Natural Gas; Same Facility Plagued Community With Blowdowns 3 Times A Day, 7 Days A Week For Nearly 10 Years Until Criminal Charges Brought Against CNX [PaEN]

[Posted: April 11, 2023]  PA Environment Digest