Joint Meeting Of DEP Citizens Advisory Council, Environmental Justice Advisory Board Nov. 12 On Oil & Gas Methane Emissions Reductions; Hydrogen Hubs

The DEP Citizens Advisory Council and DEP Environmental Justice Advisory Board are scheduled to hold a joint meeting November 12 to hear presentations on the new federal oil and gas methane emission reduction rule, hydrogen hubs and discuss issues of joint concern.

Acting DEP Secretary Jessica Shirley is on the agenda for an update on agency activities.

Click Here for a copy of DEP’s written monthly update to the Citizens Advisory Council

Click Here for the complete agenda.

New Oil & Gas Methane Reduction Rule

DEP’s presentation on the new federal methane rule will be led by Panna Chibber and Naishadh Bhatt and will begin with an overview of the federal regulation and how it compares to existing DEP regulations on reducing oil and gas methane emissions adopted as final in December 2022.

DEP delayed implementation of its previous rule for a year moving the first reporting deadline for conventional and shale gas well owners back to June 1, 2024.  Read more here.

DEP said the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency formally approved these earlier regulations in a State Air Quality Implementation Plan revision on October 1, 2024.  [DEP monthly report to CAC page 4]

During the process of adopting this regulation, DEP said conventional oil and gas facilities account for 80% of methane emissions from the oil and gas industry in Pennsylvania because they have done little or nothing to control them.  Read more here.

The conventional oil and gas industry filed a lawsuit against DEP seeking to block implementation of these regulations in December 2022.  Read more here.

DEP’s 37 slide presentation given to other DEP advisory groups on the new federal rule goes into detail about what the new federal rule will require of conventional and shale gas methane emission sources.

Hydrogen Hubs

Three individuals are expected to present to the joint meeting on hydrogen hubs--

-- Elliot Gold: Philadelphia Gas Works

-- Chris Antoni, AED Energy

-- Max Schultz, Governor’s Office Director Of Energy Infrastructure Solutions

Public Comment Period

Individuals interested in providing public comment during the meeting must sign up 24-hours in advance of the meeting by contacting the CAC Executive Director Ian Irvin at iirvin@pa.gov.  

Commenters are asked to limit comments to 5 minutes to accommodate other commenters and the rest of the agenda.

Join The Meeting

The meeting will be held in Room 105 of the Rachel Carson Building in Harrisburg starting at 12:30 p.m.

The meeting will be available remotely via Microsoft Teams [Meeting ID: 271 699 834 35 Passcode: P88EfK ] or by telephone: +1 267-332-8737  Conference ID #: 800 845 014# .

For handouts and the latest information, visit the DEP Citizens Advisory Council & DEP Environmental Justice Advisory Board webpages.  Questions should be directed to Ian Irvin, Executive Director, iirvin@pa.gov or 717-579-0329.

[Posted: October 29, 2024]  PA Environment Digest