US Environmental Agency Close To Rescinding Obama-Era Rule On Methane - Federal Register

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 12th September, 2018) The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) intends to roll back Obama-era regulations that limit methane emissions in the oil and gas industry, an unpublished regulation in the Federal Register revealed on Tuesday.

"We have estimated that over the 2019 through 2025 time frame, assuming semiannual monitoring at a compressor stations, the proposed NSPS [new source performance standards] reconsideration would increase methane emissions by about 380,000 short tons," the document said.

The EPA said the modification of emission standards would save $75 million in regulatory costs per year.

The agency acknowledged the changes may also degrade air quality and adversely affect health and welfare effects.

After publishing the proposed regulation in the Federal Register, the US government will open a 60-day period for public comments before it goes into effect, according to the document.

Methane is an extremely potent greenhouse gas, warming the climate about 80 times more than carbon dioxide. Oil and gas operations represent the largest single industrial source of methane emissions in the United States.

President Donald Trump had ordered a sweeping review of regulations imposed under President Barack Obama, claiming that excessive costs imposed by bureaucratic rule-making helps explain a decade of sluggish US economic growth.