"Methane Rule To Eclipse Past Regulations, Including Obama’s"

"EPA plans to propose the nation’s strongest rules against methane emissions this month, escalating the Biden administration’s use of regulatory tools to reduce greenhouse gases from fossil fuel companies.

EPA Administrator Michael Regan confirmed last week that his agency will meet President Biden’s September deadline to propose methane regulations for the oil and gas sector, as laid out in one of the president’s first executive orders.

The upcoming rules for new and existing oil and gas infrastructure are expected to be stricter even than an Obama-era standard set in 2016, which was reinstated in June after Congress took the unusual step of invalidating a Trump EPA rollback and replacement rule.

Environmentalists at the time applauded lawmakers’ use of a Congressional Review Act resolution, which garnered some bipartisan support in both the House and Senate, to cancel former President Trump’s effort to weaken methane requirements. Now they’re pressing EPA to surpass the Obama rule, saying technological advancements over the last five years have made greater reductions cost-effective."

Jean Chemnick reports for E&E News September 8, 2021.

Source: E&E News, 09/09/2021