U.S. EPA delays compliance of important methane regulations for oil and gas, which will exacerbate pollution, hinder climate progress, and undermine public health
WASHINGTON – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced it will delay compliance of several of the provisions of the Clean Air Act standards for oil and gas facilities, which are critical to reducing methane, volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and other toxic pollution.
“Properly mitigating methane and VOC pollution from the oil and gas industry is critical to addressing climate change and improving public health for communities who live and work around these facilities. The administration’s decision to delay compliance with many of the standards that were finalized last year will put public health and the climate at further risk,” said Darin Schroeder, methane legal and regulatory director at Clean Air Task Force. “There are real consequences for any time wasted – by EPA’s own admission, a one-year delay in implementation of existing source standards would result in 3.8 million tons of methane and 960,000 tons of smog-forming VOC pollution that will lead to local health impacts and contribute to worsening air quality. Now is the time to ramp up efforts to clean up the industry’s pollution, not further delay those efforts.”
This is not the first time that there have been attempts at delaying compliance with aspects of these rules. An Oklahoma-led coalition of states and Continental Resources sought an administrative stay from the Supreme Court, which denied the requests last fall. This denial followed a ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit that similarly denied requests to delay.
CATF will closely evaluate EPA’s action and will continue to defend lawful and necessary efforts to reduce methane emissions and other air pollutants.
Press Contact
Samantha Sadowski, Senior Communications Manager, U.S., ssadowski@catf.us, +1 202-440-1717
About Clean Air Task Force
Clean Air Task Force (CATF) is a global nonprofit organization working to safeguard against the worst impacts of climate change by catalyzing the rapid development and deployment of low-carbon energy and other climate-protecting technologies. With more than 25 years of internationally recognized expertise on climate policy and a fierce commitment to exploring all potential solutions, CATF is a pragmatic, non-ideological advocacy group with the bold ideas needed to address climate change. CATF has offices in Boston, Washington D.C., and Brussels, with staff working virtually around the world. Visit catf.us and follow @cleanaircatf.
