By Jared Burden
The Environmental Protection Agency has recently extended the deadline for comments to its proposed oil and gas air emission standards. The agency originally set a deadline for October 31, but have announced that they will now accept comment submissions until November 30. The new regulation’s complexity and breadth has necessitated the extension as the rule has drawn scrutiny from both industry and environmental groups. A final rule is now expected to be issued on April 3, 2012.
The EPA is bound to promulgate the regulation under a consent decree that it entered with WildEarth Guardians. WildEarth brought suit against the EPA for its failure to review emissions standards for oil and gas facilities, activities that are mandated by the Clean Air Act. As a result of the suit, the EPA has agreed to a wholesale rethinking of emissions standards for volatile organic compounds, hazardous air pollutants, and other byproducts of oil and gas extraction, transmission and storage.
A copy of the proposed rule can be found in the Federal Register, Volume 76, 52738. The rule fills more than 100 pages in the Register. The entire oil and gas industry is implicated, including onshore and offshore operations, liquid natural gas operations, and distribution and transportation activities. The proposed regulation would revise NSPS and NESHAP standards for these operations, including providing standards for previously unregulated emissions sources such as glycol dehydrators and storage vessels without the possibility of flash emissions. These new rules are designed to be comprehensive, and each industry participant should review it carefully to determine how it will affect their operations.
To submit comments for the new rule, you can follow the directions on www.regulations.gov. You can also mail your comments directly to the EPA. Be sure to include the docket number, EPA-HQ-OAR-2010-0505, so that the agency can give it proper consideration. Comments can be made anonymously.