The Biden administration adopted a final rule aimed at cutting methane emissions on Saturday, blaming the US oil and natural gas industry for its involvement in global warming as President Joe Biden strives to advance his climate legacy.
According to the EPA, the rule will significantly reduce methane and other harmful air pollutants produced by the oil and gas industry, encourage the use of cutting-edge methane detection technologies, and provide significant public health benefits in the form of fewer hospital visits, lost school days, and even deaths. Air pollution from oil and gas operations has been linked to cancer, neurological and respiratory problems, and birth defects.
The final regulation was announced at the United Nations climate summit in the United Arab Emirates by EPA Administrator Michael Regan and White House climate adviser Ali Zaidi. Separately, the president of the climate summit revealed on Saturday that 50 oil companies, representing roughly half of world output, have promised to achieve near-zero methane emissions and phase out routine flaring.
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Oil and gas activities are the major industrial producers of methane, the principal component of natural gas and significantly more potent in the short term than carbon dioxide. It accounts for roughly one-third of global warming greenhouse gas emissions. Sharp reductions in methane emissions are a global priority for slowing the rate of climate change and will be a prominent theme at the COP28 summit. Presidents, prime ministers, and royals from affluent and poor countries have pledged to limit the amount of heat-trapping gases emitted by their countries and urged their counterparts to do the same.
“On Day One, President Biden restored America’s critical role as the global leader in confronting climate change,” Regan said, referring to Biden’s actions in returning the United States to the Paris climate agreement and ordering an immediate review of environmental regulations reversed by the previous administration.
The methane rule is the culmination of a proposal made by Biden at a United Nations climate meeting in Scotland in 2021 and expanded a year later at a climate conference in Egypt. It focuses on emissions from existing oil and gas wells across the country rather than just new wells, as prior EPA regulations did. It also governs smaller wells that will be needed to locate and stop methane leaks. Such wells are currently subject to an initial inspection but are rarely examined for leakage again.
Smaller wells produce only 6% of the nation’s oil and gas but account for up to half of methane emissions from well sites, according to studies. The plan will also gradually phase in a requirement for energy companies to stop routine flaring of natural gas produced by new oil wells. According to Regan, the new methane rule will help ensure that the United States reaches a goal set by more than 100 countries to reduce methane emissions by 30% by 2030 compared to 2020 levels. The EPA rule is just one of more than 100 initiatives taken by the Biden administration to limit methane emissions, according to Zaidi.
“From mobilizing billions of dollars in investment to plug orphaned wells, patch leaky pipes, and reclaim abandoned mines to establishing strong standards that will reduce pollution from the oil and gas sector, the Biden-Harris Administration is putting the full weight of the federal government behind reducing harmful methane pollution,” he said.
The new rule will work in tandem with a methane fee agreed to in the 2022 climate legislation. The price, which is slated to go into force next year, will charge energy producers up to $1,500 per metric ton of methane emissions that surpass a specific limit. The initiative is the first time the United States government has put a levy, or tax, on greenhouse gas emissions.
Exemptions are available for businesses that meet EPA regulations or fall below a specific emissions level. It also includes $1.5 billion in grants and other investments to assist businesses and communities in improving monitoring and data collection, as well as finding and repairing natural gas leaks. The American Lung Association’s president and CEO, Harold Wimmer, dubbed the new rule a “public health victory.”
“EPA heeded the urgent advice of health experts throughout the country and finalized a strong methane rule that, when fully implemented, will significantly reduce hazardous air pollutants and climate-warming methane pollution from the oil and gas industry,” he said in a statement.
According to Wimmer, methane has been demonstrated to seep into the atmosphere at all stages of oil and gas production, and “people who live near oil and gas wells are especially vulnerable to these exposure risks.” This rule is critical to moving environmental justice promises forward.”
Climate researcher David Doniger of the Natural Resources Defense Council dubbed methane a “super-polluter.” In an interview, he stated that the Biden plan “takes a very solid whack at climate pollution.” I wish this had happened ten years ago (during the Obama administration), but I’m glad it is now.”
The new rule, according to Fred Krupp, president of the Environmental Defense Fund, assures that “the United States now has the most protective methane pollution limits on the books.” With other governments focusing on methane as a critical climate concern, it’s a signal to operators throughout the world that clean-up time has arrived,” he said.
The oil sector has typically supported direct federal control of methane emissions, preferring a single national norm over a patchwork of state regulations. Nonetheless, energy corporations have urged the EPA to exempt hundreds of thousands of the country’s tiniest wells from the planned methane regulations.
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