Top Headlines

 

Interior Finalizes Rule Rolling Back Methane Regulations.

 

BLM's Final Methane Rule Reveal Draws Swift Legal Action.

 

Methane Rollbacks Could Put Paris Goal Further Out Of Sight.

 

U.S. LNG Industry Groans Under Weight Of New Tariffs.

 

 

Final Waste Prevention Rule

 

Reactions and Impacts

 

AP | States Sue Over Trump Pollution Rollback. According to The Washington Post, “Attorneys general from California and New Mexico are suing the Trump administration over its rollback of a rule aimed at reducing pollution from energy drilling on federal lands. The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court in California on Tuesday. It came just hours after the U.S. Interior Department announced it was rescinding a methane pollution rule proposed under President Barack Obama. Methane, the main component of natural gas, is frequently wasted through leaks or intentional releases during oil and gas drilling. California Attorney General Xavier Becerra says the Trump administration was getting rid of a commonsense measure that would reduce pollution and waste. Spokeswoman Sarah Lovenheim says it’s the 24th lawsuit Becerra has filed against the Trump administration over environmental issues.” [The Washington Post, 9/18/18 (=)]

 

BLM's Final Methane Rule Reveal Draws Swift Legal Action. According to E&E News, “The states of California and New Mexico yesterday opened a new courtroom battle over Obama-era methane standards, hours after the Interior Department closed the book on its long effort to scale back the rule. Bureau of Land Management officials yesterday revealed the language of its revisions to the 2016 Methane and Waste Prevention Rule. ‘Sadly, the flawed 2016 rule was a radical assertion of legal authority that stood in stark contrast to the long-standing understanding of Interior’s own lawyers,’ said Interior Deputy Secretary David Bernhardt. ‘The Trump administration is committed to innovative regulatory improvement and environmental stewardship, while appropriately respecting the clear and distinct authorities of the states, tribes, as well as the direction we receive from Congress.’ The New Mexico and California attorneys general promptly sued Interior. ‘With this attempt to axe the Waste Prevention Rule, the Trump administration risks the air our children breathe and at taxpayers’ expense,’ said California Attorney General Xavier Becerra. ‘We’ve sued the administration before over the illegal delay and suspension of this rule and will continue doing everything in our power to hold them accountable to our people and planet.’ In their lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, the states contend that BLM under President Trump has violated multiple statutes in its unrelenting efforts to wipe the rule from the books.” [E&E News, 9/19/18 (=)]

 

That Was Fast. California Attorney General Xavier Becerra, the California Air Resources Board and New Mexico Attorney General Hector Balderas already filed a lawsuit over the rule. ‘We’ve sued the administration before over the illegal delay and suspension of this rule and will continue doing everything in our power to hold them accountable to our people and planet,’ Becerra said in a statement.” [Politico, 9/19/18 (=)]

 

Methane Rollbacks Could Put Paris Goal Further Out Of Sight. According to E&E News, “In the span of a week, the Trump administration has taken aim at two key Obama-era rules to control methane emissions from the oil and gas industry. The Bureau of Land Management announced yesterday afternoon it is reviewing its rule for controlling emissions of the greenhouse gas from oil and gas development on public lands. This followed EPA’s Sept. 11 announcement that it was loosening New Source Performance Standards for new and modified sources in the industry. Industry trade groups have cheered the moves, but environmentalists are warning that, combined, the rule rollbacks could have serious implications for controlling greenhouse gases and protecting public health. The changes could also set the United States further back on meeting the emission reduction targets the Obama administration committed to in the Paris Agreement. Michael Saul, senior attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity, said it was ‘not a coincidence’ EPA and BLM released the rules at the same time. He described the rule changes as a bid to give oil and gas operators short-term savings at the expense of climate and health benefits. ‘When you look at these two together, it seems like a concerted effort to effectively prop up [oil and gas] by letting it in economic terms externalize its costs onto the public,’ Saul said. ‘The harms of methane, whether immediate air pollution or extremely potent climate effects, are borne by the public at large, and the industry that’s making profit off this is being removed from any obligation to internalize its share of those costs.’” [E&E News, 9/19/18 (=)]

 

Announcement & General Coverage

 

Trump Administration Eases Rule On Methane Leaks On Public Land. According to Reuters, “The Trump Administration on Tuesday rolled back an Obama-era rule on emissions of the greenhouse gas methane from oil and gas operations on public lands in its latest step to ease regulations on the industry. The so-called Waste Prevention Rule was aimed at reducing leaks of natural gas, or methane, that occur through venting and flaring during oil and gas production on federal land. David Bernhardt, the Interior Department’s deputy secretary, said revisions to the rule reflect President Donald Trump’s policy avoiding ‘regulatory burdens that unnecessarily encumber energy production, constrain growth and prevent job creation.’” [Reuters, 9/19/18 (=)]

 

Trump Administration Weakens Methane Pollution Standards For Drilling On Public Lands. According to The Hill, “The Trump administration on Tuesday finalized its plans to weaken regulations on methane gas releases from drilling on public land. The action from the Interior Department’s Bureau of Land Management (BLM) rolls back key provisions of an Obama-era rule that limited releases of the greenhouse gas during oil and gas production on publicly owned lands leased to fossil fuel companies. The new rule is expected to allow for more leaks of the gas through a practice known as venting or flaring, adding to air pollution. The Obama administration estimated that the practice cost taxpayers more than $330 million annually in lost revenue. The new rule is being described by the Trump administration as a way to reduce burdens on the private sector. The rule would limit regulations that ‘unnecessarily encumber energy production, constraining growth and preventing job creation,’ David Bernhardt, deputy secretary of the Interior Department, told reporters Tuesday on a press call.” [The Hill, 9/19/18 (=)]

 

BLM Methane Rule Faces New Legal Fight In Wake Of Similar EPA Measure. According to Inside EPA, “The Trump administration has finalized its plan to largely scrap several Obama-era provisions limiting releases of methane, the potent greenhouse gas, from oil and gas development on public lands, setting up a new round of litigation with environmentalists who are already threatening to sue over similar EPA rollbacks. The Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) Sept. 18 final rule is the second of what many observers expect to be three broad steps by Trump officials to undo oil and gas methane rules, after EPA earlier released a proposal to scale back its new source performance standards (NSPS) imposing first-time methane limits on the sector. In the wake of the BLM rule, many expect EPA to follow up with a more aggressive proposal replacing direct control of methane from new facilities with an approach focused on volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that would likely preclude methane limits for existing sources. ‘The BLM is rescinding the [2016 Obama rule’s] novel requirements pertaining to to waste minimization plans, gas-capture percentages, well drilling, well completion and related operations, pneumatic controllers, pneumatic diaphragm pumps, storage vessels, and leak detection and repair (LDAR),’ the bureau notes in the final version of its rule.” [Inside EPA, 9/18/18 (=)]

 

Final BLM Rule Scraps Most Oil & Gas Methane Limits, Sets Up Legal Fight. According to Inside EPA, “The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has finalized its plan to largely scrap several Obama-era provisions limiting releases of methane, the potent greenhouse gas, from oil and gas development on public lands, setting up a new round of litigation over the Trump administration’s efforts to ease the regulatory burden on the sector. The Sept. 18 final rule is the second of what many observers expect to be three broad steps by Trump officials to undo oil and gas methane rules, after EPA earlier released a proposal to scale back its new source performance standards (NSPS) imposing first-time methane limits on the sector. In the wake of the BLM rule, many expect EPA to follow up with a more aggressive proposal replacing direct control of methane from new facilities with an approach focused on volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that would likely preclude methane limits for existing sources. ‘The BLM is rescinding the [2016 Obama rule’s] novel requirements pertaining to to waste minimization plans, gas-capture percentages, well drilling, well completion and related operations, pneumatic controllers, pneumatic diaphragm pumps, storage vessels, and leak detection and repair (LDAR),’ the bureau notes in the final version of its rule.” [Inside EPA, 9/18/18 (=)]

 

AP | Trump Rolls Back Pollution Rules For Drilling On US Lands. According to The Washington Post, “The Trump administration rolled back an Obama-era rule meant to curb climate-changing pollution on Tuesday, easing restrictions on energy companies that allow huge volumes of natural gas to escape after drilling it from U.S. lands. The move rescinds much of a 2016 rule adopted under President Barack Obama that forced energy companies to capture methane, a key contributor to climate change. The replacement rule from the Interior Department does not have the same mandates for companies to reduce gas pollution. It comes a week after the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency proposed weakening a similar rule for emissions from public and private lands. ‘We’re for clean air and water, but at the same time, we’re for reasonable regulations,’ Deputy Interior Secretary David Bernhardt told reporters. Bernhardt and other Interior officials were unable to say how much the new rule would reduce methane emissions. The prior regulation would have cut emissions by up to 180,000 tons a year. The replacement rule would eliminate almost all of an estimated $1.4 billion to $1.6 billion in costs over 10 years that companies faced to comply with the Obama-era regulation.” [The Washington Post, 9/18/18 (=)]

 

More Methane: Interior Eases Rules Curbing Leaks From Oil And Gas Leases On Federal Land. According to The Washington Post, “In the fourth rollback of a major federal climate rule in less than two months, the Interior Department eased requirements Tuesday that oil and gas firms operating on federal and tribal land capture the release of methane, a potent greenhouse gas. Officials said that the rule, adopted in 2016, was duplicative, given state laws, and imposed too heavy a burden on the private sector. Environmentalists and Democrats vowed to fight the reversal in court, saying that it would lead to greater air pollution and boost emissions linked to climate change. The 2016 regulation required operators to capture methane leaks, install more modern controls and develop a plan to reduce the release of the heat-trapping gas, which, for the first 20 years after being released into the atmosphere, is roughly 86 times more powerful than carbon dioxide. The new rule largely eliminates those requirements, including limits on how much methane can be released and burned off. Experts said the previous standards would have prevented the release of nearly 180,000 tons of methane into the atmosphere each year.” [The Washington Post, 9/18/18 (=)]

 

Trump Administration Formally Rolls Back Rule Aimed At Limiting Methane Pollution. According to The New York Times, “The Trump administration on Tuesday effectively reversed a regulation designed to prevent methane, one of the most powerful greenhouse gases, from escaping into the atmosphere during oil and gas operations. In the long-expected move, the Interior Department finalized its new rule, replacing one proposed by former President Barack Obama in the final days of his administration, that would have reduced leaking, venting and flaring of methane from drilling activity on federal and tribal land. The new regulation essentially reinstates the approximately 30-year-old guidelines that were in place when President Trump won the 2016 election. It’s the Trump administration’s fourth major environmental rollback effort this year, coming after a plan to weaken greenhouse gas rules for power plants, an end to a rule requiring cars to be cleaner and more efficient, and a separate measure making it easier for companies to avoid monitoring and repairing methane leaks. Together the rules effectively put an end to the United States’ most significant regulatory efforts to address global warming.” [The New York Times, 9/18/18 (=)]

 

DOI Finalizes Methane Rule. According to Politico, “The Interior Department finalized its new rule Tuesday to loosen Obama-era mandates requiring oil and gas companies to reduce methane leaks from their pipelines and drilling infrastructure on federal land. ‘The new rule from Interior’s Bureau of Land Management slashes requirements that companies write waste minimization plans for their operations, meet methane capture targets and use equipment that adheres to certain technical standards,’ Ben reports . The new rule is set to go into effect 60 days after its publication in the Federal Register.” [Politico, 9/19/18 (=)]

 

Interior Finalizes Rule Rolling Back Methane Regulations. According to Politico, “The Interior Department issued a new rule Tuesday loosening mandates put in place under President Barack Obama that would have forced oil and gas producers to plug methane leaks from wells and pipelines on federal land. The new final rule rolls back many of the Obama-era provisions that would have forced energy companies to reduce the waste emissions of the gas that is a powerful driver of climate change — measures that the energy industry argued were outside of the Interior Department’s jurisdiction. The new rule from Interior’s Bureau of Land Management slashes requirements that companies write waste minimization plans for their operations, meet methane capture targets and use equipment that adheres to certain technical standards. It follows an EPA proposal on Sept. 11 to weaken its own methane waste rule governing emissions from all sources. … Interior’s ‘own analysis found that scrapping the methane rule would lead to more than $1 billion in wasted natural gas and pollution,’ Sen. Tom Udall (D-N.M.) said in a statement. ‘This wasteful decision will hit New Mexico the hardest, where royalty resources are sorely needed, and where a methane cloud the size of the Delaware is hovering over the Four Corners region.’ … ‘The Trump administration is relentless in its push to give the oil and gas industry multi-million-dollar handouts at the expense of Americans’ health and environment, said David Doniger, senior strategic director at Natural Resource Defense Council’s climate and clean energy program. ‘We will continue to fight in court to ensure people and the planet come before powerful polluters.’” [Politico, 9/18/18 (=)]

 

BLM To Lock In Methane Rule Revision. According to E&E News, “The Bureau of Land Management is expected today to take its final step toward relaxing Obama-era methane standards for oil and gas development on public lands. The Trump administration’s draft rule, released earlier this year, was largely viewed as a rescission of the 2016 Methane and Waste Prevention Rule, which regulates flared, leaked and vented natural gas from oil and gas operations on federal and tribal lands. The Interior Department will hold a press call this afternoon, at which time it is expected to finalize those changes. Interior Department attorneys last month indicated in court filings that release of the final ‘revision rule’ was imminent (Greenwire, Aug. 30). The Obama rule has been caught in a complex web of litigation that is likely to encompass the revised rule. BLM estimates the revised rule could result in close to $1 billion in net gains over 10 years. Those benefits were tied to expected savings for oil and gas firms, which would no longer have to pay to comply with the Obama rule. The Trump administration’s proposed rule anticipated a loss of at least $26.4 million in royalty payments, which benefit taxpayers.” [E&E News, 9/18/18 (=)]

 

 

China-U.S. Trade War Gets Real For Gas. According to Axios, “China yesterday said it’s hitting U.S. liquefied natural gas shipments with 10% tariffs, part of their retaliation against Trump’s announcement this week of $200 billion in tariffs on Chinese goods. Why it matters: China, which has a large and growing thirst for gas imports, has been an emerging growth market for the expanding U.S. LNG industry (though cargoes to China have fallen of late). But the trade war could threaten investment in expensive new and expanded export facilities. What they’re saying: ‘Given that LNG requires considerably larger and more specialized investments in import infrastructure than crude oil, mechanisms that constrain LNG markets may prove more troublesome for U.S. exporters,’ ClearView Energy Partners said in a note. Per Reuters, the gas penalties are ‘casting a shadow over U.S. export terminals that would propel the United States into the world’s second-largest LNG seller.’ ‘The tariffs will push Chinese buyers to other sellers in Asia and the Middle East because the U.S. will no longer be considered a low cost option,’ analyst Ira Joseph of S&P Global Platts tells the Wall Street Journal. The intrigue: The LNG tariffs, however, are lower than the 25% that China had previously threatened, and shares of the big U.S. LNG exporter Cheniere Energy closed higher yesterday.” [Axios, 9/19/18 (=)]

 

U.S. LNG Industry Groans Under Weight Of New Tariffs. According to Politico, “The escalating trade war with China is threatening to make the U.S. liquefied natural gas industry one of the biggest victims of President Donald Trump’s tariffs. China said today it would retaliate against the Trump administration’s $200 billion in new tariffs by imposing a 10 percent tariff on U.S. LNG shipments — a move U.S. energy companies say will make it more difficult to sign supply contracts with the fastest growing LNG consumer in the world. ‘Any sort of tariff, given how tight the margins are and how competitive the market is, that cost is going to come back and make projects difficult to compete,’ Charlie Riedl, head of trade association Center for Liquefied Natural Gas, said by phone from Barcelona, Spain, where he was attending an international LNG conference. Even though China’s initial tariff rate of 10 percent is lower than expected, the rising tensions between the U.S. and China could prompt Beijing to boost it to the 25 percent level it had threatened last month, Riedl said. ‘We could get to that 25 percent number that would be terrible, that would make a lot of projects delayed or not even happen,’ he said. … ‘You have other LNG suppliers on record — the Qataris and others — saying they’ll increase production by 30 percent, and the Russians talking about investing enormous amounts of dollars to capture supply going into China,’ Riedl said. ‘These things could have long term impact on U.S. LNG.’” [Politico, 9/18/18 (=)]