The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has pushed for plans to lower methane emissions from oil and gas production in a bid to catch up on global warming regulations of the Obama administration.
EPA's acting assistant administrator for the Office of Air and Radiation Janet McCabe said the new regulations would bode well for the environment and public health as well as assist oil and gas companies in their bid to reduced waste and sold more gas, according to Fox News.
EPA's target to cut methane by 40 to 45 percent by 2025 (compared against 2012 levels) was accompanied by new standards for drilling to reduce leakage on public lands proposed and regulations cutting emissions from new natural gas wells.
Energy producers would be required to repair leaks at oil and gas wells and capture gas that escapes from wells. McCabe said the rules would apply only to emissions from new or modified natural gas wells, meaning thousands of existing wells would not have to comply.
Fox News said the proposal would face stiff opposition from energy groups and Republican lawmakers.
Some industry officials have perceived the new regulations as duplicative because existing companies producing natural gas are already taking the steps to cut down emissions, albeit voluntarily, the Wall Street Journal reported. Other industry leaders told the publication that the new regulations would be cost effective to their business because cutting emissions of methane would allow them to sell more.
Southwestern Energy Company executive vice president Mark Boiling told WSJ that the past and current regulations still allow a lot of flexibility for oil and gas producers to assess their own situations, such as their emissions profile and the most cost effective way to reduce methane emissions.
The EPA estimates that the proposed rule for new oil and gas wells- the biggest of three regulatory steps the agency proposed Tuesday- will cost the industry between $320 million and $420 million a year by 2025 and provide climate-change benefits of $460 million to $550 million, the publication said.
This new EPA regulation is part of President Barack Obama's broad push to adhere to its promised climate change advocacy for his 2012 re-election.
Early this month, Mr. Obama unveiled the centerpiece of that plan, an increase to 28 percent the proportion of the nation's electricity generated by renewable sources like solar and wind and a final regulation meant to cut emissions of carbon dioxide by 32 percent from 2005 levels by 2030. Those rules, if they withstand legal challenges, would transform the nation's energy sector, according to New York Times.
