Environmental Protection Agency

The US Environmental Protection Agency recently finalized a voluntary disclosure program for new owners of upstream oil and gas facilities designed to encourage them to find, correct, and self-report violations of the Clean Air Act, in particular those associated with emissions from storage vessels.

The report details information obtained during the EPA’s outreach to stakeholders. The information in the report will help the EPA determine whether any future actions are appropriate to address oil and gas extraction waste water further.

The New Owner Clean Air Act Audit Program, tailored specifically for oil and natural gas producers, will focus on offering more flexibility to new company owners who choose to self-audit their emissions and report any failures to meet EPA’s regulations.

Proposed changes would modify EPA's August 2016 final rule, "Oil and Natural Gas Sector: Emission Standards for New, Reconstructed, and Modified Sources." The proposal has been submitted for publication to the Federal Register. Following that publication, the EPA will accept comments for 60 days.

With concern growing that the underlying geology in the Permian Basin is reaching capacity for disposal wells, the Trump administration is examining whether to adjust decades-old federal clean-water regulations to allow drillers to discharge waste water directly into rivers and streams.

The proposal would rollback requirements for testing and fixing fugitive methane leaks in oil and gas operations. It would save millions in regulatory costs, but the estimated increase in methane emissions is controversial.

The US Environmental Protection Agency is conducting a study that will take a holistic look at how the agency, states, tribes, and stakeholders regulate and manage wastewater from the oil and gas industry.

Academic scientists and advocacy groups are urging the Environmental Protection Agency to withdraw and rewrite proposed guidelines for determining which scientific findings to use when evaluating the safety of toxic chemicals.

The US Environmental Protection Agency’s acting chief said he would push to cut regulations on industry and speed up decisions on permits, echoing the policies of former head Scott Pruitt who stepped down.

The change at the top of the Environmental Protection Agency won’t mean a dramatic shift in policy. If anything, President Donald Trump’s EPA could become even more effective at undoing Obama-era environmental policies under its new boss.