FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 28, 2015
EPA Seeks
Input on Emission Standards for New and Modified Sources in
the Oil and Natural Gas Sector
WASHINGTON -- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is
inviting small businesses, governments, and not-for-profit organizations to
participate as Small Entity Representatives (SERs) for a Small Business
Advocacy Review (SBAR) Panel. The panel is part
of a standard federal government process and will focus on
the agency’s development of a rule that proposes
to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases, including
methane, and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) under its New
Source Performance Standards for the oil and natural gas industry. EPA
will build on the cost-effective standards, issued in
2012, that are currently in place for several sources in the oil
and natural gas industry. The agency intends to add equipment and
processes to those sources currently covered by the
standards. Equipment and processes the agency is considering adding
include hydraulically fractured oil wells, pneumatic pumps, and leaks
from new and modified well sites and compressor stations.
On Jan. 14, 2015, the Obama Administration announced its next
steps to cut methane emission under the March 2014 Strategy to Reduce
Methane Emissions. That
strategy, part of the administration’s Climate Action Plan, identified the oil
and gas industry as a key source of methane emissions and set out a series of
steps to reduce those emissions while allowing continued responsible growth in
U.S. oil and natural gas production.
As part of that strategy, in April 15, 2014, EPA
released for external peer review and public input five technical
white papers on potentially significant sources of emissions in the oil and gas
sector. The white papers set out data and information available
to the agency at that time on potentially significant sources of
emissions in the oil and gas sector, and options for reducing those
emissions. EPA used the papers, along with the input received from the peer
reviewers and the public, to identify potential common sense, cost-effective approaches to
achieve emission reduction from these sources. Peer reviewers’ comments,
and instructions for reading input from the public are available on EPA’s
websitewww.epa.gov/airquality/oilandgas/whitepapers.html.
EPA anticipates proposing a rule this summer and taking final
action in 2016.
The panel
is being established pursuant to the Regulatory Flexibility Act, and will include federal representatives from the
Small Business Administration (SBA), the Office of Management and Budget (OMB),
and EPA. The panel members ask a selected group of SERs to
provide advice and recommendations on behalf of their company, community, or
organization to inform the panel members about the potential
impacts of the proposed rule on small entities.
EPA seeks self-nominations directly from the small entities that
may be subject to the rule requirements. Other representatives, such as
trade associations that exclusively or at least primarily represent potentially regulated small entities, may also serve as
SERs.
Self-nominations may be submitted through the link below and must
be received by February 11, 2015.
Nominate yourself as a SER: http://www.epa.gov/sbrefa/
More information about EPA’s strategy for reducing air
pollution form the oil and gas industry: http://www.epa.gov/airquality/oilandgas/pdfs/20150114fs.pdf