Tell EPA: Stop Rollbacks of Methane Leakage Standards

From the Clean Air Council (http://www.cleanair.org/):

Last Fall the Administration proposed a dangerous modification to New Source Performance Standards (NSPS) for methane emissions from oil and gas sources. Now the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, led by fossil fuel lobbyist Andrew Wheeler, is about to propose the complete elimination of methane controls in this rule. Methane is the main component of natural gas and is 86 times more potent than carbon dioxide at warming our planet over a twenty-year timeline. Scientists with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change stated in their latest report that the world only has 11 years to cut greenhouse gas emissions, including methane, by 45% to avoid catastrophic climate change.

Methane leaks occur at every step along the oil and gas supply chain. When methane leaks, it is accompanied by volatile organic compounds (VOCs), which include known carcinogens and also contribute to ground-level ozone (the main constituent of smog). Routine, comprehensive inspections are key to detecting and repairing harmful emissions.

Pennsylvania’s state standards for methane leakage only affects oil and gas projects constructed after August 8, 2018 while federal standards apply to all natural gas projects under construction since August 2015. Pennsylvania residents would also be negatively impacted by additional air pollution traveling across the state line from oil and gas operations in Ohio and West Virginia and from additional climate change impacts exacerbated by methane. If methane is completely removed from this standard, it will also severely inhibit future federal administrations from creating methane leakage standards for existing oil and gas operations. Even oil and gas companies like Exxon and Shell are demanding the administration abandon its plan to remove methane from oil and gas leakage standards.

Tell the EPA and your elected officials we need to stop plans to roll back critical methane leakage standards at http://salsa4.salsalabs.com/o/51176/p/dia/action4/common/public/?action_KEY=26080.