Two months ago, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) requested that a federal judge stay the lawsuits challenging its oil and gas air rule revisions to allow the agency to revisit controversial aspects of the rules. On Friday, April 12, USEPA published proposed rules revising its prior VOC performance standards for storage tanks used in crude oil and natural gas… Continue Reading
Category Archives: Air Emissions
Subscribe to Air Emissions RSS FeedTexas Agencies Announce Rules to Streamline Permitting and Ease Requirements for Oil and Gas Well Operators
Posted in Air Emissions, Groundwater, Hydraulic Fracturing, TexasIn recent weeks, both the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) and Texas Railroad Commission (TRRC) have proposed rules that would ease requirements for operators. On February 8, 2013, the TCEQ announced that it would propose a rule to streamline the process for authorizing air emissions plans for oil and gas well sites. The rule… Continue Reading
EPA To Revisit Oil and Gas Air Rules, Requests Stay Of Suit Challenging Regulations
Posted in Air Emissions, Hydraulic Fracturing, Legislative, U.S. EPATwo weeks ago we reported that Texas withdrew from a multi-party lawsuit challenging USEPA’s new air pollution standards regulating the oil and gas industry (including hydraulic fracturing operations). The suit is now led by industry petitioners. On January 16, 2013, six days after Texas’s withdrawal, USEPA filed an unopposed motion asking the Circuit Court for the… Continue Reading
Texas Withdraws From Federal Challenge To USEPA’s Air Standards For Oil And Gas
Posted in Air Emissions, Hydraulic Fracturing, Litigation, Texas, U.S. EPAOn January 10, 2013, the State of Texas and two of its agencies (the Railroad Commission of Texas and the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality) filed a joint motion in the Circuit Court for the District of Columbia to voluntarily dismiss their challenge to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) new air pollution standards regulating… Continue Reading
Seven States File Notice of Intent To Sue USEPA Over Methane Emission Standards
Posted in Air Emissions, Hydraulic Fracturing, Litigation, New York, U.S. EPAOn December 11, 2012, a group of seven states led by New York Attorney General Eric T. Schneidermann notified the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) of their intent to sue the agency. The states–Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, Rhode Island, and Vermont–claim that EPA failed to address methane emissions standards for the oil and gas… Continue Reading
Ohio EPA: Air Quality Near Gas Drilling Site Is Clean
Posted in Air Emissions, Hydraulic Fracturing, Ohio EPABeginning in April of this year, the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency (Ohio EPA) has been collecting air quality data at a shale gas drilling site located near The Wilds in Muskingum County, Ohio. Ohio EPA is monitoring for particulate matter (PM), as well as hydrocarbons associated with gas drilling and methane, and will be monitoring… Continue Reading
Shale Boom Is Fueling The Chemical And Energy Production Industries
Posted in Air Emissions, Hydraulic Fracturing, Pennsylvania, TransmissionThe rapid expansion in shale gas development portends large future benefits not only for the oil and gas industry, but also for other industries that stand to benefit from affordable and abundant domestic natural gas. Developments in several such industries have been in the news in the past week. On October 10, the Pennsylvania DEP… Continue Reading
U.S. EPA Issues Final Air Emissions Rules For Gas Production Wells
Posted in Air Emissions, Hydraulic Fracturing, U.S. EPAEarlier today, U.S. EPA published in the Federal Register its final regulations revising the NSPS and NESHAP for the Oil & Natural Gas Production source category (40 C.F.R. Part 60, Subparts KKK, LLL, and OOOO). We previously discussed the substance of the draft rules EPA published on April 17, 2012. EPA’s overview fact sheet, its summaries… Continue Reading
U.S. EPA Issues Air Emission Rules for Oil and Natural Gas Industry
Posted in Air Emissions, Hydraulic Fracturing, U.S. EPAOn April 17, 2012, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) issued final regulations revising the NSPS and NESHAP for the Oil & Natural Gas Production source category (40 C.F.R. Part 60, Subparts KKK and LLL). As we described earlier this month, USEPA issued the proposed rules on August 23, 2011 and thereafter extended the timeframe for promulgating… Continue Reading
U.S. EPA Further Delays CAA Emissions Rules for Oil and Gas Industry
Posted in Air Emissions, U.S. EPAThe U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) announced on Monday, April 2 that it is delaying for two weeks its upcoming package of final rules that will govern air emissions in the oil and gas sector. The final rules are now due to be released by April 17, per a stipulation between USEPA and environmental groups filed Monday… Continue Reading
Ohio EPA Issues Final General Air Permit for Shale Production Operations
Posted in Air EmissionsOn February 1, 2012, the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency (“Ohio EPA”) issued a final general air permit to cover natural gas production operations at shale gas well sites in Ohio. The general permit covers emissions from a variety of sources found at most shale gas well sites, such as generators, internal combustion engines, storage tanks… Continue Reading