Methane Regulatory Considerations

Methane, long known as a potent greenhouse gas (GHG), has lagged behind other chemicals in its attention and regulation—especially in the United States. As can be expected, a web of local, state, and federal agencies are responsible for creating and upholding pollution standards. Tracing redundancies or gaps in these standards can be a difficult task, and when it comes to methane, rules cross into the oversight of agencies like the Bureau of Land Management (BLM)/Department of the Interior, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Department of Energy, the Department of Transportation, and state-level pollution boards, such as California’s Air Resource Board (CARB), among others.

In 2009, the EPA published an Endangerment Finding, identifying the six GHG’s as public health threats and allowing the EPA to regulate GHG sources for the public welfare. These gases are: carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O), hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), perfluorocarbons (PFCs), and sulfur hexafluoride (SF6). These findings led to the EPA’s first GHG standards for vehicles (which excludes methane), set in 2010.

In 2014, Colorado approved the nation’s first state-level energy sector-related regulations for methane emissions. Since then, a number of states followed suit in moving to regulate this GHG pollutant. With the latest Federal rules, every state is required to “embrace the change”.

In 2016, the Nation’s first Federal methane regulations, in the form of New Source Performance Standards (NSPS), were adopted, establishing BLM oversight of methane emissions on public and tribal lands, primarily affecting the gas and oil industries. The Methane Waste Prevention Rule, also called the Venting and Flaring Rule, has been the subject of much legal debate, having been revised in 2018, with revisions being overturned/vacated in 2020, and being again upheld in 2021 by a Congressional Review Act resolution. An Executive Order by President Biden in early 2021 fueled congressional action.

It’s late 2024 and the methane rules we’ve been talking about since 2021 and earlier are finally here, thanks to a massive infusion of federal funds from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law of 2021 and the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022. The focal point of much of the new regulations is the Methane Emissions Reduction Program, which provides assistance to businesses which must comply with the GHG reporting program.

Changes cover everything from existing facilities to leak detection/monitoring/repair to venting/flaring, GHG reporting and methane slip analysis.

Organizations can continue to prepare today to be ready for methane rules of tomorrow. For many organizations, renting methane monitoring equipment presents significant advantages over purchasing, including: turn-key solutions, low or no maintenance, and access to technical support. And where you need technical consultants with boots on the ground, CleanAir is a phone call away.

• JPL Study Identifies Methane Super-Emitters
• Colorado Leads Methane Emissions Regulation
• Bloomberg: Pennsylvania Nears New Methane Rule Approval
• 2009 EPA Endangerment Finding
• EPA Transportation Accomplishments
• EPA Light Duty Vehicle Standards
• BLM Methane and Waste Prevention Rule
• Nat Law Review: EPA Proposes New Methane Regulations
• 2016 EPA New Source Performance Standards
• U.S. Methane Emissions Reduction Action Plan
• Harvard EELP Regulatory Tracker: Waste Prevention Rule