PA Environment Digest Blog: DEP Invites Comments On State Plan To Implement Federal Rule Requiring Methane Emissions Reductions From Conventional Oil & Gas, Shale Gas Facilities; 7 Hearings Set

The Department of Environmental Protection published notice in the May 31 PA Bulletin inviting comments on the state plan to implement an EPA federal rule 40 CFR Part 60, Subparts OOOOb and OOOOc Reducing Emissions Of Methane and Other Pollution from Oil and Natural Gas Operations.

The rule applies to oil and gas wells (conventional and unconventional), centrifugal compressors, reciprocating compressors, pneumatic controllers, pneumatic pumps, storage vessels, fugitive emissions components, super emitter emissions events, and process unit equipment involved in oil and natural gas operations.

The rule includes New Source Performance Standards (NSPS) to reduce methane and smog-forming volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from new, modified and reconstructed sources (OOOOb).

It also includes Emissions Guidelines (OOOOc), which set procedures for states to follow as they develop plans to limit methane from existing sources.

Implementation/Enforcement

DEP said it plans to implement and enforce the new EPA requirements through its “existing [Air Quality] plan approval, general permit and operating permit programs” [page 179]

DEP said it intends to develop General Plan Approval/Operating Permits for the crude oil and natural gas source category. [page 179]

DEP said, “The public and other stakeholders will have the opportunity to comment on the proposed general permits for the conventional and unconventional industry.”

The general permit draft is not included in the plan DEP proposed.

DEP said, when it proposes a final action on “the proposed plan approvals, FESOPs, Title V permits, or applications for use of a general permit,” it will provide public notice as set forth in 25 Pa. Code Chapter 127 (relating to construction, modification and reactivation of sources).” [page 180]

Public Hearings

DEP has scheduled 6 in-person hearings and a virtual hearing to take public comment on--

-- June 30: 6:30 p.m. at the Yost Auditorium, Washington and Jefferson College, 60 South Lincoln Street, Washington, PA 15301.

-- July 1: 6:30 p.m. at the Drake Well Museum, 202 Museum Lane, Titusville, PA 16354.

-- July 7: 12 p.m. at the Rachel Carson State Office Building, Room 105, 400 Market Street, Harrisburg, PA 17101.

-- July 9: 6:30 p.m. at the Department's North Central Regional Office, 208 West Third Street, Suite 101, Williamsport, PA 17701.

-- July 10: 12 p.m. virtually from DEP’s webpage [when available]

-- July 14: 6:30 p.m. at the Susquehanna County Public Safety Center, 210 Public Way, New Milford, PA 18834.

-- July 16: 6:30 p.m. at the College Hall 144/148, Montgomery County Community College, Blue Bell Campus, 340 Morris Road, Blue Bell, PA 19422. Montgomery County Community College is not affiliated with the event and the College should not be contacted regarding the program.

Persons wishing to present testimony should contact Amanda Rodriguez, P.O. Box 8468, Harrisburg, PA 17105, (717) 787-7677, amarodrigu@pa.gov, at least 1 week in advance of the hearing to reserve a time to present testimony. Witnesses will be limited to 5 minutes and should provide two written copies of their comments.

All public comments are due by July 30.

Click Here for a copy of the proposed state plan and to submit comments.

Read the entire PA Bulletin notice for more information.

Visit DEP’s Reducing Methane Emissions From Oil & Gas Operations webpage for more background.

EPA Reconsidering This Regulation

On March 12, the US Environmental Protection Agency announced it is reconsidering this entire regulation-- “Reducing Emissions of Methane and Other Pollution from Oil and Natural Gas Operations” (40 CFR Part 60, Subparts OOOOb and OOOOc). Read more here.

EPA Administrator Zeldin said in-part-- “Oil and gas standards promulgated by EPA must be rooted in the rule of law, not be used as a weapon to shut down development and manufacturing in the United States.

“EPA is reconsidering these regulations to ensure they do not prevent America from unleashing energy dominance and continuing our trajectory as a leader in clean energy and emissions reductions.

“We produce energy better and cleaner than so many other countries around the world, and yet Americans are punished at the end of the day by ideologically driven regulations.”

DEP said during its April 1 webinar that while EPA announced the review of the regulation, there were no details yet on what that will involve. Read more here.

On April 24, DEP told members of DCED’s PA Grade Crude [Oil] Development Advisory Council the agency will continue to develop a program to meet these new requirements as long as the federal regulation is on the books. Read more here.

Existing Oil & Gas Methane Rule

The Environmental Quality Board adopted regulations in December 2022 requiring methane pollution reductions from conventional oil and gas facilities in response to a federal rule then in effect.

Conventional well owners challenged the regulations in court and did not have to comply with the requirement to submit a compliance report until a settlement with DEP in April required them to submit their first report by June 1, 2025. Read more here.

An estimated 4,719 conventional facility owners are required to submit these reports, according to DEP records. Only 27 conventional facility owners submitted reports in June 2024 as required.

During the process of adopting the 2022 regulations, DEP estimated conventional oil and gas facilities would account for 80 percent of the total methane emission reductions expected under the regulations which covered both conventional and unconventional shale gas facilities. Read more here.

Shale gas facility owners submitted their first reports on June 1, 2024 to cover 2023 emissions as required..

Of those 27 conventional facility owners, DEP’s Air Quality Emission Inventory [select conventional gas well as facility type and 2023] includes methane and VOC emissions reported by only four companies with conventional facilities-- Blackhawk Energy, LLC; Consol PA Coal Co. LLC; Diversified Production, LLC; and Iron Cumberland LLC.

Together they reported only 1,901 tons of methane and 204.3 tons of VOCs in 2023.

In contrast, 112 of the 130 unconventional shale gas facility owners required to submit compliance reports did comply-- 86%-- 18 shale gas owners have still not submitted reports or contacted DEP.

Of those 112, 63 unconventional shale gas companies reported emissions in DEP’s Air Quality Emission Inventory [select unconventional gas well as facility type and 2023] which shows methane emissions of 47,486.2 tons and VOC emissions of 2,393.1 tons.

DEP expected up to a 175,788 ton reduction of methane from conventional sources [Read more here.] and a 45,278 ton reduction in methane from unconventional shale gas sources [Read more here], according to the Regulatory Analysis Forms for the regulations.

DEP estimated total 2020 methane emissions from conventional sources to be 365,103 tons and 102,297 tons from unconventional shale gas sources, according to the Regulatory Analysis Forms.

Conventional Facilities & New Plan

At the April 24 meeting of DCED’s PA Grade Crude [Oil] Development Advisory Council and at another meeting on December 12, representatives of the conventional oil and gas industry asserted conventional well owners cannot comply with the new EPA regulation.

They said, “A very large proportion, perhaps as high as 95% of Pennsylvania conventional gas wells and Pennsylvania conventional oil wells and oil/gas wells which are constructed with a production string of casing, are purposely constructed as to allow the release of methane which methane may not be a steady flow and are constructed that way by regulation.”

After the December meeting, the Advisory Council sent questions to DEP about the new methane reduction program and DEP responded. Read more here.

At the April 24 CDAC meeting, adopted a motion to send an initial set of comments and questions to DEP on the EPA methane rule that asked about the statutory authority for the regulation in Pennsylvania, whether DEP was planning to adopt separate requirements for conventional and shale gas wells, how DEP would assess the cost of compliance on conventional well owners and Pennsylvania’s two oil refineries and others.

When asked during an April 1 webinar on the plan to comply with the federal rule if DEP has yet developed an enforcement/compliance strategy covering the conventional oil and gas industry, DEP said not yet. Read more here.

DEP said they were “in discussions” with the conventional oil and gas industry on the new program.

Culture Of Non-Compliance

The conventional oil and gas industry has a “culture” of “non-compliance,” according to DEP’s first-ever review of compliance by the industry in December 2022. Read more here.

The non-compliance even extends to annual reports the industry has to submit to the Oil and Gas Program.

For example, DEP said 86% of conventional oil and gas well owners failed to submit annual production, waste generation and waste disposal reports for 2023. [Read more here]

DEP reports 89% of conventional oil and gas well owners failed to submit annual well integrity reports for 2023. [Read more here]

It is against this background DEP’s Air Quality Program is attempting to design a significant new methane reduction program.

Resource Links:

-- DEP To Use General Permit To Implement New Federal Oil & Gas Facility Methane Reduction Regulation [PaEN]

-- Conventional Oil & Gas Well Owners Now Operate As Many As 95% Of Conventional Wells To Vent Methane Gas Making It Too Expensive To Comply With New EPA Methane Emission Reduction Regulations [PaEN]

-- Conventional Oil & Gas Facility Owners Must Now File A Methane Emissions Compliance Report By June 1, 2025 Required By A 2022 DEP Methane Pollution Reduction Rule As A Result Of Court Settlement [PaEN]

-- EPA Pulls Back Regulations Setting Methane Emission Limits, Regulating Wastewater From Oil & Gas Operations, Risk Management Rule At Petrochemical Plants [PaEN]

PA Oil & Gas Industry Public Notice Dashboards:

-- Pennsylvania Oil & Gas Weekly Compliance Dashboard- May 24 to 30 [PaEN]

-- PA Oil & Gas Industrial Facilities: Permit Notices, Opportunities To Comment - May 31 [PaEN]

-- DEP Invites Comments On State Plan To Implement Federal Rule Requiring Methane Emissions Reductions From Conventional Oil & Gas, Shale Gas Facilities; 7 Hearings Set [PaEN]

-- Susquehanna River Basin Commission Approved 45 Shale Gas Well Pad Water Use General Permits In April; 187 In 2025 [PaEN]