NGI Archives | NGI All News Access
Oil, Gas Interests Seek ‘Flexibility’ in EPA Emission-Reporting
The American Petroleum Institute (API) and producers met with Obama administration officials last week to recommend that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) consider relaxing some of the requirements in its final rule for reporting of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, at least during the first year of the rule’s implementation.
Khary Cauthen, API’s Washington representative, and several major producers met last Tuesday with EPA and Office of Management and Budget officials to discuss the GHG reporting rule that is due to be issued later this year. The rule, which was proposed in April, requires all covered entities — including refiners, the exploration and production industry and the industrial sector — to begin collecting data on their GHG emissions on Jan. 1, 2010 and report them to the federal government in early 2011.
Because the rule will take effect in less than five months, “we recommended, at least for the first year, that the EPA allow for ‘best available data’ to be accepted,” said Cauthen. “Because of the short time frame, all of the monitoring devices [for GHG emissions] will not be installed” by Jan 1, he said.
He further noted that the EPA still is working with the American National Standards Institute on the numerous methodologies that companies will use in accounting for their emissions. Cauthen said he believes “best available data” would be warranted in cases where a methodology has not yet been finalized.
“We were looking for flexibility [from the Obama administration]. We thought it was a good meeting…I believe they understood our recommendations,” he said. But the EPA indicated there would be no flexibility with the Jan. 1 compliance date. “They [the EPA) said they were going to meet the deadline. The rule would be finalized by January.”
In April the EPA set the stage for expanded regulation of GHG emissions under the Clean Air Act, finding that such emissions contribute to air pollution and may endanger public health (see Daily GPI, April 20). The endangerment finding followed a 2007 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that directed EPA to revisit the regulation of GHG emissions after the agency rejected a request to initiate a rulemaking on the gases blamed for global warming (see Daily GPI, April 3, 2007).
©Copyright 2009Intelligence Press Inc. All rights reserved. The preceding news reportmay not be republished or redistributed, in whole or in part, in anyform, without prior written consent of Intelligence Press, Inc.
© 2024 Natural Gas Intelligence. All rights reserved.
ISSN © 1532-1231 | ISSN © 2577-9877 |