New Mexico, Hill Republicans Pan EPA Oil & Gas Methane Rule Rollback

摘要

EPA is facing strong criticism of its proposal to rescind direct methane limits for oil and gas operations from New Mexico, the country's third-largest oil producer that is home to part of the Permian basin, as well as two congressional Republicans including one House member who has been a die-hard supporter of President Donald Trump. In Oct. 24 comments on EPA's proposed rule to drop Obama-era methane requirements from its new source performance standards (NSPS) for the sector, New Mexico Environment Department Secretary James Kenney lays out a host of reasons why EPA's Aug. 29 proposal is unlawful, charging that it violates a Clinton-era executive order on federalism and would boost ozone and other criteria emissions in the state, requiring expensive new pollution controls and harming public health. "The State of New Mexico strongly opposes [EPA's] proposed revisions to the [NSPS], which currently regulate volatile organic compounds (VOC) and methane emissions from new, reconstructed, and modified sources in the oil and natural gas industry," the letter says.