View Rule

On January 20, 2021, President Joe Biden issued an Executive Order titled "Protecting Public Health and the Environment and Restoring Science to Tackle the Climate Crisis," which directs the EPA to take certain actions by September 2021 to reduce methane and volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions in the oil and natural gas sector. Specifically, the Executive Order directs the EPA to review the new source performance standards (NSPS) issued in 2020 for the oil and gas sector and, as appropriate and consistent with applicable law, consider publishing for notice and comment a proposed rule suspending, revising, or rescinding the NSPS. The Executive Order further directs the EPA to consider proposing: (1) new regulations to establish comprehensive NSPS for methane and VOC emissions and (2) new regulations to establish emission guidelines for methane emissions from existing operations in the oil and gas sector, including from the exploration and production, transmission, processing, and storage segments. The purpose of this action is to review the existing NSPS and propose new standards as necessary to meet the directives set forth in the Executive Order, as well as to propose new emission guidelines for existing sources in the oil and gas sector.