Natural Gas

New York and environmentalists are urging the Supreme Court to reject calls from a natural gas pipeline company to review an appellate ruling that upheld the state's denial of a Clean Water Act (CWA) certification for a proposed pipeline, arguing the company has misread the ruling and does not present compelling reasons for review.

ST. PAUL, MN -- Seeking to increase compliance with environmental rules, EPA is crafting a new audit policy for streamlining disclosure of non-compliance by new oil and natural gas facilities and is seeking states' input on the issue, though environmentalists and others are cautioning that strong enforcement will still be needed to deter non-compliance.

State environment officials are planning to take fresh look at ways to minimize legal or regulatory barriers to approval of innovative technologies for curbing the potent greenhouse gas methane and other pollutants from oil and gas operations, but which may not be recognized as compliance options in existing rules, according to state sources.

EPA is proposing several steps to grant regulatory relief to the oil and gas sector, withdrawing Obama-era control techniques guidelines (CTGs) for how existing drilling operations can reduce ozone-forming emissions and methane as a co-benefit, and finalizing a rule making “narrow” revisions to a methane rule for new drilling operations.