Senate environment committee Chairman John Barrasso (R-WY) is continuing to tout the need to reform the Clean Water Act (CWA) section 401 certification process, holding a second hearing in as many years on the issue, but has yet to plan a markup of his bill to narrow the scope of impacts to water quality from federal permits states may consider.
The bill would codify Obama EPA methane capture rules that Trump officials have proposed to rescind, while also extending methane standards to new equipment such as gathering lines.
Two environmental groups are threatening litigation against EPA to force overdue implementation of control technology guidelines (CTGs) for curbing ozone precursor emissions from oil and gas facilities -- seizing on Obama-era guidelines that remain on the books despite Trump officials’ efforts to repeal them.
The Justice Department (DOJ) is urging the Supreme Court to reject environmentalists’ petition to reverse an appellate decision limiting states’ ability to review Clean Water Act (CWA) section 401 water quality certification requests, pointing to EPA’s ongoing rulemaking on the issue and the lack of judicial disagreement.
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.
Joe Goffman, who helped craft the Obama-era Clean Power Plan (CPP), says the Trump EPA’s Affordable Clean Energy (ACE) rule to replace the CPP is silent on whether its narrow interpretation of the agency’s Clean Air Act authority to regulate power sector greenhouse gas emissions is reasonable, which “amounts to a confession that it is not.”
Environmental groups and other critics of EPA’s proposal to rescind methane controls for new oil and gas facilities -- a step that precludes controls on existing sources -- are highlighting environmental damage from the rollback they argue would be much higher than the agency’s own estimates.
The Senate on a bipartisan 41-53 vote has rejected Democrats’ attempt to scrap EPA’s Affordable Clean Energy (ACE) power plant greenhouse gas rule and reinstate the stricter Obama-era Clean Power Plan (CPP), though Democrats are warning that vulnerable Republicans might pay an electoral price by backing the weaker GHG rule.
EPA’s final guidance will likely enable industry sources to more easily avoid tougher Clean Air Act permit conditions, based on the details of a 2018 draft version of the document.
States and environmental groups challenging EPA’s Affordable Clean Energy (ACE) power plant greenhouse gas rule as too weak are also seeking to intervene on EPA’s behalf to defend the agency’s underlying authority to regulate power sector GHGs, asking an appellate court to allow them to weigh in on that specific issue.
