Natural Gas

EPA’s final revised emissions rules for the oil and gas sector retain the agency’s proposed first-time “green completion” emissions controls for hydraulic fracturing wells and other gas operations, but at industry’s request the agency is delaying the effective date of the controls until 2015 rather than implementing them immediately.

Chemical manufacturers and drillers are warning that EPA's plans to issue Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) reporting rules for chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing would be "inappropriate" and would sap agency resources from higher-profile efforts to use TSCA authority to assess and potentially regulate chemicals of concern.

Oil and gas industry groups appear split over whether EPA should indefinitely delay its imminent drilling sector air rules due next week, with some companies backing the rules' release but seeking a lengthy phase-in period while independent drillers want the agency to shelve the rules due to data quality concerns about EPA's emissions estimates.

EPA has won industry's approval to again extend -- by 30 days -- a deadline in a settlement agreement with industry for amending its permitting policies for hydraulic fracturing operations using diesel fuels, with sources suggesting the delay could be due to EPA's struggles in how to define “diesel fuel” in a planned guidance on the policies.