The EPA hosted a webinar Monday, November 14, 2022, regarding a supplemental proposal they say will help reduce methane emissions from oil and gas production across the United States. The supplemental proposal is a modification of their November 2021 proposal, which met with significant criticism from the industry. The EPA received over 470,000 written comments on the 2021 proposal.

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The revised proposal implements more common sense into the rule by tailoring requirements to various sectors of the industry. Rather than a "one size fits all" remedy for methane release inspections, EPA is proposing monitoring requirements for four categories of well sites:

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• Single wellhead-only sites and small well sites would be required to conduct what are known as "AVO" (audio, visual and olfactory) inspections, where inspectors listen, look and smell for leaks. These inspections would be required quarterly.

• Wellhead-only sites with two or more wellheads would be required to conduct quarterly AVO inspections and monitor every six months using OGI or EPA Method 21.

• Sites with major production and processing equipment and centralized production facilities would be required to conduct bimonthly AVO inspections and monitor quarterly using OGI or EPA Method 21.

• Well sites on the Alaska North Slope would have different monitoring schedules to account for weather.

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Guidance from the EPA will also allow states to implement their own plans, subject to review and approval from the EPA.

 

There will be an additional session November 30,2022, to examine the plan as it relates to small businesses. The webinar will be held from 3PM-5PM Central time. Pre-registration is required. Sign up here.

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Links to the full document, as well as the summary, may be found at the following links:

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EPA Oil and Gas Supplemental Overview                     EPA's Supplemental Oil and Gas Proposal