The Trump administration on Thursday rescinded regulations that aimed to curb methane emission by the oil and gas industry. This is part of Trump’s push to cut environmental red tape amid the presidential election in November. The Obama-era regulations were formally revoked during the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Andrew Wheeler’s visit to Pennsylvania.
According to Wheeler, the regulations were ineffective and caused burdens for the domestic energy industry. He also noted that the rollback could save the sector about $100 million annually between 2021 and 2030. The regulations are replaced by new rules which remove methane control requirements for natural gas, production, processing, storage, and transmission.
Under the new rules, smaller oil and gas companies are not required to install methane leak detection devices. However, they keep a rule that limits smog-causing volatile organic compounds, which, according to EPA, can also lower methane emissions.
US fossil fuel industry group, the American Petroleum Institute (API), has expressed its support to the revisions. However, some of its members such as Exxon, BP, and Shell, have publicly stated their support to the mandatory methane curbs. Environmental groups and some state attorneys general are set to challenge the revisions in court.
