The Methane Waste Prevention rule is under attack. And WORC and the member groups are ready for a fight.
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) announced today that it will file a proposal tomorrow to stall its standard until January 2019. The BLM Methane Waste Prevention rule is a commonsense measure requiring oil and gas companies operating on federal and tribal lands to reduce preventable leaks and venting of methane, the primary component of natural gas and a major contributor to climate change.
“The West deserves better than this! Today’s one year rule delay of the BLM Methane Waste Prevention Rule is not only disappointing, it also shows that Secretary Zinke and the Trump Administration are more concerned with catering to the oil and gas industry than curbing wasteful methane emissions from oil and gas wells on federal leases,” said WORC board member Lisa DeVille, who is directly affected by the unnecessary and harmful waste of methane on the Fort Berthold Reservation in North Dakota.
DeVille said the West benefits from the standard through less emission of harmful methane gas and increased royalty revenues collected on captured gas.
“WORC and its groups throughout the West will continue to fight all efforts by Secretary Zinke and the Trump Administration to roll back the much needed protections provided by the BLM Methane Waste Prevention Rule,” DeVille said.
Once the Federal Register publishes BLM’s proposal, there will likely be a 30-day comment period. Stay tuned for more updates as this action progresses.
Read more stories about oil and gas here.
SIGN UP FOR WORC BLOGS
WORC will send you a notice of new blog posts. You can sign up here.
Read more:
WORC Groups Take the Trump Administration to Court Over Gutting BLM Methane Rule
Methane Waste May be Invisible, but its Widespread Impacts Are Not