Celebrating a grassroots win: EPA’s Section 111 Methane Rule

After a decade of grassroots organizing, EPA finally orders a stop to routine venting and flaring of methane from new sources.

Routine venting and flaring of gas has been polluting our atmosphere since oil wells were first commercialized back in the 1850s. Over a century and a half later, our western communities are finally seeing this irresponsible and wasteful practice come to an end. For over a decade, our members throughout the West have been advocating and organizing against this emission-intensive practice, urging agencies to strengthen regulations to prioritize communities rather than big polluters like oil and gas companies.

When the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released their Section 111 Methane Rule in November of 2022, our members were thrilled to see that more preventative measures were being taken to ensure that oil and gas operators limit their emission output and implement specific safeguards to ensure that air pollution is mitigated. This rulemaking includes comprehensive leak-monitoring requirements and sector-wide zero pollution standards for both new and existing pneumatic controllers. At the same time, our members were disappointed to see that nothing was being done to eliminate routine venting and flaring–a process where excess gas is either directly vented out into the atmosphere or burned off rather than captured and sold. These practices pollute our air with dangerous chemicals while at the same time effectively stealing royalties that taxpayers and the states would have gained if the excess gas were not wasted. Western communities, in particular, rely on the lost revenue from methane that is wasted on public lands since 49% of royalties collected from federal public lands are turned over to the states. States also lose out on additional revenue from state severance and conservation taxes. This means less money for education, infrastructure, mitigation, and services to the communities most directly affected by the negative impacts of energy development. Venting and flaring emits not only methane, a greenhouse gas 87 times more damaging to the climate than CO2, but also other harmful pollutants–ozone or smog-forming volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and hazardous pollutants that have significant public health impacts on people living in communities near oil and gas production.

Venting and flaring emits not only methane, a greenhouse gas 87 times more damaging to the climate than CO2, but also other harmful pollutants–ozone or smog-forming volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and hazardous pollutants that have significant public health impacts on people living in communities near oil and gas production.

This is especially a front-and-center concern for communities in western North Dakota around the Bakken, where oil and gas production has been at an all-time high in the last few decades. Flaring on public lands in North Dakota accounts for 61% of all flared gas on public lands, and is seven-times higher than the amount flared by the next highest state. Communities on the Fort Berthold Reservation are severely affected by the unfettered routine venting and flaring and have experienced long term and short-term health impacts from the air pollution. Last summer, Dakota Resource Council worked diligently with a coalition partner to acquire a handful of air monitors so that the communities in that region could have a better sense of the air quality. Day after day, community members receive texts on their phones, notifying them that the air quality is unsafe and they should avoid outside activities.

For years, our network has been advocating for the elimination of routine venting and flaring, which would greatly improve the air quality and the overall health of communities located in close proximity to oil and gas development. In the spring of 2023, WORC members and organizers flocked to DC to urge the EPA to strengthen its November, 2022, rule to ensure it phased out or eliminated routine venting and flaring. Finally in December, 2023, after receiving over 750,000 public comments, EPA released their final rule, surprising the country and impacted communities by including the elimination of routine venting and flaring from new sources. Although existing sources of methane pollution will not be phased out, this is a huge win for frontline communities who will finally see the air pollution in their communities reduced.

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While we celebrate this win for the environment and frontline communities, we need to remember that the fight is not yet over. The Bureau of Land Management is in the process of finalizing their own air pollution rulemaking, better known as the BLM’s Waste Rule, which would take a royalty-based approach to address the loss of gas at sites located on federal and tribal lands and minerals. This is a very weak interpretation of BLM’s statutory obligation and authority to not waste our public lands and minerals. Important context to note is that BLM’s previously proposed waste rulemaking faced backlash from courts for being too climate focused so now they have proposed a rulemaking that they hope will not create as much contention. However, in order for waste to truly be addressed, BLM must take this rulemaking a step further and ensure that it coincides with EPA’s rule, which will require all new sources, no matter if they are private, state, public, or tribal, to prevent routine venting and flaring. BLM has a statutory obligation to ensure that our public lands and resources are not wasted, and we hope that they will work with EPA to ensure that there is cohesion during the implementation of both of these rulemakings.

BLM must take this rulemaking a step further and ensure that it coincides with EPA’s rule, which will require all new sources, no matter if they are private, state, public, or tribal, to prevent routine venting and flaring.

EPA’s finalized Section 111 Methane Rule is expected to arrive in the Federal Register in February, 2024. Now is the time when we must hold EPA to their word, and ensure that this rule is implemented swiftly. We must take an “all hands on deck” approach by including all stakeholders impacted–frontline communities, taxpayers, advocates, scientists, decision makers, and even the fossil fuel industry–so that this rule can have a lasting impact on the health and vitality of our western region. Please reach out to Sarah Hunkins, at shunkins@worc.org, if you are interested in joining the fight against air pollution.