On January 31, APGA submitted a short letter to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in response to its notice of proposed rulemaking to update certain Clean Air Act regulations impacting the oil and natural gas sector. Through the letter, APGA requested that EPA clarify the exemption of local distribution companies (LDCs) from the proposed rule’s scope.
This past November, EPA issued a proposed update to its Clean Air Act regulations that is intended to minimize emissions from natural gas and oil production and transmission operations. Recall that a similar rule under the Trump administration, which relaxed emission requirements, was invalidated by Congress in 2021 via the Congressional Review Act.
LDCs, including APGA members, have traditionally been exempt from these regulations. However, because many APGA members are small systems without access to significant resources to fully analyze complex rulemakings such as this, it is important that the scope of the rule be made as clear as possible. APGA’s comment letter to EPA expressed as much, requesting this added clarification.
Of related interest, several Senators and Congressmen jointly sent a letter to EPA raising concerns with the rulemaking's process and potential cost and impacts. A copy of the letter is available
here.
APGA will continue to monitor the rulemaking and engage as appropriate. While our members are not directly impacted by the requirements, costs of upstream implementation may ultimately be passed onto LDCs, including public gas systems.
A copy of APGA’s comment letter is available
here.
For questions on this article, please contact Renée Lani of APGA staff by phone at 202-464-0836 or by email at
rlani@apga.org.