Shannon Van Hoesen, shannon.vanhoesen@sierraclub.org
Washington, DC - The Trump administration is moving ahead with a plan to delay implementation of the Environmental Protection Agency’s critical Clean Air Act protections against methane and other harmful pollution from the oil and gas industry.
When finalized in December 2023, following a robust comment period, the methane standards represented a major win for climate and public health. The safeguards include the first-ever standards for existing equipment while also strengthening standards for new equipment. Delaying the implementation of standards for existing sources for 12 months would result in 970,000 tons of smog-forming volatile organic compounds emissions and 36,000 tons of hazardous air pollutants that otherwise would have been prevented.
The courts, including the United States Supreme Court, have rejected efforts by industry polluters and their political allies to block the EPA’s methane standards.
In response, Sierra Club Director of Beyond Fossil Fuels Policy Mahyar Sorour issued the following statement:
“EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin appears to be falling in line, once again, with the Trump agenda to put polluters over people with this move to delay standards to reduce methane, and associated pollution, from oil and gas operations. These are commonsense, achievable standards and many companies have already been complying with these rules for nearly a year, while others are investing and planning to comply with existing source standards in advance. A delay in the standards would only give bad actors and the worst polluters a free pass. The timely implementation of this rule is essential to protect Americans from health-harming pollution.”
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Additional Background:
Methane is a potent greenhouse gas that has more than 80 times the power of carbon dioxide over a 20-year period, driving approximately one-third of the warming our planet has experienced to date. Each year, the U.S. oil and gas sector emits large amounts of methane into our atmosphere. Methane is emitted from oil and gas sources alongside other damaging pollutants, such as smog- and soot-forming volatile organic compounds and air toxins like benzene and formaldehyde, human carcinogens.
According to EPA’s analysis, the final standards are projected to avoid 58 million tons of methane through 2038, as well as 16 million tons of volatile organic compounds and 590,000 tons of air toxins. These reductions will be achieved through requirements such as strengthened leak detection and repair requirements for all wells up until they are permanently plugged-in, regardless of size or operation status; the installation of non-polluting pneumatic equipment; a phased-in prohibition on routine flaring of gas at new wells; and a program to leverage third-party monitoring data to identify and stop particularly large emission events.
About the Sierra Club
The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with millions of members and supporters. In addition to protecting every person's right to get outdoors and access the healing power of nature, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit www.sierraclub.org.