One of the oil and natural gas industry’s near-term priorities has been the passage of a Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolution overturning the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM’s) methane venting and flaring rule. While the CRA passed the U.S. House of Representative in February, the U.S. Senate failed to vote on the measure prior to the May deadline for using the CRA.
Industry now looks to work with the Department of the Interior (DOI) in addressing its concerns with the rule. Per a Presidential Executive Order on promoting energy independence and economic growth, the Secretary of the Interior was requested to review the subject rule for consistency with current policy. If the Secretary finds the rule is not aligned with current policy, DOI is to suspend, revise or rescind the rule.
BLM finalized the rule in December 2016 requiring oil and gas producers on public and tribal land to cut well flaring in half and to limit storage tank venting. Industry has expressed concern with the rule indicating the added cost of compliance could lead to the shutting in of a significant number of wells on federal lands, reducing domestic energy production and decreasing revenues to the U.S. Treasury.
PESA will work with the American Petroleum Institute and other trade associations as the issue moves to the regulatory arena. If you have any questions, please contact PESA Sr. Director of Public Policy, Jean Gould.
