The agenda also includes a discussion of how natural gas-fired compressor engines covered by Air Quality GP-5 and GP-5A General Permits will be required to comply with the new federal methane reduction regulation. Read more here.
New Oil & Gas Methane Rule
DEP’s presentation on the new federal methane rule will be lead by Panna Chibber and Naishadh Bhatt and will begin with an overview of the federal regulation and how it compares to existing DEP regulations on reducing oil and gas methane emissions adopted as final in December 2022.
DEP delayed implementation of its rule for a year moving the first reporting deadline for conventional and shale gas well owners back to June 1, 2024. Read more here.
During the process of adopting this regulation, DEP said conventional oil and gas facilities account for 80% of methane emissions from the oil and gas industry in Pennsylvania because they have done little or nothing to control them. Read more here.
The conventional oil and gas industry filed a lawsuit against DEP seeking to block implementation of these regulations in December 2022. Read more here.
DEP’s 37 slide presentation on the new federal rule goes into detail about what the new federal rule will require of conventional and shale gas methane emission sources.
Public Comment Period
Anyone interested in providing public comments pertaining to a meeting agenda topic during the Public Comment Period is encouraged to pre-register prior to the start of the meeting by emailing the AQTAC Liaison at: RA-EPAQTAC@pa.gov.
Join The Meeting
The meeting will be held in Room 105 of the Rachel Carson Building starting at 9:15 a.m. Visit the Committee webpage for options for joining the meeting remotely by Microsoft Teams and by telephone.
For available handouts and more information, visit DEP’s Air Quality Technical Advisory Committee webpage. Questions should be directed to Joseph Martini martjos@pa.gov.
[Posted: October 1, 2024] PA Environment Digest
