(WO) — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is preparing to propose further revisions to 2024 oil and natural gas emissions regulations, including changes affecting marginal wells, associated gas and the agency’s Super Emitter Program.
EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin. Image: Bloomberg.
EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin said during the New Mexico Oil and Gas Association’s annual meeting in Santa Fe that the proposal is expected within days. It will represent the next phase of EPA’s reconsideration of the 2024 oil and natural gas regulations, commonly known as OOOOb/c.
The agency estimates the proposed changes would save approximately $45 billion, though details supporting that estimate are expected with the forthcoming proposal.
“The Trump EPA is days not weeks away from announcing our proposal for the second part of the oil and gas reconsideration,” Zeldin said. “This proposal takes on many of the problems American producers and operators have raised with us.”
Among the changes, EPA plans to propose a revised approach to marginal wells. The agency said it will co-propose two options that would establish separate categories of well sites with standards tailored to each category.
EPA also intends to propose rescinding the Super Emitter Program, saying it has identified legal concerns with the program and does not consider it necessary to satisfy Clean Air Act requirements.
The agency will also revisit requirements governing associated gas from oil wells. EPA said the proposed changes are intended to provide a compliance approach that can be applied across different producing regions.
Additional revisions are expected for covers and closed vent systems, with EPA proposing to separate design and operational requirements. Changes to control-device provisions would provide additional flexibility for flame-monitoring data deviations, control-device alerts and visible-emissions testing conditions.
The forthcoming proposal is part of EPA’s broader reconsideration of the 2024 regulations governing emissions from oil and natural gas operations. The agency said concerns raised by producers and operators about compliance requirements have informed the review.
The proposal has not yet been formally issued, and the provisions outlined by EPA remain subject to the federal rulemaking process.
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