Changes to GHG reporting for industry

The EPA, or Environmental Protection Agency, is proposing to add some new requirements for the oil and gas industry to the agency’s regulations for greenhouse gas reporting in the United States. The agency wants to include within the reporting program some new rules that would require the reporting of emissions from gas gathering and boosting facilities; from well completions and workovers involving hydraulic fracturing; and from the pressure blowdowns of natural gas transmission pipelines. The agency also proposes mandating the reporting of well identification information.

The greenhouse gas reporting program was mandated by Congress in 2008 and first implemented in 2009, requiring reporting by facilities that emit more than the equivalent of 25,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide per year. Certain systems operated by the oil and gas industry were included in the program in 2010, but EPA now wants more systems included. The proposed additions to the regulations would primarily target the emission of methane, a particularly potent greenhouse gas.

The overall objective of the program is to gain insights into the sources of greenhouse gases, as a guide to future emissions reductions and programs, EPA has said. The proposed revisions to the program reflect rapid changes in the petroleum industry since 2010 and address current gaps in the data coverage, the agency says. In some cases, the proposed new regulations would aggregate emissions for a facility with individually small emitters that would previously have fallen below the size limit for mandatory reporting.

EPA is also seeking innovative new ways, such as remote sensing, for identifying and calculating greenhouse gas emissions, the agency says.

The agency says that, following a public comment period and subsequent changes to the proposed rules, it anticipates publishing a final version of the regulation amendments by the end of 2015, so that the changes will go into effect on Jan. 1, 2016.

- Alan Bailey