Trump admin. curbs federal oil and gas emissions standards. Here's where New Mexico stands

New Mexico environmental groups maligned a decision by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to rollback key provisions of its regulations on emissions from the oil and gas, while industry leaders applauded the move as putting the EPA in line with the Clean Air Act and allowing the industry to reduce emissions without the burden of government regulations.

On Thursday, EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler signed modifications to the agency’s New Source Performance Standards which dictate how the agency regulates methane from oil and gas operations and other sources.

The modifications to the 2016 standards proposed in August 2019 were intended to remove “regulatory duplication” and save the industry millions of dollars.

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The move would save the oil and gas industry about $17 million to $19 million per year, records show, and $97 million to $123 million from 2019 to 2025.

The proposal was in response to President Donald Trump’s Executive Order on Promoting Energy Independence and Economic Growth signed in March 2017, directing federal agencies to review regulations and rescind those that “burden” the development and use of domestic energy sources such as oil and natural gas.

But Sandra Ely, Environmental Protection Division Director at the New Mexico Environment Department (NMED) said that weakening regulations on emissions could lead to more air pollution and increase New Mexico’s ozone levels above federal standards.

More:New Mexico oil and gas methane regulations criticized for 'loop holes'

This could unlock stricter federal regulations, she said, and be a detriment to the industry’s operations in New Mexico.

The State of New Mexico began a process of developing stricter emissions guidelines intended to reduce pollution and save resources, but Ely worried that other states without such regulations could see an increase in emissions under lax federal requirements and that added pollution could be transferred to New Mexico’s air.

“These rollbacks are really upsetting,” Ely said. “New Mexico is well on its way to having its own rules, but not all states are doing that. We could get more pollution through transport from other states. It will create a patchwork that’s not good for New Mexicans.”

More:Permian Basin regulators, groups call for more regulation for oil and gas air pollution

And more pollution could lead to New Mexico violating federal air quality standards and being subjecting to tougher permitting requirements for oil and gas, she said.

“It makes it hard for the industry too,” Ely said. “At least with the regulations, you had a baseline everyone has to follow. Now, you’re going to have more non-attainment areas and that will make it harder for them (oil and gas companies) to do business.”

In the wake of the EPA’s announcement, New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham and NMED Cabinet Secretary James Kenney along with Cabinet Secretary for the State’s Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department Sarah Cottrell Propst condemned the federal government for a move they said weakened protections for the environment and human health.

More:Southeast New Mexico leaders: Delay oil and gas methane regulations amid COVID-19 downturn

“It is utterly disheartening and sadly unsurprising to hear once again that critical environmental regulations are being rolled back by the Trump administration, leaving states to fend for themselves,” Lujan Grisham said.

“COVID-19 continues to pose dire public health risks, and we cannot afford to see additional public health crises brought on by declining air quality and rising temperatures.”

Kenney said the rollback made the State’s own regulations even more essential to curb air pollution.

“Without a national approach to controlling oil and gas emissions, ozone levels will rise and climate change will advance,” Kenney said. “These rollbacks make it even more essential that our regulations secure greater emission reductions from the oil and gas sector.”

More:New Mexico joins court filing to call for stricter federal methane regulations

Industry, activists clash over methane regulations

The change in the regulations would remove the EPA’s authority to directly regulate methane but maintain its emissions limits for volatile organic compounds (VOCs).

It would reduce the agency’s oversight on infrastructure projects involved in the transportation and storage of oil and gas such as pipelines or tank batteries. 

The updated rules would apply to wells drilled in 2016 or later.

Camilla Feibelman, director of the Sierra Club’s Rio Grande Chapter said the move was part of a pattern of the administration of President Donald Trump in ignoring environmental concerns in favor of industry.

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She said stricter methane rules were essential to protecting public health and ensuring states get their proper share of natural resources.

“The Trump Administration is putting our communities at risk, once again. Letting industry extract public resources off public lands while spewing potent climate gases and asthma causing pollution is unacceptable,” Feibelman said.

“Methane rules are job-creating, climate-protecting and budget-increasing.  Thankfully New Mexico’s governor is moving on state methane rules. Left exposed by the EPA, we need strong state rules more than ever.”

More:Oil and gas industry, activists debate methane emissions amid NM's rule-making process

Kathleen Sgamma, president of the Western Energy Alliance applauded the new regulations as continuing to maintain strong regulations while being consistent with federal law.

She said the past regulation enacted under the administration of former-President Barack Obama failed to adequately consider the actual contributors to methane emissions and the danger it poses.

Sgamma said the oil and gas industry was not as big of a contributor to methane pollution as portrayed by environmental groups as accounting for 27.8 percent of U.S. methane emissions per EPA data, while agriculture accounted for 39.9 percent.

More:New Mexico fines oil and gas company DCP Midstream $5.3M for air pollution violations

The EPA also found that oil and gas contributed just 2.64 percent of total greenhouse gas emissions in the country, Sgamma said.

“Every single molecule of methane from new oil and natural gas wells will be captured by this revised rule. Methane Leak Detection and Repair, tank and pneumatic controls, and controls from the wellhead to the gas plant remain,” she said.

“Throughout this process, environmental groups and the media have misrepresented the rule changes as the Trump Administration rolling back any regulation of methane. This is a willfully false narrative that luckily, Administrator Wheeler had the courage to stand against.”

More:Oil and gas pollution could get worse as regulations cut in response to COVID-19

The Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) announced its plans to sue the Trump administration to block the rollback, citing the impact emissions have on climate change and the need for stringent regulation.

The EDF said the new rules would allow 4.5 million metric tons of methane pollution into the air every year, with a climate warming potential of 400 million metric tons of carbon dioxide – enough to account for emissions from about 100 coal-fired power plants.

“These rollbacks would have devastating effects on our climate and air quality, and will disproportionately damage the well-being of more than 9 million Americans who live within half a mile of wells affected by this rollback, including many Americans in our most vulnerable communities,” said Fred Krupp, president of the EDF.

“The Trump administration’s attempt to eliminate these sensible methane standards is fundamentally flawed.”

Adrian Hedden can be reached at 575-628-5516, achedden@currentargus.com or @AdrianHedden on Twitter.