Pennsylvania regulators have opened a second comment period on draft final general permits, with which the state would regulate methane emissions and other air pollutants from unconventional well sites and natural gas midstream facilities.
The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection announced last week the opening of a 45-day public comment period on the proposed permits for operators. The comment period, which closes May 15, will provide the public an opportunity to comment on documents that had been updated since the close of the initial comment period late last June.
DEP received about 10,000 comments in that initial period, many from industry-friendly groups complaining that the draft permits as initially proposed were too proscriptive, especially in regard to drilling activity that resulted in temporary methane releases.
The current comment period will pertain to the updated draft final versions of General Permit 5, which is applicable to midstream and natural gas transmission facilities, and GP-5A, for unconventional well sites and pigging stations. Both general permits incorporate the most current state and federal requirements, the DEP said.
About 60% of total global methane emissions are thought to be from anthropogenic, or human-generated, source and about 40% due to natural sources, according to a recent report from the National Academy of Science. The study estimated that emissions from production of fossil fuels, including petroleum, gas and coal account for 32-34% of anthropogenic methane.
In recent years, the regulation of methane emissions from oil and gas operations has become a hot issue, particularly as the Trump administration has sought to roll back federal methane reduction regulations promulgated in the waning days of the Obama administration.
The federal government has therefore left it up to energy-producing states, such as Pennsylvania, to regulate the greenhouse gas.
MSC QUESTIONS NEED FOR PERMITS TO REGULATE METHANE
In a statement on the need for establishing the proposed permits, the Marcellus Shale Coalition, an energy industry advocacy group, questioned the state's rationale for the additional regulation on the gas industry.
"As we shared previously with the DEP, we remain concerned about the use of permits to regulate a proposed methane limit that has no scientific basis," MSC spokeswoman Erica Clayton Wright said.
