The US Environmental Protection Agency wants the oil and natural gas industry to cut its volatile organic compound emissions by 25%, air toxics releases by nearly 30% and methane emissions by 26%, according to an EPA fact sheet issued Thursday.
The proposed regulation also includes a 95% reduction in VOC emissions from hydraulically fractured gas wells.
EPA had not previously established any federal air standards for hydraulically fractured wells. The proposed rules would apply to the more than 25,000 fracked wells, along with storage tanks and other pieces of equipment.
The proposed rule is in response to a 2009 lawsuit in which the San Juan Citizens Alliance and WildEarth Guardians, a New Mexico-based environmental organization, charged EPA with not keeping pace with Clean Air Act requirements to update regulations regularly.
