"Biden Tightens Planned Methane Curbs on Oil Wells, Flaring"

"The Biden administration is strengthening its plan for limiting methane emissions from oil and gas wells after environmentalists panned an earlier version as too weak.

The Environmental Protection Agency advanced the supplemental proposed rule on Friday, hours before President Joe Biden was set to tout US efforts to fight climate change at the COP27 summit in Sharm el-Sheikh. The proposed regulation would require energy companies to do more to stifle leaks.

The measure, which isn’t set to be finalized until next year, responds to criticism by environmentalists by strengthening leak-detection-and-repair requirements for small oil and gas wells and by establishing requirements for abandoned facilities.

“All well sites, regardless of their size, will be regularly monitored and checked for leaks,” EPA Administrator Michael Regan told reporters at the UN conference in Egypt. That marks a shift from the initial proposal unveiled last year, which included exemptions for some wells. "

Jennifer A Dlouhy reports for Bloomberg Green November 11, 2022.

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"Biden Tightens Methane Emissions Rule Amid Push For More Oil" (AP)

Source: Bloomberg Green, 11/14/2022