While Congress and the Trump administration may roll back a just-enacted federal rule regarding methane emissions, California is on the verge of going in a much different direction.

On Thursday, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) is expected to pass what is considered the nation’s strictest rule aimed at curbing emissions from the potent greenhouse gas.

“While the federal government may be going backwards, California is going to be moving forwards,” Tim O’Connor, director of the California oil and gas program at the Environmental Defense Fund, told reporters in a conference call Wednesday. “This regulation will the be the first major environmental regulation since the federal government turnover and we think it’s a sign of things to come at the state level.”

But oil and gas interests in the state say the proposed rule figures to be costly and is not needed.


“California has the most stringent air quality regulations in the nation and the state’s oil producers continue to be committed to complying with these regulations,” Catherine Reheis-Boyd, president of the Western States Petroleum Association, said in a statement to the Union-Tribune.

Twelve members of the CARB board will vote on the methane rule, which is designed to cut methane releases at crude oil and natural gas facilities by up to 45 percent over the next nine years.

Methane is estimated to have 72 times more potential impact on global warming than carbon dioxide over a 20-year time frame. Advocates for the rule say 75,000 tons of methane go into the atmosphere in California through leaky equipment and venting from oil and gas producers.

The regulation would be broad in scope, covering oil and gas sites on land as well as offshore and would apply to private, state and federal property. Tribal land, however, would be exempt.


It would also cover storage sites such as the Aliso Canyon facility, site of a massive leak that forced thousands from their homes in the Porter Ranch area of Los Angeles County.

The rule has been discussed by CARB staff, with industry as well as environmental groups offering input.

One feature of the latest iteration of the rule would require oil and gas operators to inspect sites for leaks and repairs on a quarterly basis.

In a statement, the California Independent Petroleum Association said that requirement raises issues over “local implementation, unnecessary testing requirements and burdensome costs.”


Fabiola Lao, deputy policy director for the Coalition for Clean Air, said reducing methane emissions is vital for the state’s efforts to combat climate change.

“Although California has the strongest environmental standards in the nation, we still have the worst air quality in the country,” Lao said at the teleconference. “We need this oil and gas methane rule to go into effect as soon as possible.”

The CARB vote comes as a federal methane rule may be on the verge of getting rescinded.

Just 10 days after the presidential election, the outgoing Obama administration finalized a regulation directing the Bureau of Land Management to clamp down on venting, flaring and leaks on federal and tribal land.


But members of the U.S. House of Representatives, led by Republicans, voted to ditch the rule. A similar measure is in the Senate, where GOP leaders are looking for votes to pass the measures on to President Donald Trump.

“We’re still working on that,” said Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn, R- Texas, on Tuesday, according to the media outlet E&E News.

Under the Congressional Review Act, lawmakers can roll back recent executive actions if they are deemed too costly, exceed agency authority or are redundant.

At least three states are also challenging the BLM methane regulation in court and on Wednesday the attorney general of Texas asked to join the lawsuit.


“It’s important California lead here with good practice that companies can adopt elsewhere as well,” said Adam Brandt, assistant professor at the Department of Energy Resources Engineering at Stanford.

Advocates of the proposed California rule say it will not be impacted by measures Congress or the Trump administration enact.

“California has a long-standing interest in the ability to regulate local sources of pollution (in the state) through the California Clean Air Act,” O’Connor said.

Oil and gas producers across the country have argued they already have an incentive to reduce methane emissions because they want to capture and sell as much natural gas as they get from a well, pointing to statistics showing methane emissions are down 21 percent since 1990, even though domestic production has grown dramatically.


“Those incentives thus far have not been enough to eliminate or cut the waste of gas we know is currently economically recoverable,” O’Connor said.

Chris Hall, president of Drilling and Production Company, a “mom and pop” producer with wells in the state’s Oil Patch in Kern County, said the rule would hit small to mid-sized oil and gas producers in the state much harder than big producers.

“The overriding concern is, we question the amount of reduction of emissions that are really going to be achieved by this,” Hall said in a telephone interview.

Would the proposed rule have prevented the Aliso Canyon leak?


“While it is unknown and probably unlikely that it would have prevented Aliso Canyon,” O’Connor said, “what we do know … is that regular inspections, quarterly inspections and even continuous monitoring inspections give facility operators more awareness of the conditions at their fields.”

Aliso Canyon is operated by Southern California Gas Company, a subsidiary of Sempra Energy, a Fortune 500 company based in San Diego.

In a statement to the Union-Tribune, SoCalGas regional vice president George Minter did not specifically address whether the utility was in favor of the proposed regulation, saying the company “strongly encourage(s) a cost-effective approach to reduce methane emissions to (the) atmosphere.”

“We seek to continue to work with ARB staff to achieve the best solutions to resolving outstanding technology and measurement issues related to very small levels of methane emissions from natural gas equipment,” Minter said.


Business

rob.nikolewski@sduniontribune.com


(619) 293-1251 Twitter: @robnikolewski