Methane Waste Prevention Act of 2021

IB Union Calendar No. 491 117TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 1492 [Report No. 117–672, Part I] To prevent methane waste and pollution from oil and gas operations, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MARCH 2, 2021 Ms. DEGETTE (for herself, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. LOWENTHAL, Mr. HUFFMAN, Ms. LEE of California, Mr. BLUMENAUER, and Mr. ESPAILLAT) intro- duced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources, and in addition to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned DECEMBER 30, 2022 Additional sponsors: Mr. WELCH, Mr. DEFAZIO, Mrs. HAYES, Mr. CLEAVER, Ms. MCCOLLUM, Mr. LEVIN of California, Mr. HASTINGS, Mr. GALLEGO, Ms. PORTER, Mr. CASTEN, Ms. LEGER FERNANDEZ, Mr. PERLMUTTER, Mr. CARTWRIGHT, Ms. TLAIB, and Ms. ESCOBAR VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:06 Dec 30, 2022 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6652 E:\BILLS\H1492.RH H1492 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 1492 RH DECEMBER 30, 2022 Reported from the Committee on Natural Resources DECEMBER 30, 2022 Committee on Energy and Commerce discharged; committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union and ordered to be printed A BILL To prevent methane waste and pollution from oil and gas operations, and for other purposes. VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:06 Dec 30, 2022 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6652 E:\BILLS\H1492.RH H1492 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 1492 RH Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Methane Waste Pre- 4 vention Act of 2021’’. 5 SEC. 2. CONTROLLING METHANE EMISSIONS FROM THE 6 OIL AND NATURAL GAS SECTOR. 7 (a) NATIONAL GOALS.—The goals of this section are 8 to steadily reduce the quantity of United States methane 9 emissions from the oil and natural gas sector such that— 10 (1) in calendar year 2025, the quantity of 11 United States methane emissions from the oil and 12 natural gas sector is at least 65 percent below cal- 13 endar year 2012 emissions; and 14 (2) in calendar year 2030, the quantity of 15 United States methane emissions from the oil and 16 natural gas sector is at least 90 percent below cal- 17 endar year 2012 emissions. 18 (b) REGULATIONS TO MEET THE NATIONAL 19 GOALS.— 20 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator shall 21 issue regulations pursuant to the existing authority 22 of the Administrator under section 111 of the Clean 23 Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7411) to control methane emis- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:06 Dec 30, 2022 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1492.RH H1492 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 1492 RH sions from the oil and natural gas sector to achieve 1 the national goals described in subsection (a). 2 (2) COVERED SOURCES.—The regulations pro- 3 mulgated pursuant to this subsection shall apply to 4 sources of methane from every segment of oil and 5 natural gas systems, including oil and natural gas 6 production, processing, transmission, distribution, 7 and storage. 8 (3) MEETING THE GOAL FOR 2025.— 9 (A) DEADLINE FOR ISSUANCE.—Not later 10 than December 31, 2022, the Administrator 11 shall finalize regulations pursuant to the exist- 12 ing authority of the Administrator under sec- 13 tions 111(b) and 111(d) of the Clean Air Act 14 (42 U.S.C. 7411(b), (d)) to achieve the national 15 goal described in subsection (a)(1). 16 (B) CONTENTS.—The regulations required 17 by subparagraph (A) shall include the following: 18 (i) The regulations shall prescribe 19 procedures for the establishment, imple- 20 mentation, and enforcement of standards 21 of performance or design, equipment, work 22 practice, or operational standards, or com- 23 bination thereof, for existing sources and 24 guidelines for States. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:06 Dec 30, 2022 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1492.RH H1492 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 1492 RH (ii) The regulations shall require 1 States to submit plans in accordance with 2 section 111(d) of the Clean Air Act (42 3 U.S.C. 7411(d)) no later than 30 months 4 after the date of enactment of this Act. 5 (iii) The regulations shall provide for 6 the Administrator to prescribe, not later 7 than 42 months after the date of enact- 8 ment of this Act, a plan in accordance with 9 such section 111(d)— 10 (I) for a State that fails to sub- 11 mit a plan by the deadline specified in 12 clause (ii); or 13 (II) for a State for which the Ad- 14 ministrator disapproves the State 15 plan. 16 (4) MEETING THE GOAL FOR 2030.— 17 (A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than Decem- 18 ber 31, 2023, the Administrator shall finalize 19 regulations pursuant to the existing authority 20 of the Administrator under sections 111(b) and 21 111(d) to achieve the national goal described in 22 subsection (a)(2). 23 (B) CONTENTS.—The regulations required 24 by subparagraph (A) shall provide for the es- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:06 Dec 30, 2022 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1492.RH H1492 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 1492 RH tablishment, implementation, and enforcement 1 of standards of performance or design, equip- 2 ment, work practice, or operational standards, 3 or combination thereof, for new sources and ex- 4 isting sources, and guidelines for States, that 5 include requirements for— 6 (i) new and existing natural gas 7 transmission, gathering, and distribution 8 pipelines to reduce methane emissions by 9 application of the best system of emissions 10 reduction pertaining to venting, flaring, 11 and leakage reduction; 12 (ii) new sources, and existing sources, 13 with equipment that handles liquefied nat- 14 ural gas to reduce methane emissions from 15 that equipment by application of the best 16 system of emission reduction; 17 (iii) new and existing offshore petro- 18 leum and natural gas production facilities 19 to reduce methane emissions by application 20 of the best system of emission reduction; 21 and 22 (iv) any source addressed under the 23 regulations promulgated under paragraph 24 (3) for which the Administrator determines 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:06 Dec 30, 2022 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1492.RH H1492 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 1492 RH that a more stringent standard is nec- 1 essary to achieve the national goal under 2 subsection (a)(2). 3 (C) DISTRIBUTION OF HYDROGEN.—In im- 4 plementing this section, the Administrator shall 5 ensure that any new distribution infrastructure 6 is compatible with the distribution of hydrogen. 7 (c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 8 (1) The term ‘‘Administrator’’ means the Ad- 9 ministrator of the Environmental Protection Agency. 10 (2) The phrase ‘‘design, equipment, work prac- 11 tice, or operational standard, or combination there- 12 of’’ has the meaning given to such phrase for pur- 13 poses of section 111(h) of the Clean Air Act (42 14 U.S.C. 7411(h)). 15 (3) The terms ‘‘existing source’’, ‘‘new source’’, 16 and ‘‘standard of performance’’ have the meanings 17 given such terms in section 111(a) of the Clean Air 18 Act (42 U.S.C. 7411(a)). 19 SEC. 3. GAS WASTE REDUCTION AND ENHANCEMENT OF 20 GAS MEASURING AND REPORTING. 21 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title I of the Federal Oil and Gas 22 Royalty Management Act of 1982 (30 U.S.C. 1711 et 23 seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following: 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:06 Dec 30, 2022 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1492.RH H1492 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 1492 RH ‘‘SEC. 118. GAS WASTE REDUCTION AND ENHANCEMENT OF 1 GAS MEASURING AND REPORTING. 2 ‘‘(a) REGULATIONS FOR PREVENTING AND REDUC- 3 ING WASTE OF GAS VIA VENTING, FLARING, AND FUGI- 4 TIVE RELEASES.— 5 ‘‘(1) REQUIREMENT TO ISSUE REGULATIONS.— 6 Not later than 2 years after the date of enactment 7 of the Methane Waste Prevention Act of 2021, the 8 Secretary shall issue regulations pursuant to the 9 Secretary’s authority under the Mineral Leasing 10 Act, the Federal Land Policy and Management Act 11 of 1976, the Indian Mineral Leasing Act of 1938, 12 and other statutes authorizing the Secretary to regu- 13 late oil and gas activities on Federal land and In- 14 dian lands, that establish requirements for reducing 15 and preventing the waste of gas, including by vent- 16 ing, flaring, and fugitive releases, from covered oper- 17 ations. 18 ‘‘(2) CONTENT OF REGULATIONS.—The regula- 19 tions shall, with respect to covered operations— 20 ‘‘(A) require that, beginning not later than 21 1 year after the date of enactment of the Meth- 22 ane Waste Prevention Act of 2021, each oper- 23 ator captures at least 85 percent of all gas pro- 24 duced in each year from each onshore well that 25 is subject to a mineral leasing law; 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:06 Dec 30, 2022 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1492.RH H1492 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 1492 RH ‘‘(B) require that, beginning not later than 1 5 years after the date of enactment of the 2 Methane Waste Prevention Act of 2021, each 3 operator captures at least 99 percent of all gas 4 produced in each year from each onshore well 5 that is subject to a mineral leasing law; 6 ‘‘(C) require flaring of gas, rather than 7 venting, in all instances in which gas is not cap- 8 tured; 9 ‘‘(D) require that every application for a 10 permit to drill a production well— 11 ‘‘(i) demonstrate sufficient infrastruc- 12 ture and capacity is in place to capture the 13 expected quantity of produced gas from the 14 well; and 15 ‘‘(ii) be published with an opportunity 16 for a public comment period of at least 30 17 days; 18 ‘‘(E) beginning not later than 2 years after 19 the date of enactment of the Methane Waste 20 Prevention Act of 2021, prohibit all new and 21 refractured production wells from venting or 22 flaring; 23 ‘‘(F) require the operator of any covered 24 operation that routinely flares gas before the ef- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:06 Dec 30, 2022 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1492.RH H1492 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 1492 RH fective date of a regulation prohibiting flaring 1 issued pursuant to subparagraph (E) to submit 2 a gas capture plan to the Secretary not later 3 than 180 days before such effective date that 4 ensures that such operator will meet the re- 5 quirements described in subparagraphs (A) and 6 (B); 7 ‘‘(G) set performance standards for newly 8 installed equipment based on modern equipment 9 that minimize gas loss from— 10 ‘‘(i) storage tanks; 11 ‘‘(ii) dehydrators; 12 ‘‘(iii) compressors; 13 ‘‘(iv) open-ended valves or lines; and 14 ‘‘(v) such other equipment as the Sec- 15 retary determines appropriate to reduce 16 and prevent gas release; 17 ‘‘(H) require that operators replace exist- 18 ing equipment within one year of the publica- 19 tion date of performance standards established 20 under subsection (G); 21 ‘‘(I) require the replacement of all gas-ac- 22 tuated pneumatic controllers and pumps with 23 nonemitting equipment not later than 180 days 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:06 Dec 30, 2022 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1492.RH H1492 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 1492 RH after the date of issuance of the regulation en- 1 acted under subparagraph (A); 2 ‘‘(J) set performance standards based on 3 modern procedures and equipment that mini- 4 mize gas loss from— 5 ‘‘(i) downhole maintenance; 6 ‘‘(ii) liquids unloading; 7 ‘‘(iii) well completion; and 8 ‘‘(iv) such other procedures as the 9 Secretary determines appropriate to reduce 10 and prevent gas release; 11 ‘‘(K) require all operators to have leak de- 12 tection programs with monthly inspections that 13 assess the entire covered operation using an in- 14 frared camera or other equipment with methods 15 that provide overall at least equivalent sensi- 16 tivity and effectiveness in detecting leaks on a 17 timely basis; 18 ‘‘(L) require any leaks found to be re- 19 paired promptly, and in any case not later than 20 4 weeks after the discovery of the leak, except 21 where exceptional circumstances warrant an ex- 22 tension of not more than 8 additional weeks; 23 and 24 ‘‘(M) require recordkeeping for— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:06 Dec 30, 2022 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1492.RH H1492 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 12 •HR 1492 RH ‘‘(i) equipment maintenance; 1 ‘‘(ii) leak detection and repair; 2 ‘‘(iii) venting events; 3 ‘‘(iv) flaring events; and 4 ‘‘(v) such other operations as the Sec- 5 retary determines appropriate to reduce 6 and prevent gas release. 7 ‘‘(b) GAS MEASURING, REPORTING, AND TRANS- 8 PARENCY REQUIREMENTS.— 9 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall, not 10 later than one year after the date of enactment of 11 the Methane Waste Prevention Act of 2021, issue 12 regulations requiring each operator to measure and 13 report, with respect to all gas subject to the mineral 14 leasing laws, all such gas produced, consumed on 15 site, or lost through venting, flaring, or fugitive re- 16 leases. 17 ‘‘(2) MEASURING AND REPORTING REQUIRE- 18 MENTS.—To account for all gas referred to in para- 19 graph (1), the Secretary shall issue regulations re- 20 quiring each operator to— 21 ‘‘(A) install metering devices to measure 22 all flared gas; and 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:06 Dec 30, 2022 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1492.RH H1492 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 13 •HR 1492 RH ‘‘(B) report to the Secretary the volumes 1 of gas measured pursuant to the requirements 2 of this subsection, including— 3 ‘‘(i) all new measured values for pro- 4 duction and disposition, including vented 5 and flared volumes; and 6 ‘‘(ii) values for fugitive releases based 7 on guidelines for their calculation estab- 8 lished by the Secretary in such regulations. 9 ‘‘(3) TRANSPARENCY.—The Secretary shall 10 make all new data produced under the requirements 11 established by the Secretary under this subsection, 12 including calculated fugitive releases and volumes of 13 gas lost to venting and flaring, publicly available 14 through the internet— 15 ‘‘(A) without a fee or other access charge; 16 ‘‘(B) in a searchable, sortable, and down- 17 loadable manner, to the extent technically pos- 18 sible; and 19 ‘‘(C) as soon as technically practicable 20 after the report by the operator is filed. 21 ‘‘(c) APPLICATION.—Except as otherwise specified in 22 this section, the requirements established by the Secret [Text truncated for display. 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