Curbing Methane Waste & Pollution

Antoinette Reyes

Sierra Club Rio Grande Chapter

antoinette.reyes@sierraclub.org

575-342-1727

What is methane?

Methane (CH₄) is a an organic compound that is the primary component of gas.

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Enormous Climate Consequences

• Methane is the second most potent driver of climate change, after CO2. Its climate-disrupting effect is 86 times that of CO2 over a 20-year time frame.
• In fact, methane is responsible for roughly 30% of the planet’s warming since the Industrial Revolution (IEA), contributing to more drought and accelerating wildfires across public lands in the West.

Global methane emissions

To achieve the IEA’s Net Zero Emissions by 2050 scenario there must be no new conventional long lead-time oil and gas projects approved for development, nor new coal mines or coal mine life extensions. Between 2022 and 2030 we must have a surge in clean energy (triple installed capacity), double energy efficiency, and a reduction of 75% in methane emissions from fossil fuel operations (⅓ from reduced demand, ⅔ from LDAR and no flaring).

Where does US methane come from?

Methane is emitted into the air from various sources, including…

• Decaying landfills 16%
• 58% of landfill emissions attributed to food waste (EPA 2023)
• Agriculture/Livestock 25% (cattle, swine, sheep, goats)
• Oil and gas development 28%

NM direct GHG Emissions by sector (2020, NM interagency climate change taskforce)

NM Methane Emissions (2020, NMED)

*Oil and Gas accounted for 60% of the state’s methane emissions (2019)

NM falling short on 2019 climate goals

Environmental Defense Fund released an analysis in Sept 2023 indicating that New Mexico is falling far short of its climate goals and will achieve less than one-third of the 45% reduction in climate pollution by 2030 that was committed to by the governor via 2019 executive order.

Venting

Leaks

Flaring

Natural Gas Systems

Oil &

gas

wells

Gathering

& boosting

Venting

& flaring

Field

use

Gas processing

plants

Interstate

Transmission

pipelines

Upstream

Midstream

Downstream

Export Terminals

Pipelines

Solutions Exist For All Sources

• Technically proven

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• Commercially available

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• Can be profitable

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• On average, emissions can be cut by 40% for just one penny per thousand cubic feet of gas (ICF 2014)

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• There were already 11 companies in NM doing this work in 2015

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Methane Emissions = Waste of a Shared Resource

• EMNRD estimated between 2011-19 venting and flaring contributed to a loss of state revenue between $10-200 Million per year.

In 2019, this is enough gas wasted to power well over half of the homes in the state. Average US household uses 71.54 MCF/yr

Health Impacts

• Methane is emitted alongside ground level ozone/smog- and soot-forming pollutants known as volatile organic compounds (VOC) & other toxic pollutants such as cancer causing benzene.
• VOCs from oil and gas operations can worsen asthma, cardiovascular disease and respiratory disease as well as adversely impact the central nervous system; eyes, skin and respiratory tracts; and the liver, kidney, and endocrine systems. The health risks increase the closer people live, work, and go to school near oil and gas facilities/operations.

Credit: Moms Clean Air Force

Research by Public Health Experts Shows ‘Damning’ Evidence on the Harms of Fracking.

• According to Inside Climate News (Oct 2023), “Hydraulic fracturing for oil and gas is linked to an array of health harms, including cancer, cardiovascular disease, asthma and birth defects, according to the latest compilation of studies on the impact of fracking on human health. The ninth edition of a “compendium” of scientific, medical, government and media reports on the industry’s health effects, released Thursday, contains references to almost 2,500 papers that add to evidence that fracking has an array of negative impacts on human health, the authors say. The number of studies collected is now more than six times what it was when the first compendium was published in 2014, but the conclusions are the same, said Dr. Sandra Steingraber, the lead author, and a member of Physicians for Social Responsibility and Concerned Health Professionals of New York, which jointly published the 637-page document.”

OCD data (2024)

More detailed maps

Oil & Gas “Threat Map” (2021)

62,492 Active Oil & Gas wells, Compressors, and Processors

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144 THOUSAND people live in the threat radius (half of which are POC)

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119 schools in the threat radius

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8, 799 sq miles are covered by the threat radius

Orphaned Wells

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Save Lives by Reducing Emissions

• Under current trajectories, methane emissions could increase by up to 13% in the decade through 2030.
• ‘More than 75% of methane emissions from oil and gas operations and half of emissions from coal today can be abated with existing technology, often at low cost,’ the IEA said in the report.
• “Immediate and targeted methane cuts from the fossil fuel industry could prevent nearly 1 million premature deaths due to ozone exposure by midcentury, the International Energy Agency says in a new report (Fall 2023).
• The reductions would also avert 90 million metric tons of crop losses and about 85 billion hours of lost labor due to heat exposure, according to the report, which was prepared by the IEA, the United Nations Environment Program and the Climate and Clean Air Coalition. Avoiding those impacts provides roughly $260 billion in direct economic benefits.

Polling

There is broad bipartisan support for solutions to cut gas waste among a majority of voters in the American West. A 2016 poll by Colorado College’s State of the Rockies Project found that 76 percent of Republicans in western states—and nearly 80 percent of all registered voters in western states—support common sense rules that cut gas waste on public lands.

Taking Action on Methane for

10+ Years

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NM state rules finalized (2021-22)

• Included a plan to reduce methane pollution from the oil and gas industry by addressing LDAR, reduce venting and flaring

Methane Emission Reduction Program (part of IRA)

• Methane Fee!

EPA Methane Rules finalized (2024)

• First time federal rules have ever applied to existing infrastructure

Other federal rules

• Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program Update
• Other BLM Rules
• PHMSA Pipeline Rule
• SEC Climate Rule

BLM Waste Rules finalized (2024)

Distinct Legal Authorities & Regulatory Scope

EPA Methane Rule

• Air quality & climate pollution: Clean Air Act
• Private lands
• New and existing source rules distinct

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BLM Methane Rule

• Waste prevention
• Stewardship of Public lands
• Public & Tribal lands
• Covers new & existing sources

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NM has two methane rules

• NMED ozone precursor rule - air quality
• OCD methane waste rule - waste

NM Rules

OCD Methane Waste Prevention Rule, finalized in Apr 2021 with baseline data from Feb 2022

• Rules apply to upstream and midstream operators
• Requires 98% gas capture rate by 2026, prohibits routine flaring, incentives advanced LDAR technology.
• OCD did an analysis of first 1.5 years of data and found that 20 out of 1600 facilities accounted for 30% of all reported venting and flaring.
• Only half of New Mexico's oil and gas operators are following state air pollution rules “From July 2022 through July 2023, the Environment Department found a dismal 50.0% compliance rate for air quality requirements.”
• NM agencies have estimated that flaring and venting have reduced by 30% in the last 2 yrs due to new state rules. The agency currently believes that the biggest challenge is midstream operators (takeaway capacity from facilities)

NM Rules

NMED Ozone Precursor Rule finalized July 2022

• Does not regulate methane directly but goes after pollutants
• The rule requires volatile organic compounds (VOC), nitrogen oxides (NOx), and carbon monoxide (CO) reductions from several types of equipment at oil and gas facilities.
• Required the tracking of “fugitive emissions”
• Independent Producers Association has challenged this rule in court

EPA Methane Mitigation Rule

EPA Methane Rules finalized March 2024

• NM AG Torrez joined a letter with 19 others to defend the rule in court
• EPA estimates that from 2024 to 2038 the standards will reduce methane from covered sources by 80%.
• Rule is taking a harder line on flaring methane and associated gases than expected - banning at New Wells in 2 years and restrictions on existing wells
• Emission control devices for both new and existing pneumatic controllers
• There are carveouts that will insulate the rule legally, for example zero emissions pneumatics has a 1 yr grace period
• Leak monitoring: the final rule includes comprehensive leak monitoring requirements that ensure all sites are subject to regular inspections, including low-producing and inactive sites. All sites with failure-prone equipment are subject to quarterly instrument-based inspections.

Job Producing Standard

Good jobs:

• Study by BlueGreen Alliance says EPA methane rule would created 136,000 new good paying jobs through 2035.
• The median wage in the methane mitigation sector is nearly $31 an hour - 60 percent higher than the U.S. average.
• 75% of manufacturing and 88% of service firms report they would create more jobs if national methane standards implemented.
• Strong demand for blue-collar jobs like mechanical and electrical engineers, technicians and welders. Other industry positions include: financial analysts and sales managers.

Business growth:

• Over 225 firms manufacture technologies or provide services to reduce methane pollution in oil and gas production. Almost all are headquartered in the U.S.
• Nearly 60 percent qualify as a small business.
• Methane mitigation industry firms operate at more than 1000 US locations.
• In 2015, NM ranked 10th in the nation for employee locations relevant to methane mitigation technologies and services.

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BLM Waste Prevention Rule

BLM Waste Rules finalized in April 2024

• Bans routine venting and flaring, weaker than EPA rule but goes into effect for new sources sooner

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• In 2019, oil and gas operators vented or flared approximately 150 billion cubic feet of methane or about $400 million worth of natural gas on federal and tribal lands. That is enough natural gas to meet the needs of 2.1 million households, which is nearly as many households as the states of New Mexico, North Dakota, Utah and Wyoming combined.
• Taxpayers lost more than $50 million in federal royalty revenue due to this wasted natural gas, about half of which goes to states to pay for education, infrastructure, health and emergency services, and general local government budgets.

Other Federal Rules

BLM Onshore Oil and Gas Rule finalized April 2024

• Raised royalty rates, increased minimum leasing bids as well as lease rental rates, eliminated non-competitive leasing, and increased minimum bond amounts for clean-up costs

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BLM Public Lands rule finalized April 2024

• Encourages “balanced management” by adding conservation as an essential component of public lands management on equal footing with other multi-use types

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EPA Power Plants rule finalized April 2024

• New limits on emissions from new and existing coal-plants and new natural gas power plants. Supplementary rules are expected for existing gas power plants.

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DOT PHMSA Pipeline rule (still waiting)

• Requires LDAR for 2.7 million miles of gas transmission, distribution, and gathering lines, in addition to 400 underground natural gas storage facilities and 165 LNG facilities.

Other Federal Rules

Methane Emissions Reduction Program was part of the 2022 IRA package and it was finalized in Dec 2023

• This year industry (beyond just production areas) is tracking emissions and will be charged in Spring of 2025.
• NM has received $14M to improve methane measurement and enforcement

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Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program (update part of IRA), finalized in May 2024

• New formulas to calculate emissions which have historically been vastly underreported.
• Nature reported emissions are 3 times higher nationally with an $9.3B in annual climate damages

Other Federal Rules

SEC Climate Rule finalized March 2024

• The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s new rule requiring companies to disclose some emissions and climate-related information was barely passed before the agency was being hauled to court. The rule adopted in early March was watered down from what the nation’s top financial regulator had proposed two years ago, thanks to intense lobbying and talk of litigation from business and trade groups and some conservative lawmakers. But weakening the rule didn’t stave off lawsuits, and what’s expected to be a lengthy legal battle is now underway.

What’s Next?

• EPA Methane Rule State Implementation Plan
• State has 2 years to complete a SIP and part of that is filling the gaps between the EPA rule and our state rules.
• SMOG (haze rule) SIP process might shed light on process for EPA rule SIP. The process started in 2019 and stalled. It is now very delayed. EPA gave NM a notice for not submitting on time and the new deadline is this Aug

Differences between EPA rule and State rules

• State is stricter on LDAR for large facilities (monthly inspections) and has proximity LDAR requirements (more frequent near more people)
• State stronger on flaring but weaker on temporary venting exceptions
• EPA has alternative technologies such as continuous methane emission monitor options for industry that allow less frequent inspections
• EPA stronger on retrofit requirements for pneumatic controllers, LDAR for natural gas (not oil) compressors
• EPA is stricter on facilities with no electricity based on the amount of infrastructure on site, whereas NM had blanket exemptions for pumps without access to electricity

Quick Action

• Sign this petition in support of improved bonding reform at the state level. Tell the NM Oil Conservation Commission we want oil and gas operators paying to clean up their toxic pollution!
• https://act.sierraclub.org/actions/RioGrande?actionId=AR0450765
• Clean-up is important for health and safety and is an opportunity for a source of good-paying jobs in the southeast and northwest parts of the state. Oftentimes, New Mexico taxpayers are left paying the clean-up bill so we need to change current laws and rules with incentives to close and clean up low or non-producing wells and prevent toxic chemicals like methane and benzene from polluting the air and seeping into groundwater. Currently, the oil and gas industry’s “insurance coverage” for clean-up doesn’t include enough funding to address the actual costs.

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Enforcement

• Currently there are strict timelines for lease approval, but nothing for regulation enforcement. Does SC plan on changing the priority?
• Fully funded agencies
• pay less than working in engineering
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