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On November 15, 2021, the Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) published a proposed rule that included three separate actions under the Clean Air Act that target new and existing air emission sources at oil and natural gas well sites, natural gas gathering and boosting compressor stations, natural gas processing plants, and transmission and storage facilities.

Our Eleventh Annual Hydraulic Fracturing Symposium featured six dynamic speakers who focused on comprehensive analysis of the shifting industry landscape.

On June 30, 2021, President Biden signed into law a joint resolution of Congress repealing a Trump administration rule that removed methane as a pollutant regulated under the Clean Air Act in the oil and gas industry.

On April 29, 2021, the Senate passed a resolution (the “Resolution”) to disapprove a rule adopted by the Trump administration which lifted certain requirements that had been put in place by an Obama-era methane rule, also known as “Quad Oa.”

Each new presidential administration brings with it its own set of policy goals and priorities.

As discussed in this previous post, EPA recently released two rules changing the volatile organic compound (“VOC”) and methane emissions requirements for new sources in the oil and gas sector, which alter or roll back some of the requirements put in place under the Obama administration (“Methane Rule”).

The U.S. energy industry faces uncertain times. The triple hit of depressed oil and natural gas prices, reduced demand resulting from a global pandemic, and an economic recession have battered producers.

On March 27, 2020, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California granted the Bureau of Land Management’s (“BLM”) motion for summary judgment, upholding the agency’s decision to rescind, or roll back, hydraulic fracturing regulations finalized during the Obama Administration (the “2015 Rule”).