Our take: PA Lags on Methane Control
After the Scranton Times-Tribune's forceful editorial calling on the next governor to regulate methane emissions, Governor Tom Corbett's energy executive penned a letter to the Scranton Times-Tribune in which he claimed that Pennsylvania is "leading the way" on addressing methane. In a follow up letter, PennFuture strongly disagreed with this assertion:
Editor: It was encouraging that Gov. Tom Corbett’s energy executive, Patrick Henderson (Your Opinion, “Emissions Managed,” Oct. 18) recognizes the importance of reducing methane pollution from the natural gas industry.
Unfortunately, his claim that Pennsylvania is “leading the way” on methane regulations is not true. Under Mr. Corbett, Pennsylvania has taken a Swiss cheese approach to addressing methane and the commonwealth lags behind other states. Pennsylvania has no regulations directly regulating methane emissions. Instead, Pennsylvania has a patchwork of policies and federal rules that result in some reductions, but fall far short of the comprehensive regulations citizens deserve.
Instead of directly regulating methane, Pennsylvania has a voluntary permitting option — one that only applies to drillers who elect to follow it. For new Marcellus wells, an exemption says wells that meet some basic standards don’t need to be permitted by the Department of Environmental Protection’s air program. The exemption calls sources of methane emissions “trivial activities” that don’t require pre-construction approval.
While the current exemption is an improvement over a prior blanket exemption, many loopholes remain. For example, it applies only to new wells, not thousands of existing wells.
Other states show leadership on this issue. Ohio adopted rules that require oil and gas operators to conduct quarterly leak and repair inspections — in contrast to Pennsylvania’s once-a-year requirement. Industry and environmental groups came together in Colorado to enact a comprehensive set of methane regulations for oil and gas operators. The bulk of operators have to perform quarterly methane leak inspections, with monthly inspections at the largest well sites.
The Times-Tribune’s recent editorial was spot on: Methane pollution from our natural gas industry is a serious threat and the time to take action is now. Our next governor must take necessary steps on methane pollution to truly claim a leadership role.
Andrew Sharp is PennFuture's director of outreach and is based in Philadelphia. He tweets at @RexBainbridge.
