Press Release: 2024-03-28
API on Final Waste Prevention Rule: Regulatory Overreach Could Hinder Emissions Progress, Increase Barriers to Energy Production
202.682.8114 | press@api.org
WASHINGTON, March 27, 2024 – The American Petroleum Institute (API) today released the following statement from Vice President of Upstream Policy Holly Hopkins on the Department of the Interior Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) final Waste Prevention Rule.
“U.S. oil and natural gas producers are continuously working to meet growing energy demand while reducing emissions, and consistent access to federal resources is essential for maintaining America’s energy advantage. API supports a smart regulatory framework for reducing methane emissions, but overlapping regulations and lack of coordination between policymakers could hinder progress, create unnecessary barriers to development on federal lands and result in regulatory incoherence. We are reviewing the final rule to ensure it remains within BLM’s statutory authority to regulate waste of natural gas and will consider all options to prevent regulatory overreach.”
BLM’s statutory authority to assess royalties on oil and natural gas production on federal lands applies only that gas which can be captured economically. API submitted comments on the proposed waste prevention rule in January 2023 and raised concerns with several legal and practical aspects of the proposed rule, including duplication of regulatory efforts already being undertaken by other federal agencies. API’s comments are available here.
API represents all segments of America’s natural gas and oil industry, which supports nearly 11 million U.S. jobs and is backed by a growing grassroots movement of millions of Americans. Our approximately 600 members produce, process and distribute the majority of the nation’s energy, and participate in API Energy Excellence®, which is accelerating environmental and safety progress by fostering new technologies and transparent reporting. API was formed in 1919 as a standards-setting organization and has developed more than 800 standards to enhance operational and environmental safety, efficiency and sustainability.