08.19.15

Hoeven Statement on EPA's Proposed Regulation of Methane Emissions from Oil and Gas Drilling

BISMARCK, N.D. – Senator John Hoeven today issued the following statement after the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued proposed regulations to cut methane emissions from oil and gas drilling by 40% to 45% by 2025.

“Instead of issuing additional rules and regulations, the Administration should work with Congress to pass commonsense legislation that will help our nation produce more energy with good environmental stewardship. That includes passing legislation to improve the process for exporting liquefied natural gas and encouraging investments like the building of natural gas gathering systems on public lands to help reduce flaring. This is the right approach to help us produce more energy with better environmental stewardship for the American people.” 

Hoeven has been working to build markets for the nation’s LNG to incentivize gas gathering systems and reduce flaring. Hoeven is a member of the Senate Energy Committee, which recently approved the Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) Permitting Certainty and Transparency Act to improve the approval process for exporting LNG to countries that do not have free trade agreements with the United States. The legislation requires the Secretary of Energy to make a decision on any LNG export application within 45 days of a completed environmental review document.

The bill is similar to the LNG Certainty Act, legislation authored by Hoeven in the last Congress that required the Department of Energy to make a decision within 45 days of a company completing an LNG export application with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). Hoeven’s bill was a compromise between LNG export proposals offered by Republicans and Democrats and resulted from negotiations he held with Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz.

The EPA’s proposed regulation will be open to public comment before being finalized in 2016.

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