Oil and gas industry leaders push for EPA information gathering reform
Oil and gas leaders pressed the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to improve its industry understanding and processes on Tuesday, in light of the EPA’s proposed information collection request (ICR), which allegedly failed to reflect current initiatives and data.
“It’s been widely reported that the U.S. oil and natural gas industry is hard at work reducing its air emissions,” Independent Petroleum Association of America (IPAA) Executive Vice President Lee Fuller said. “The industry has successfully cut its greenhouse gas emissions levels, allowing the United States to become the world’s leader in cutting carbon. However, this proposed ICR has all the signs of a rushed job, not a thorough process to gather the facts and hear meaningful public comment from the people closest to the U.S. oil and natural gas industry. This rushed information-gathering effort is a misguided approach and we strongly encourage EPA to work with the industry and state agencies to thoroughly and accurately collect data – much of which is already publicly available – on oil and natural gas operations.
The IPAA collaborated with the American Exploration & Production Council, as well as 47 additional industry trade association leaders, to request an ICR reform for oil and gas facilities. EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy previously mentioned that the EPA is still learning the intricacies of the oil and gas industries because they are not industries the organization regulates.
