Summary of EPA's Final Amendments to the Oil & Gas New Source Performance Standards

On August 13, 2020, the Environmental Protection Agency released two rules finalizing policy and technical amendments to the 2016 New Source Performance Standards for the oil and natural gas sector. In the Final Policy Rule, EPA removes the transmission and storage segment of the industry from the source category (leaving only the production and processing segments) and rescinds the methane requirements for sources in the production and processing segments. The Final Policy Rule also adopts an interpretation of the Clean Air Act that would require a pollutant-specific significant contribution finding before developing performance standards for a given pollutant. In the Final Technical Rule, EPA reduces the fugitive emission monitoring requirements for select sources and establishes how new technologies and state regulations can demonstrate equivalency with the Final Technical Rule’s standards.