Hoeven: Repealing BLM Methane Rule Will Provide Regulatory Relief, Support Jobs & the Economy
Senator Calls on Senate to Pass CRA, Rescind Duplicative & Costly Methane Rule
WASHINGTON -- Senator John Hoeven today spoke on the Senate floor, urging his colleagues to repeal the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM’s) final rule regarding methane emissions on federal and tribal lands. Hoeven is an original cosponsor of the resolution to rescind the regulation under the Congressional Review Act (CRA). The House of Representatives passed its version of the legislation in February.
“The BLM Methane Rule is another midnight regulation put out by the Obama Administration,” Hoeven said. “The EPA, in partnership with individual states, is already tasked with regulating air quality, which includes methane emissions. In fact, North Dakota has put in place flaring requirements that have successfully reduced the flaring rate from over 35 percent to around 10 percent today.
“With methane emissions already being regulated and reduced by the states and industry, it’s tough to figure out what this new BLM regulation is accomplishing. It is a duplicative, one-size-fits-all approach that costs us jobs and economic growth. We can provide regulatory relief right now through the Congressional Review Act, and I urge my colleagues to do so.”
As a member of the Senate Energy and Appropriations Committees, Hoeven has worked to reduce natural gas flaring by addressing the BLM’s backlog of permit applications for gas-gathering infrastructure and pressing for workable, state-led regulations. To this end, the senator helped introducethe bipartisan Natural Gas Gathering Enhancement Act last Congress, which sets deadlines for and expedites the permitting of natural gas gathering lines on federal and Indian land. The delays at BLM prevent the development of needed infrastructure and contribute to unnecessary venting and flaring from oil and gas wells.
-###-
Next Article Previous Article
