EPA’s Proposed Emissions Standards for Natural Gas Production and Transmission

The document argues that the EPA's proposed air pollution standards for the natural gas sector are essential for protecting public health and the environment, particularly through the implementation of 'green completion' technology to capture methane and smog-forming emissions from fracked wells. The authors contend that these standards are cost-effective, as the sale of recovered gas offsets compliance costs, and that they will not hinder domestic production, citing examples from Colorado and Wyoming. The letter specifically rejects proposed industry loopholes from the American Petroleum Institute (API), such as VOC percentage thresholds and implementation delays, which the authors claim would exempt millions of tons of pollution and undermine the standards' effectiveness.

• The EPA's proposed revised standards for the natural gas sector are expected to reduce air pollution from the industry by approximately 25 percent.
• The implementation of 'green completion' technology—using portable tanks on trucks to capture emissions from newly fracked and refracked wells—is central to the proposed standards and is expected to capture millions of tons of methane and hundreds of thousands of tons of smog-forming emissions annually.
• The proposed standards are described as cost-effective and potentially profitable for the industry because the revenue from selling recovered natural gas can offset compliance costs; the EPA estimates the rules will save gas producers over $30 million per year.
• Evidence from Colorado and Wyoming, where green completions have been required for several years, suggests that such federal standards do not slow down domestic natural gas production, as production increased in those states.
• The authors argue against a proposed American Petroleum Institute (API) loophole that would exempt sources where volatile organic compounds (VOCs) make up less than 10% of total pollution, noting that this would exempt most wells in the Marcellus Shale of Pennsylvania, where VOCs average 6.9%.
• A single shale gas well without pollution controls typically emits over 9,000,000 cubic feet of air pollutants during the completion phase.

APA

Clean Air Task Force (2012). EPA’s Proposed Emissions Standards for Natural Gas Production and Transmission. https://cdn.catf.us/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/21093258/201204009-Green_Group_letter_to_Jarrett.pdf

Chicago

Clean Air Task Force. EPA’s Proposed Emissions Standards for Natural Gas Production and Transmission. 2012. https://cdn.catf.us/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/21093258/201204009-Green_Group_letter_to_Jarrett.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |author=Clean Air Task Force |title=EPA’s Proposed Emissions Standards for Natural Gas Production and Transmission |date=9 April 2012 |url=https://cdn.catf.us/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/21093258/201204009-Green_Group_letter_to_Jarrett.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{cleanairtaskforce2012epas, author = {{Clean Air Task Force}}, title = {{EPA’s Proposed Emissions Standards for Natural Gas Production and Transmission}}, publisher = {Clean Air Task Force}, year = {2012}, month = apr, url = {https://cdn.catf.us/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/21093258/201204009-Green_Group_letter_to_Jarrett.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }