Regulating Flaring and Venting of Associated Gas

The document highlights the environmental and health impacts of routine gas flaring in the US, noting that 538 billion cubic feet of gas was vented or flared in 2019. It argues that routine flaring is avoidable through better infrastructure planning and technology, citing New Mexico and Colorado as regulatory precedents. The text emphasizes the disproportionate health burden on environmental justice and tribal communities, specifically mentioning increased rates of preterm birth in high-flaring regions of Texas.

• Routine flaring is defined as flaring that occurs during normal oil production when there are insufficient facilities to utilize, dispatch, or re-inject the gas on-site.
• Gas flaring in the US has increased significantly, with the Energy Information Administration reporting 538 billion cubic feet of gas vented or flared in 2019, which is more than three times the amount in 2010 and nearly six times the amount in 2000.
• The emissions from US flaring translate to over 72 million metric tons of CO2-equivalent, an amount comparable to the emissions of 16 million cars or 18 coal-fired power plants.
• Flaring has severe health impacts, including respiratory and cardiovascular issues from particulate matter and nitrogen oxides; a study in a Texas region linked flaring within five kilometers of pregnancy to higher rates of preterm birth.
• Routine flaring is avoidable through infrastructure planning and technologies such as pipeline capture, underground reinjection, onsite combustion for electricity, or trucking compressed gas to processing plants.
• New Mexico and Colorado have established regulatory precedents by passing rules to fully phase out routine flaring by spring 2022.

APA

Clean Air Task Force (n.d.). Regulating Flaring and Venting of Associated Gas. https://cdn.catf.us/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/21092149/CATF_EPAFlaringRegulationsSummary_2Pager_08.09.21_v2.pdf

Chicago

Clean Air Task Force. Regulating Flaring and Venting of Associated Gas. n.d. https://cdn.catf.us/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/21092149/CATF_EPAFlaringRegulationsSummary_2Pager_08.09.21_v2.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Clean Air Task Force |title=Regulating Flaring and Venting of Associated Gas |url=https://cdn.catf.us/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/21092149/CATF_EPAFlaringRegulationsSummary_2Pager_08.09.21_v2.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{cleanairtaskforcendregulating, author = {{Clean Air Task Force}}, title = {{Regulating Flaring and Venting of Associated Gas}}, institution = {Clean Air Task Force}, url = {https://cdn.catf.us/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/21092149/CATF_EPAFlaringRegulationsSummary_2Pager_08.09.21_v2.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }