Regulation on methane emissions reduction in the energy sector and the weakening of the proposal by the Council

The signatories argue that the Council of the European Union's version of the Methane Regulation significantly reduces the effectiveness of the original European Commission proposal. Key concerns include the extension of monitoring and reporting timelines, a reduction in the frequency of Leak Detection and Repair (LDAR) inspections, and the potential for unchecked venting of methane. The authors highlight that the EU risks lagging behind the United States and Canada, where more stringent LDAR requirements are already in place or proposed. They also emphasize that the regulation must address methane emissions from imported energy, as up to 90% of emissions related to EU consumption occur outside the EU, and warn against the weakening of provisions regarding methane venting in the coal sector.

• The Council's proposal reduces the frequency of Leak Detection and Repair (LDAR) inspections from the Commission's proposed three-month interval to as low as every three years for some equipment, which would lower the emissions reduction rate from 80% (quarterly) to 67% (every six months).
• The EU's proposed methane measures are less ambitious than those in other regions; for example, New Mexico requires quarterly or monthly LDAR for all compressor stations state-wide, and Canada has proposed monthly LDAR at all oil and gas sites.
• The Council's version of the regulation allows industry to vent methane instead of flaring it under certain conditions without authority approval, which the authors claim could lead to "unchecked self-assessment".
• The regulation's climate goals depend on addressing imports, as the European Commission estimates that up to 90% of methane emissions associated with EU consumption occur outside the EU.
• Provisions for the coal sector have been weakened, including a 10-fold increase in the threshold above which methane venting is prohibited and an extension of the timeframe to regulate coking coal venting from three to five years.

APA

Clean Air Task Force (2022). Regulation on methane emissions reduction in the energy sector and the weakening of the proposal by the Council. https://cdn.catf.us/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/14033356/Letter-Council-Methane-Rev6.pdf

Chicago

Clean Air Task Force. Regulation on methane emissions reduction in the energy sector and the weakening of the proposal by the Council. 2022. https://cdn.catf.us/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/14033356/Letter-Council-Methane-Rev6.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |author=Clean Air Task Force |title=Regulation on methane emissions reduction in the energy sector and the weakening of the proposal by the Council |date=14 December 2022 |url=https://cdn.catf.us/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/14033356/Letter-Council-Methane-Rev6.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{cleanairtaskforce2022regulation, author = {{Clean Air Task Force}}, title = {{Regulation on methane emissions reduction in the energy sector and the weakening of the proposal by the Council}}, publisher = {Clean Air Task Force}, year = {2022}, month = dec, url = {https://cdn.catf.us/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/14033356/Letter-Council-Methane-Rev6.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }