OKLAHOMA CITY (OBV) – Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond is spearheading a coalition of state attorneys general to challenge the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) new methane emissions rule.
The coalition is seeking to block the rule, filing a petition in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.
“The Biden Administration’s methane emissions rule is a blatant attack on America’s oil and gas industry,” Drummond said. “If allowed to take full effect, the rule would cost Oklahoma countless jobs, devastate the oil and gas industry, and force us to pay significantly higher energy prices.”
The petition requests that the D.C. Circuit Court vacate the final rule the EPA issued on March 8, entitled “Standards of Performance for New, Reconstructed, and Modified Sources and Emissions Guidelines for Existing Sources: Oil and Natural Gas Sector Climate Review.”
The attorneys general contend “that the rule exceeds the EPA’s statutory authority, is an abuse of discretion, and is otherwise not in accordance with the law,” according to officials from Drummond’s office.
The 408-page rule mandates new technology and monitoring requirements as well as new storage and transportation requirements. It also adds new source performance standards and creates a “Super Emitter” program. The attorneys general argue that third-party environmental advocacy groups can use the program to harass producers. They also claim the new technology and monitoring requirements are expensive and unjustified.
Attorneys general from the following states singed the petition along with Drummond: Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Carolina, Tennessee, Utah, Virginia, West Virginia and Wyoming. The Arizona Legislature also signed the petition.
Drummond has also been litigating the EPA over its rejection of the State of Oklahoma’s implementation plan for ozone transport. And he’s in a coalition challenging the EPA’s Clean Air Act Section 111(d) rule that modifies the procedures under which states submit state implementation plans that provide for the establishment, implementation and enforcement of performance standards for existing emission sources, such as power plants.
“Oklahomans need to understand that an attack on the oil and gas industry is an attack on our state budget and the vital services we provide to families,” said Drummond. “An attack on oil and gas producers is an attack on schools and healthcare. It’s an attack on roads and bridges. I will never stop fighting against the Biden Administration’s endless attacks on Oklahoma’s most vital industry.”
