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In the waning days of the Obama administration, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) promulgated revisions to regulations at 43 CFR Subpart Section 3179, which are intended to reduce the waste of oil and natural gas (O&G) from venting, flaring, and leaks during O&G production on onshore federal and Indian leases. The main objective of […]
As we reported this summer, the EPA has embarked on a study to find alternatives to the common practice of disposing of produced water from oil and natural gas (O&G) development into underground injection wells. Since then, there have been two developments linked to the study.
The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) recently published a fact sheet on hazards faced by workers in the oil and gas (O&G) extraction sector. One such hazard is exposure to diesel exhaust (DE), which contains diesel particulate matter (DPM).
In its proposal to revise portions of the Obama EPA’s 2016 New Source Performance Standards (NSPS) to control emissions of the methane and other air pollutants from crude oil and natural gas facilities (40 CFR part 60, subpart OOOOa), the Trump EPA has made its intentions clear—save the oil and gas (O&G) industry up to […]
The EPA and several departments of the state of New Mexico recently signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) under which the parties will explore the opportunities, benefits, cost, and risks of making further use of wastewater from oil and gas (O&G) operations in the state. O&G wastewater, more commonly called produced water, is defined in […]
In a September 15, 2016, hearing of the House Environment Subcommittee, Jim Bridenstine (R-OK), the subcommittee chair, modified for a new purpose the “war on coal” tagline supporters of the mining and energy industries have used to characterize the Obama administration’s coal-related environmental regulations. According to Bridenstine, the administration is now also engaging in a […]