Popular EPA Methane Rule Comes with Cost, Monitoring Concerns

While climate advocates hail the EPA’s newly finalized actions to reduce methane emissions, some lawyers caution that the rule’s hefty price tag and monitoring response program leave it vulnerable to concerns about grid reliability and compliance challenges.

The Environmental Protection Agency released its highly anticipated methane standards for the oil and gas industry Dec. 2 at the COP28 summit in Dubai, a year after the agency proposed methane actions at Egypt’s 2022 COP summit.

The final 1,690-page action includes a gamut of reduction policies aimed at stemming methane leaks in the oil and gas sector. The action was widely popular ...