EPA’s Recent Methane Regulations: Legal Overview

Summary

President Obama’s “Climate Action Plan” aims to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) and other greenhouse gases (GHGs). One of the initiatives within the Plan focuses on the control of emissions of methane, a short-lived climate pollutant. In 2014, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and other federal agencies developed an interagency “Strategy to Reduce Methane Emissions” (Methane Strategy) that outlined voluntary actions and potential agency rulemakings to cut methane emissions.

In response to the Methane Strategy, EPA published new and updated standards of performance (commonly referred to as new source performance standards, or NSPSs) on June 3, 2016, for GHGs (in the form of methane limitations) and volatile organic compounds emissions from new, modified, and reconstructed equipment, processes, and activities across the oil and natural gas sector pursuant to Section 111 of the Clean Air Act (CAA). In addition, on August 29, 2016, EPA published its updated NSPSs to reduce municipal solid waste (MSW) landfill gas emissions, including methane emissions, from landfills built, modified, or reconstructed after July 17, 2014. The agency also revised emission guidelines established in 1996 for existing landfills operating prior to that date.

North Dakota, Texas, a coalition of 14 other states, and various gas associations filed petitions for review of the final oil and gas rule in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit (D.C. Circuit). Nine states and the city of Chicago moved to intervene on behalf of EPA to support the final rule. In addition, several environmental advocacy groups filed their own motion to intervene in the case. This report examines a few potential issues that may be raised in the litigation, primarily drawn from comments submitted to EPA on the proposed rule.

It is uncertain whether the revised MSW landfill NSPSs and emission guidelines will be challenged in court. Petitions for legal review of the rule and guidelines must be filed no later than October 28, 2016. This report analyzes EPA’s authority to revise the 1996 emission guidelines for existing MSW landfills—an issue raised in comments on the proposed landfill emission guidelines.