{"id":83706,"date":"2017-08-12T23:25:49","date_gmt":"2017-08-13T03:25:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/?p=83706"},"modified":"2017-08-12T21:32:19","modified_gmt":"2017-08-13T01:32:19","slug":"schneiderman-opposes-epas-illegal-proposed-regulatory-delay-for-new-sources-of-methane-pollution-in-fossil-fuel-industry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/?p=83706","title":{"rendered":"Schneiderman opposes EPA’s illegal proposed regulatory delay for new sources of methane pollution in fossil fuel industry"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Rule\u00a0Would Prevent 300,000 Tons Of Powerful Greenhouse Gas Emissions And Result In $35 Million In Net Benefits In 2020 \u2013 Growing To 510,000 Tons And $170 Million In 2025<\/i>\u00a0<\/i><\/p>\n

Comments Follow AG\u2019s Legal Wins Against EPA Over Delays Of New Source Methane Rule And Smog Regulations; AG Schneiderman Has Also Filed Notice Of Intent To Sue Over Methane Pollution From Existing Sources<\/i><\/p>\n

Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman \u2013 part of a coalition of 14 attorneys general, the State of Colorado, and the City of Chicago – submitted comments in opposition to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency\u2019s proposed 27-month\u00a0 delay of a vital rule aimed at preventing tons of methane emissions– a powerful greenhouse gas \u2013 from new sources in the oil and gas sector.<\/p>\n

\u201cYet again, the Trump EPA is putting polluters before public health,\u201d said\u00a0Schneiderman. \u201cAttorneys General have not hesitated to act when the EPA has failed to meet its obligations to protect our environment and our health. The threat of climate change is real \u2013 no matter how many times the Trump administration tries to shove it under the rug \u2013 and we\u2019ll do what it takes to protect the people and communities we serve.\u201d<\/p>\n

The methane new source rule put in place under the Obama administration\u00a0limits emissions of this powerful greenhouse gas by encouraging the use of emerging technology to identify, reduce, and eliminate emissions of methane and other pollution from the development, transmission, and distribution of oil and natural gas. The rule is expected to prevent 300,000 tons of methane emissions in\u00a02020 and 510,000 tons of methane emissions in\u00a02025. The controls required by the rule are also\u00a0<\/p>\n

expected to reduce emissions of other pollutants, including volatile organic compounds and hazardous air pollutants. The EPA analyzed the costs and benefits of the rule, including the revenues from recovered natural gas that would otherwise be vented, and determined that the rule would result in a net benefit estimated at $35 million in 2020 and $170 million in 2025.<\/p>\n

In the comments, the attorneys general point out that the EPA\u2019s delay of the rule is blatantly unlawful for three main reasons: it exceeds the EPA\u2019s statutory authority under the Clean Air Act, it is arbitrary and capricious, and EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt\u2019s involvement in the delay\u00a0is improper because it would achieve the result he sought in his lawsuit challenging the rule when he was the Oklahoma Attorney General.\u00a0The coalition submitting the comments is being led by California Attorney General Xavier Becerra.<\/p>\n

Methane is a powerful greenhouse gas, warming the climate about 34 times more\u00a0potently\u00a0than carbon dioxide over a 100-year period. The oil and natural gas sector is the largest industrial source of methane emissions and accounts for a one-third of total methane emissions in the United States.<\/p>\n

The methane new source rule became effective Aug. 2, 2016.\u00a0Shortly after it became effective, the rule was challenged in court by several industry groups. Several attorneys general, including Schneiderman, intervened in the case to defend the rule. On June 5, 2017, President Trump\u2019s EPA issued its first three-month delay of the methane new source rule without giving notice or taking comments, arguing that the industry\u2019s challenges raised new issues that were not addressed during the rulemaking process. The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals\u00a0promptly found that the delay was unlawful and terminated it. On June 16, 2017, the EPA published for notice and comment two additional proposed delays, totaling 27 months.<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s comments were filed by the Attorneys General of California, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, and the District of Columbia. The State of Colorado and the City of Chicago also joined in submitting the comments.<\/p>\n

Click here to read the comments<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Schneiderman has also filed a\u00a0notice of intent to sue the Trump EPA for its failure to control methane pollution from existing sources.<\/a><\/p>\n

Today\u2019s comments follow Schneiderman\u2019s legal win last week against the EPA,which reversed course over a delay in vital smog regulations days after Attorney General Schneiderman filed suit.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Rule\u00a0Would Prevent 300,000 Tons Of Powerful Greenhouse Gas Emissions And Result In $35 Million In Net Benefits In 2020 \u2013 Growing To 510,000 Tons And $170 Million In 2025\u00a0 Comments Follow AG\u2019s Legal Wins Against EPA Over Delays Of New Source Methane Rule And Smog Regulations; AG Schneiderman Has Also Filed Notice Of Intent To […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":70131,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_hide_featured_image":false,"_jetpack_featured_image_duplicate_dismissed":0,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[23810,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-83706","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-wellbeing","category-top-story"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p43meu-lM6","jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/madisoncountycourier.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Attorny_General_Eric_T_Schneiderman.jpg?fit=260%2C221&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83706","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=83706"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83706\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/70131"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=83706"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=83706"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=83706"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}