AUSTIN – The Texas Public Policy Foundation (TPPF) filed a comment with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on a proposed rule for making source determinations for certain emission units in the oil and natural gas sector. The proposed “Source Rule” proposes two options for determining whether two or more properties in the oil and gas sector are “adjacent.” Both options present overly broad aggregation standards that would substantially slow the permit review process, transform minor oil and gas sources to major stationary-like sources, and fundamentally abrogate and undermine existing state authority.
“Lacking any grant of authority from Congress, EPA has once again abused its authority to define a simple term – ‘adjacent’ – beyond its commonly recognized definition,” said Robert Henneke, director of the Center for the American Future at TPPF. “‘Adjacent’ means ‘proximately next to,’ not EPA’s vague new definition of ‘functional interrelatedness.’ Oil and gas facilities should not be deemed adjacent to the same source merely because they are connected by pipeline.”
"Rather than provide certainty and streamlining, EPA’s proposed definitions for ‘adjacent’ present over broad aggregation standards that would slow the permit review process significantly, transform minor oil and gas sources to major stationary-like sources, and fundamentally abrogate and undermine existing state authority,” said Leigh Thompson, attorney with the Center for the American Future at TPPF. “Proximity is the most relevant and beneficial factor in determining adjacency in regards to upstream and midstream oil and gas facilities and equipment and EPA should withdraw the Source Rule altogether.”
To read the full comment, please visit: http://txpo.li/EPA-Source-Rule-Comment
To schedule an interview with Mr. Henneke or Ms. Thompson, please contact Caroline Espinosa at [email protected] or 512-472-2700.
Robert Henneke is director of the Center for the American Future at the Texas Public Policy Foundation.
Leigh Thompson is an attorney with the Center for the American Future and a policy analyst at the Armstrong Center for Energy & the Environment at the Texas Public Policy Foundation.
The Texas Public Policy Foundation is a non-profit, free-market research institute based in Austin, Texas.