March 27, 2024

DENVER – Western Energy Alliance today responded to the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) releasing the final waste prevention rule, which follows previous rules under the Obama and Trump administrations to reduce methane emissions, venting, and flaring. The following statement is attributed to Alliance President Kathleen Sgamma:

“The oil and natural gas industry and the BLM share the goal of reducing waste of natural gas through venting, flaring, and leaks. Western Energy Alliance appreciates that with the waste prevention rule, BLM is attempting to achieve clarity on how to classify waste gas as avoidably and unavoidably lost, and hence whether it bears royalties or not. The Alliance is reviewing the final rule to ensure it has corrected the problems with the 2016 Obama Administration rule that was overturned in the U.S. District Court for the District of Wyoming in State of Wyoming et al. v. the Department of the Interior, of which Western Energy Alliance was a co-plaintiff.

“The 2022 proposed rule was better than the 2016 rule that we successfully overturned in court, as the Wyoming District Court found that BLM had usurped the air quality authority of EPA and the states. Many but not all of those problems were fixed in the 2022 proposed rule. We provided constructive feedback in our comments and hope they were taken into consideration in this final rule so that companies will have certainty on federal and tribal lands. We’ll be reviewing it carefully. Even without the rule, companies have joined together to reduce methane emissions, venting, and flaring, with every major basin showing significant declines. Our industry is proud to continue that work with or without new rules.”

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