Trump's EPA to Reconsider O&G Emissions Rule

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said on Wednesday it would reconsider a rule on emissions from oil and gas operations and delay its implementation, marking the Trump administration's latest effort to dismantle Obama-era environmental regulations.

 

Oil interest groups, including the American Petroleum Institute and the Texas Oil and Gas Association, had petitioned the EPA in April 2016 to reconsider the rule limiting emissions of the greenhouse gas methane and other pollutants from new and revamped oil and gas operations.

 

The EPA said in a release it would delay the rule's compliance date, which had been June 3, for 90 days, as the agency took public comments on it.

 

The move signaled another retreat from climate change action after the Trump administration in March halted an effort to gather methane data from existing oil and gas operations to rein in leaks of the powerful greenhouse gas.

 

Last month, President Donald Trump, a Republican, signed a far-reaching order to undo climate regulations, following up on a campaign promise.


(Reporting by Timothy Gardner; Editing by Andrew Hay)