The Bureau of Land Management, on Monday, released draft rules to limit methane pollution from oil and gas drilling on public and Native lands. Along with requiring methane leak detection and repair plans in lease applications, the proposed rules would also limit flaring due to lack of pipeline capacity. Flaring and venting have increased on public and Native lands — enough gas was burned between 2010 and 2020 to power roughly 675,000 homes per year. Recent research has also found far more methane is being released into the atmosphere during flaring than EPA estimates; methane traps 80 times more heat in the atmosphere than CO2 over a 20-year timeframe. The draft rules follow the Biden administration’s more comprehensive methane pollution reduction plan announced at COP27. (E&E News, AP, Washington Post $, Reuters)
