Environmental groups: EPA proposal would weaken rules for oil, gas storage tanks
WASHINGTON — A group of environmentalists worries proposed changes to U.S. Environmental Protection Agency standards for oil and gas storage tanks will pose a serious threat to communities.
The group said the changes would waive local standards for 20,000 existing tanks across the country.
“Losing ground on regulatory measures that protect our air and public health for the communities living among the oil and gas fields is unacceptable,” said Environmental Defense Fund attorney Tomás Carbonell. “With ozone season upon us, now is the time for EPA to maintain critical and cost-effective emission controls for this major source of air pollution from the oil and gas industry.”
Other groups opposing the proposed amendments are the Clean Air Council, Clean Air Task Force, Environmental Integrity Project, Natural Resources Defense Council and Sierra Club. The groups spoke out in the public comment section of the proposed changes, made public last week.
The EPA first established national air pollution controls in August, but after receiving petitions for reconsideration of certain aspects of the standards, the regulatory introduced a set of proposed amendments in March, EPA data shows.
According to EPA data, the proposed updates would adjust requirements for tanks built before the proposal was introduced, establish alternative emission limits for tanks where emissions have dropped, clarify test protocols for control equipment and the type of tanks subject to the rule, streamline compliance monitoring requirements while EPA addresses monitoring issues raised in the reconsideration petition, and update requirements for submitting annual reports.
EPA officials say the amendments would simply adjust compliance date for storage tanks because an Oct. 15 deadline did not provide enough time.
“EPA proposed updates to its 2012 new source performance standards that would adjust the compliance date for storage tanks based on information indicating there will not be enough control equipment available for tanks to meet the original Oct. 15 deadline to control VOC emission by 95 percent,” EPA officials said Friday. “The agency’s proposal will help ensure available control devices are directed to tanks with the highest emissions in as short a time as possible, while providing manufacturers time to bring more control devices to market.”
They also say the proposal would address tanks in two groups:
n For tanks that came online between Aug. 23, 2011, and April 12, 2013, the proposal would require that operators report that those tanks are online, and their geographic location. In addition, the operators would have to install controls on the tanks if something changes — such as the refracture of a well, or the addition of a well supplying the tank. In these cases, operators would have to install controls within 60 days of the change, or by April 15, 2014, whichever is later. Tanks that come online after April 12, 2013, would have to have controls in place to reduce VOC emissions by 95 percent by April 15, 2014, or within 60 day after start-up, whichever is later.
But the environmental groups aren’t happy. They argue that the proposed rules will actually waive critical air pollution controls for 20,000 recently installed storage tanks at oil and gas production sites. They also say the proposal will delay and weaken standards for tanks constructed in the future, allowing 20,000 existing tanks to avoid controls and emit millions of additional tons of air pollution. The groups also argue that oil and gas tanks are major sources of air pollution.
“In the clearest example of neglect, EPA proposes to waive controls indefinitely for more than 20,000 storage tanks put into service between 2011 and 2013,” they said. “Many of these tanks could remain uncontrolled far into the future, as they need only install controls if they later increase their air pollution — even though the levels they emit now would have made them subject to control requirements under the original rule. This action alone is projected to result in excess emissions of more than 3 million tons of harmful volatile organic compounds and 700,000 tons of methane, a highly potent greenhouse gas.”
EPA officials did not return requests for comment regarding the proposed changes.
EPA-released data also says the concerns regarding the original standards were raised by “various stakeholders.”
But some say these proposed changes are simply to serve the needs of the oil and gas industry.
“EPA proposed to weaken these rules because the oil and gas industry says it’s drilling so fast that it can’t make enough pollution controls to catch up,” said Sierra Club staff attorney Craig Segall. “What’s the rush? If the industry can’t drill safely, it shouldn’t drill at all. EPA needs to hold the line and insist that communities — not oil and gas company profits — come first.”
And they may be right. According to that same EPA data, the proposed updates “would provide time for manufacturers to produce sufficient control equipment and will help ensure that responsible oil and natural gas production is not slowed.”
The EPA says it expects to take final action by July 31.