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Contact: Danna Hayes?

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Attorney General Aaron Frey Joins Multistate?Coalition?in Support of EPA Supplemental Proposal to Regulate Methane Emissions from the Oil and Natural Gas Sector

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AUGUSTA?? Attorney General Aaron Frey today joined a multistate coalition, led by California and New York, in submitting comments in support of the Environmental?Protection Agency?s (EPA) supplemental proposal to strengthen regulation of emissions from new, modified, and reconstructed facilities in the oil and natural gas sector,?and to, for the first time, regulate?methane?emissions?from existing facilities,?which comprise the majority of the emissions?in this sector. The EPA estimates that the proposed supplemental proposal will reduce emissions?of methane?by 36 million tons,?volatile organic compounds (VOCs)?by 9.7 million tons, and?hazardous air pollutants?by 390,000 tons between 2023 and 2035. In today?s comments, the coalition supports EPA?s supplemental proposal, which?updates, strengthens, and expands standards proposed in November 2021,?and?the coalition?identifies additional ways to further strengthen the supplemental proposal.

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?We have no time to waste in combatting climate change,? said Attorney General Frey. ?Regulating emissions from the oil and natural gas industry is absolutely necessary to protecting our planet and I commend the EPA for taking this step.?

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Methane is a super pollutant up to?83?times more?potent as a greenhouse gas?than carbon dioxide?in its ability to trap heat in the atmosphere.?The?production, processing, transmission, and storage?of oil and natural gas?are?the largest single industrial source of methane emissions in the U.S. For nearly a decade, states have urged the EPA to regulate methane emissions from the oil and natural gas sector as a central component in the fight against climate change.

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In today?s comments, the coalition expresses strong support for?EPA's supplemental proposal, which?addresses several issues that were raised by the coalition?s comments on EPA?s 2021?proposal, and argues?that certain elements of the?supplemental?proposal should be strengthened, including by:

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?? ? ??Requiring a shorter repair period?for methane leaks?if the well site is located in proximity to an already overburdened community;

?? ? ??Adding restrictions on the amount of time that operators are allowed to idle wells and limiting the number of idle wells that an individual owner can hold;

?? ? ??Prohibiting routine flaring with an?exception?only?for safety and emergencies;

?? ? ??Lowering the threshold for defining super-emitter emission events; and

?? ? ??Designing the?super-emitter response?program?to maximize community participation.

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In filing the comments, Attorney General Frey joins the attorneys general of California, New York,?Colorado,?Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia,?Illinois, Maine,?Maryland, Massachusetts,?Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico,?North Carolina, Oregon,?Pennsylvania,?Rhode Island,?Vermont, Washington, and Wisconsin, as well as the City of Chicago.

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