Leading Democrats Introduce Legislation to Cut Methane Pollution -- Bill Will Protect Health of Communities & Fight Climate Change

Statement

Today, Congresswoman Deb Haaland (NM-01) joined Rep. Diana DeGette (D-Colo.) and lead Democrats in introducing the Methane Waste Prevention Act of 2019, presenting a Democratic approach to reducing toxic and climate-warming emissions from oil and gas operations by restoring methane waste rules President Trump canceled and moved to weaken in September 2018. The bill's original cosponsors include Natural Resources Committee Chair Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.), Assistant Speaker Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.), Natural Resources Committee Vice Chair Deb Haaland (D-N.M.), and Energy and Mineral Resources Subcommittee Chair Alan Lowenthal (D-Calif.).

"We all deserve to breathe clean air and to be free from the health effects that methane pollution can cause," Haaland said. "However, when I toured drilling sites near Chaco Canyon, it was clear that many people in New Mexico are breathing in air poisoned by methane emissions released by oil and gas companies. We're taking a stand for our communities and demanding big companies put people over polluters while reducing the impact of our public lands on the climate."

The bill requires the Department of Interior to reduce the waste of natural gas via venting, flaring, and leaks on public lands, and to establish more stringent requirements for reporting natural gas production and disposition volumes. The Obama administration found, when it established the rules Trump recently reversed, that venting of methane cost taxpayers more than $330 million a year in lost revenue from natural gas. The bill also codifies the Environmental Protection Agency's 2016 updates to its New Source Performance Standards that curb methane emissions from oil and gas operations.

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