Comments on the Draft B.C. Methane Regulations
Published by:
David Suzuki Foundation and partners
Partners:
Clean Air Task Force,
Environmental Defence,
Environmental Defense Fund,
Pembina Institute
Climate solutions methane pollution, British Columbia, energy, greenhouse gas emissions, industry, climate change, fossil fuels
Comments from the David Suzuki Foundation, Pembina Institute, Environmental Defence, Clean Air Task Force and Environmental Defense Fund on the B.C. Oil and Gas Commission’s November 15 consultation draft methane regulations (posted here). These comments are intended to be in addition to the technical submission submitted on October 15, 2018.
Several elements of the draft regulations are strong. In particular, the authors strongly support the zero bleed requirements for new pneumatic controllers contained in Section 52.05(2) and (3) and the three times per year inspection requirement for gas processing plants, compressor stations and multi-well batteries contained in Section 41.1.(2)(a). In addition, the authors acknowledge that the BCOGC made two changes to strengthen the regulations in the November 15 draft, including the leak detection and repair requirements for a small subset of facilities and venting limits for new tanks. While commendable, these changes are not sufficient to bring the regulations up to best practices.
However, B.C.’s proposed draft methane regulations do not require frequent inspections for the vast majority of oil and gas sites and therefore will not address unexpected leaks. This is not best practice leak detection and repair, and the draft rules fall well short of the ambition set by leading jurisdictions.
