Interior Could Do More to Account for and Manage Natural Gas Emissions

GAO was asked to review Interior’s management of natural gas emissions onshore. This report examines:

1. The extent to which Interior can account for these emissions
2. How BLM field offices have managed requests to vent or flare.

GAO analyzed Interior data, including a simple random sample of venting or flaring requests from fiscal year 2014, the most recent year for which data were available; reviewed Interior documents; and interviewed officials from a nongeneralizable sample of six BLM field offices selected based on increased natural gas emissions in recent years. GAO also interviewed operators with leases managed by two BLM field offices.

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