GAO Rejects Republican Claims on Natural Gas, Says Taxpayers Losing Potential Revenue Due to Outdated Rules on Federal Land
Washington, D.C. – A newly released report by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) highlights the urgent need for new natural gas regulations to minimize methane loss and ensure taxpayers receive their fair share for the production of natural gas on federal lands. The report, Interior Could Do More to Account for and Manage Natural Gas Emissions, makes multiple recommendations and concludes that the Department of the Interior “does not have the information it needs to reasonably ensure it is minimizing waste on [federal] leases.”
The report, available at http://bit.ly/2afr5ed, was requested during the 113th Congress by Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.), who was then Natural Resources Committee Ranking Member; by Rep. Alan Lowenthal (D-Calif.), currently the ranking member of the Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources; and by Rep. Diana DeGette (D-Colo.).
Congressional Republicans and gas industry representatives frequently blame methane waste, which often occurs through the burning of excess gas – usually referred to as “venting and flaring” – on the Bureau of Land Management’s supposed failures to permit enough gas lines. The GAO report flatly disproves that argument, finding that only 9 percent of venting or flaring requests are due to wells not being connected to pipelines.
“The Bureau of Land Management has both the authority and the obligation to ensure that taxpayers aren’t being fleeced by oil and gas companies on public land,” said House Natural Resources Committee Ranking Member Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.). “Republicans continue to fight these commonsense conservation efforts tooth and nail in the name of making things a little bit easier for Big Oil. BLM should issue new rules to address these taxpayer losses as soon as possible and tune out industry demands for continued public subsidies.”
“Curbing methane-emissions is win-win,” Rep. Lowenthal said. “It’s good for the taxpayers and good for the environment. However, without the proper information on emissions, the Department of the Interior cannot manage American’s resources effectively. In fact, GAO revealed that an astounding ninety percent of venting and flaring requests did not have the proper documentation for BLM to determine if they were justified. Nevertheless, seventy percent of requests were approved. I trust that the Department of Interior will take these recommendations seriously as it works to reduce waste and emissions and to ensure a fair return to taxpayers.”
“This report shows that BLM must strengthen its ability to account for all oil and gas produced on federal lands,” Rep. DeFazio said. “To do otherwise is to continue to leave money on the table—taxpayers’ hard-earned money. As production of natural gas on federal lands has skyrocketed and new technologies allow for greater production—and increased greenhouse gas emissions—regulations have not kept up. I’m encouraged to see that this report makes recommendations that will not only require Interior to accurately account for emissions, but will also ensure taxpayers get the best return on investment.”
“Methane waste from our public lands is a huge problem,” said Josh Mantell, Carbon Management Campaign Manager for the Wilderness Society. “It is important that the Department of the Interior move forward to finalize their proposed regulations curbing intentional and unintentional waste from oil and gas operations on our public lands. This report from the non-partisan Government Accountability Office provides real data to illustrate the important problem that this administration is working to address. Strong guidelines from the Department of the Interior will help taxpayers, our air, our climate, and our lands.”
The report makes four formal recommendations.
1) BLM should provide additional guidance on how to estimate natural gas emissions from federal oil and gas leases;
2) ONRR should provide additional guidance on how to report royalty-free and royalty-bearing flaring and consider creating a separate category for royalty-bearing flaring;
3) ONRR should provide additional guidance on how to report certain unreported or underreported emissions, such as emissions from storage tanks and gas vented during well completions; and
4) ONRR should provide additional guidance on how to differentiate between combusted and noncombusted lease use volumes reported on a form known as the Oil and Gas Operations Report, which could assist Interior in measuring its progress toward greenhouse gas reduction goals.
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