On Nov. 30, the public comment period closed on proposed revisions to the air emission standards prescribed by the federal New Source Performance Standard (NSPS) and the National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAP) for the Oil and Natural Gas source category. One aspect of the NSPS proposal establishes standards for “well completion operations with hydraulic fracturing” and as such has been hailed in the press as the first federal air rules applicable to hydraulic fracturing, the technology used to unlock the natural gas trapped in the Marcellus Shale and other shale plays across the United States.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency proposed these new rules in August as part of a settlement of a lawsuit initiated by two environmental groups alleging that the EPA failed to meet its obligations under the Clean Air Act to review its NSPS and NESHAP for the Oil and Natural Gas source category. Under the settlement (and subsequent revisions agreed to by the plaintiffs and the EPA) the proposed rules are set to take effect on April 3, 2012.
