Last week, a federal court ruled that the delay on compliance dates for the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Venting and Flaring Rule was unlawful. This ruling means that the January 2018 compliance deadline remains in effect. 

The Department of the Interior has since proposed pushing the compliance deadline to January 2019 and has requested comments regarding possible revisions to the rule within a 30-day timeframe. The deadline to provide comments is November 6, 2017.

For now, the existing rule remains in place and compliance requirements apply. The most notable requirements include the January 18, 2018 compliance deadline for leak detection inspections at affected well sites and compressor stations as well as the submission of a Waste Minimization Plan with Applications for Permit to Drill. 

There is a pending case in the U.S. District Court for Wyoming regarding whether the BLM can issue an “air” rule, but a decision to eliminate the regulation seems unlikely. 

The current rule was published in the Federal Register on November 18, 2016, and regulates methane emissions for both existing and new production operations on federal and tribal lands. Trihydro previously prepared a summary of the rule requirements, which can be accessed here. 

Contact our air compliance experts with questions about the rule and which steps you should be considering now:

Jay Christopher, Senior Scientist 
[email protected] 

Cal Niss, Senior Vice President
[email protected] 

307-745-7474
www.trihydro.com