WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - The U.S. government has announced new policy and regulatory steps to reduce super pollutants at the Climate Change Summit in Baku, Azerbaijan.
United States Senior Advisor to the President for International Climate Policy John Podesta announced that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has finalized its rule to implement the oil and gas Waste Emissions Charge which will incentivize reduction of harmful and wasteful methane pollution in the oil and gas sector.
The rule facilitates implementation of Congress's directive in the Inflation Reduction Act to collect a Waste Emissions Charge to better ensure valuable natural gas reaches the market rather than polluting the air.
Congress established the charge on large emitters of methane if their emissions exceed specific performance levels and directed EPA to collect the charge and implement other features of the program, including providing appropriate exemptions for actions that reduce methane releases. Today's final rule incentivizes companies to take near-term action to conserve valuable energy resources for American consumers and reduce methane emissions.
'The final Waste Emissions Charge is the latest in a series of actions under President Biden's methane strategy to improve efficiency in the oil and gas sector, support American jobs, protect clean air, and reinforce U.S. leadership on the global stage,' said EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan.
The Waste Emissions Charge applies only to waste emissions from high-emitting oil and gas facilities. It applies to methane from certain oil and gas facilities that report emissions of more than 25,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent per year to the Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program, beginning with methane emissions reported in calendar year 2024. Also, the Waste Emissions Charge starts at $900 per metric ton of wasteful emissions in CY 2024, increasing to $1,200 for CY 2025, and $1,500 for CY 2026 and beyond. ERA made it clear that it only applies to emissions that exceed statutorily specified methane intensity levels.
Methane is a potent greenhouse gas that has more than 80 times the power of carbon dioxide to warm the climate, and is responsible for approximately one-third of the global warming.
EPA estimates that this rule alone will result in cumulative emissions reductions of 1.2 million metric tons of methane (34 million metric tons CO2-equivalent) through 2035 - the equivalent of taking nearly 8 million gas-powered cars off the road for a year - and will have cumulative climate benefits of up to $2 billion.
At COP29, the United States also unveiled new steps to implement the oil and gas Super Emitter Program, which requires companies to take action when notified about large methane emission events.
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