In a July 6 news release, EPA announced proposed changes to “reporting requirements for petroleum and natural gas systems under EPA’s Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program.” EPA said the changes were to comply “with the Methane Emissions Reduction Program under the Inflation Reduction Act.”

Subpart W of GHG Reporting Program
EPA proposes to amend subpart W of the greenhouse gases (GHG) reporting program. The amendments will add “several new sources” to the program. They will also “add new or revise existing calculation methodologies to improve the accuracy of reported emissions data for methane and other greenhouse gases and incorporate additional empirical data; include the use of new technologies such as remote sensing for quantifying emissions from other large release events; and collect data at a more granular level to improve verification and transparency of the data collected.”

Confidentiality and Timing
The amendments contain “determinations to establish whether data submitted to the Agency under the proposed revisions would be entitled to confidential treatment.”

EPA’s plan is that “most revisions would become effective on January 1, 2025, and that reporters would implement most of the changes beginning with reports prepared for the 2025 reporting year and submitted by March 31, 2026.”

Public Comment
The proposed amendments will be subject to a 60-day public comment period after formal publication in the Federal Register. The date of publication will be shown on EPA’s GHG Reporting Program Rulemaking Resources web page https://www.epa.gov/ghgreporting/rulemaking-notices-ghg-reporting

To see the news release https://www.epa.gov/newsreleases/epa-proposes-updates-greenhouse-gas-emissions-reporting-requirements-oil-and-gas