Trump rescinds U.S. rules on pollution from drilling

The Trump administration on Tuesday rolled back an Obama-era rule that forced energy companies to capture methane — a key contributor to climate change that's released in huge amounts during drilling on U.S. and tribal lands.

A replacement rule from the Interior Department rescinds mandates for companies to reduce gas pollution, which Trump administration officials say already is required by some states.

Within hours of the announcement, attorneys general for California and New Mexico filed a lawsuit in federal court seeking to reinstate the 2016 rule.

"We've sued the administration before over the illegal delay and suspension of this rule and will continue doing everything in our power to hold them accountable to our people and planet," California Attorney General Xavier Becerra said.

The change could save companies as much as $2 billion US in compliance costs over the next decade. It comes a week after the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency proposed weakening a separate methane emissions rule affecting private land and some public lands.

"We're for clean air and water, but at the same time, we're for reasonable regulations," deputy interior secretary David Bernhardt told reporters.

Methane is a component of natural gas that's frequently wasted through leaks or intentional releases during drilling operations. The gas is considered a more potent contributor to climate change than carbon dioxide, although it occurs in smaller volumes.

'Giveaway to irresponsible producers'

Bernhardt and other departmental officials were unable to say how much the new rule would reduce methane emissions. The prior regulation would have cut emissions by up to 163,000 tonnes a year. Emissions of potentially hazardous pollutants known as volatile organic compounds, which can cause health problems if inhaled, would have been reduced by up to about 73,000 tonnes annually. 

Environmentalists slammed the rollback of the rule, which will not be implemented until after a 60-day comment period.

"The Trump administration is relentless in its push to give the oil and gas industry multi-million-dollar handouts at the expense of Americans' health and environment," said David Doniger, the Natural Resource Defence Council's senior strategic director for climate and clean energy.

Kathleen Sgamma, president of Western Energy Alliance, said the old rule improperly put the Bureau of Land Management in the role of regulating air quality, which she said should instead be done by the EPA or state agencies.

Sen. Tom Udall, a Democrat from New Mexico, criticized the rollback as a "giveaway to irresponsible polluters."

The Obama rule had been tied up in the courts ever since its adoption. It was put on hold in April by a federal judge in Wyoming.

Energy companies said it was overly intrusive and that companies have an economic incentive to capture the methane so they can sell it. That's not always practical in fast-growing oil and gas fields, where large volumes of gas are burned off using flares.

Flaring has been a common practice in states including Montana, Wyoming, North Dakota and New Mexico.

With files from Reuters