Pennsylvania now mandates more rigorous emission tracking for its fracking industry, aiming to curb methane and other pollutants.
Jake Bolster reports for Inside Climate News.
In short:
- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has introduced new rules requiring real-time emission monitoring at fracking sites, focusing on methane and VOCs.
- Environmental advocate Melissa Ostroff uses specialized cameras to document invisible emissions, highlighting regulatory gaps.
- The new regulations include penalties for excess emissions and demand a 95% reduction in methane emissions from large storage tanks.
Key quote:
“This is the first time that we’ve seen a rule from the EPA that is going to regulate existing and new sources when it comes to methane.”
— John Rutecki, a regulatory and legislative manager with the nonprofit Environmental Defense Fund
Why this matters:
Additional emissions monitoring within the fracking industry would involve stricter regulations and more robust monitoring systems to track and reduce the release of harmful pollutants. The goal is to mitigate environmental and health risks while holding the industry accountable for its environmental impact.
Related: Oil and gas methane emissions in US are at least 15% higher than we thought
