G. Major Comments Concerning Notification, Recordkeeping and 

Reporting Requirements

1. 30-Day Notification and Annual Reports

Comment: Multiple commenters state that the 30-day advance 

notification of well completions under 40 CFR 60.5420(a) should 

be removed from the final rule. Commenters assert that this and 

notification requirements in 40 CFR 60.7(a) are unduly 

burdensome and costly, not adequately explained, not related to 

verifying compliance with the proposed rule and could conflict 

with the need to protect proprietary business information. 

Multiple commenters also note that industry’s estimate of 

annual completions is several times higher than the EPA’s 

estimate of 20,000 completions following fracturing and 

completions following refracturing annually. The commenters 

believe that these requirements will likely overwhelm both 

regulated entities and state regulators alike. Commenters offer 

suggestions, including requiring annual certifications or 

maintaining records available for inspection, reducing the 

proposed advance notification requirement to 5-10 days and 

considering notification programs such as those in Texas and 

Wyoming. Different commenters support or oppose requiring a 30-

day advance notice with follow-up notification of 1-2 days 

before an impending completion.
Several commenters suggest that the EPA should coordinate 

with state and local agencies to eliminate duplicative 

recordkeeping and reporting requirements, and that records of 

interest other than those submitted to the respective Oil and 

Gas Commissions should only be required to be retained and 

available upon inspection, similar to other permit requirements.

Several commenters do not agree that an annual report under 

40 CFR 60.7(a)(1), 40 CFR 60.7(a)(3), and 40 CFR 60.7(a)(4) adds 

any value for verifying compliance and the EPA should remove 

this requirement from the final rule. The commenters add that 

the best method for compliance is for an owner or operator to 

maintain necessary records and to have the records available for 

review during an on-site inspection. One commenter suggests the 

annual report should include for each type of affected facility 

(1) the total number of affected facilities at the site; (2) the 

number of facilities that became affected facilities during the 

reporting period; (3) the number of exempted facilities; and (4) 

the number of affected facilities with a non-compliance 

situation during the reporting period. One commenter suggests 

that it would be easier for facilities to submit an annual 

report on a set date each year, and multiple affected facilities 

could be included in a single report. Two commenters propose 

that all notifications for each year be delivered in a single 

annual report corresponding to the reporting period in which the 
affected facilities become subject to the rule. One commenter 

suggests that operators should be required to keep records at 

the nearest manned office, but reports should only be required 

if they are requested by the EPA.

The commenters recommend, where feasible, streamlining the 

final notification and reporting requirements to eliminate 

unduly burdensome notification and reporting requirements.

Response: The EPA agrees that certain notification, 

recordkeeping, and reporting requirements in the general 

provisions are unduly burdensome for the new affected facilities 

in this NSPS. For that reason, well completions, pneumatic

controllers, and storage vessels will be exempt from the 

notifications required by sections 60.7(a)(1), 60.7(a)(3), and 

60.7(a)(4). We agree that notifications of well completions 

should be as streamlined as possible to remove excess burden 

from both the owners and operators and regulatory agencies as 

well. As a result, we have removed the 30-day advance 

notification requirement and instead are requiring an advance 

notice via email to the EPA or delegated authority no later than 

2 days prior to completion. 

To avoid conflicting notification requirements and to 

relieve notification burden from operators, we have added a 

provision in the final rule that, if an operator has met the 

state requirements for advance notification of well completions, 
then the operator is considered to have met the advance

notification requirement for gas well completions under the 

NSPS. 

We also believe that the operator should be provided 

flexibility to use new technology to document compliance that 

would result in less paperwork burden on the part of the 

operators themselves and on regulators. To lessen the reporting 

burden, the final recordkeeping and reporting requirements for 

well completions also provide for a streamlining option that 

owners and operators may choose in lieu of the standard annual 

reporting requirements. The standard annual report must include 

all well completion records for each gas well affected facility 

for which a completion operation was performed during the 

reporting period. In lieu of the standard annual reporting 

process, the operator retains a digital image of each REC in 

progress. The image must include a digital date stamp and 

geographic coordinates stamp to help link the photograph with 

the specific well completion operation. Under this option, the 

annual report for gas well affected facilities would consist 

only of a list, with identifying information, of all affected 

gas wells completed, electronic or hard copy photographs 

documenting REC in progress for each well for which REC was 

required, and the self-certification required in the standard 

annual report. Operators are not required to take advantage of 
the optional recordkeeping and reporting approach, as some may 

choose to follow the standard reporting requirements. Under 

either approach, the report must include a record of all 

deviations during the reporting period in cases where well 

completion operations with hydraulic fracturing were not 

performed in compliance with the requirements for each gas well 

affected facility.