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For Immediate Release January 14, 2015

The White House

Office of the Press Secretary

FACT SHEET: Administration Takes 

Steps Forward on Climate Action Plan 

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the WHITE HOUSE PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA

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12/7/2015

https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2015/01/14/fact-sheet-administration-takes-steps-forward-climateaction-plan-anno-1
by Announcing Actions to Cut 

Methane Emissions

The Obama Administration is committed to taking responsible steps to address 

climate change and help ensure a cleaner, more stable environment for future 

generations. As part of that effort, today, the Administration is announcing a new 

goal to cut methane emissions from the oil and gas sector by 40 – 45 percent from 

2012 levels by 2025, and a set of actions to put the U.S. on a path to achieve this 

ambitious goal.

U.S. oil production is at the highest level in nearly 30 years, providing important 

energy security and economic benefits. The U.S. is also now the largest natural 

gas producer in the world, providing an abundant source of clean-burning fuel to 

power and heat American homes and businesses. Continuing to rely on these 

domestic energy resources is a critical element of the President’s energy strategy. 

At the same time, methane – the primary component of natural gas – is a potent 

greenhouse gas, with 25 times the heat-trapping potential of carbon dioxide over a 

100-year period.

Methane emissions accounted for nearly 10 percent of U.S. greenhouse gas 

emissions in 2012, of which nearly 30 percent came from the production 

transmission and distribution of oil and natural gas. Emissions from the oil and gas 

sector are down 16 percent since 1990 and current data show significant 

reductions from certain parts of the sector, notably well completions. 

Nevertheless, emissions from the oil and gas sector are projected to rise more 

than 25 percent by 2025 without additional steps to lower them. For these 

reasons, a strategy for cutting methane emissions from the oil and gas sector is 

an important component of efforts to address climate change.

The steps announced today are also a sound economic and public health strategy 

because reducing methane emissions means capturing valuable fuel that is 

otherwise wasted and reducing other harmful pollutants – a win for public health 

and the economy. Achieving the Administration’s goal would save up to 180 billion 

cubic feet of natural gas in 2025, enough to heat more than 2 million homes for a 

year and continue to support businesses that manufacture and sell cost-effective 

technologies to identify, quantify, and reduce methane emissions.

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12/7/2015

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ADMINISTRATION ACTIONS TO REDUCE METHANE EMISSIONS

Building on prior actions by the Administration, and leadership in states and 

industry, today the Administration is announcing a series of steps encompassing 

both commonsense standards and cooperative engagement with states, tribes 

and industry to put us on a path toward the 2025 goal. This coordinated, crossagency effort will ensure a harmonized approach that also considers the important 

role of FERC, state utility commissions and environmental agencies, and industry. 

Administration actions include:

Propose and Set Commonsense Standards for Methane and Ozone-Forming 

Emissions from New and Modified Sources

In 2012, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) laid a foundation for further 

action when it issued standards for volatile organic compounds (VOC) from the oil 

and natural gas industry. These standards, when fully implemented, are expected 

to reduce 190,000 to 290,000 tons of VOC and decrease methane emissions in an 

amount equivalent to 33 million tons of carbon pollution per year. The standards 

not only relied on technologies and practices already in widespread use in the oil 

and gas sector, but also incorporated innovative regulatory flexibility. Along with a 

rule to streamline permitting of oil and gas production on certain tribal lands, this 

approach ensured that important public health and environmental protections 

could be achieved while oil and gas production continued to grow and expand.

Building on five technical white papers issued last spring, the peer review and 

public input received on these documents, and the actions that a number of states 

are already taking, EPA will initiate a rulemaking effort to set standards for 

methane and VOC emissions from new and modified oil and gas production 

sources, and natural gas processing and transmission sources. EPA will issue a 

proposed rule in the summer of 2015 and a final rule will follow in 2016. In 

developing these standards, EPA will work with industry, states, tribes, and other 

stakeholders to consider a range of common-sense approaches that can reduce 

emissions from the sources discussed in the agency’s Oil and Gas White Papers, 

including oil well completions, pneumatic pumps, and leaks from well sites, 

gathering and boosting stations, and compressor stations. As it did in the 2012 

standards, the agency, in developing the proposal and final standards, will focus 

on in-use technologies, current industry practices, emerging innovations and 

streamlined and flexible regulatory approaches to ensure that emissions 

12/7/2015

https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2015/01/14/fact-sheet-administration-takes-steps-forward-climateaction-plan-anno-1
reductions can be achieved as oil and gas production and operations continue to 

grow.

New Guidelines to Reduce Volatile Organic Compounds 

EPA will develop new guidelines to assist states in reducing ozone-forming 

pollutants from existing oil and gas systems in areas that do not meet the ozone 

health standard and in states in the Ozone Transport Region. These guidelines 

will also reduce methane emissions in these areas. The guidelines will help states 

that are developing clean air ozone plans by providing a ready-to-adopt control 

measure that they can include in those plans.

Consider Enhancing Leak Detection and Emissions Reporting

EPA will continue to promote transparency and accountability for existing sources 

by strengthening its Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program to require reporting in all 

segments of the industry. In addition to finalizing the updates to the program EPA 

has already proposed by the end of 2015, EPA will explore potential regulatory 

opportunities for applying remote sensing technologies and other innovations in 

measurement and monitoring technology to further improve the identification and 

quantification of emissions and improve the overall accuracy and transparency of 

reported data cost-effectively.

Lead by Example on Public Lands

The Department of Interior’s Bureau of Land Management (BLM) will update 

decades-old standards to reduce wasteful venting, flaring, and leaks of natural 

gas, which is primarily methane, from oil and gas wells. These standards, to be 

proposed this spring, will address both new and existing oil and gas wells on 

public lands. This action will enhance our energy security and economy by 

boosting America’s natural gas supplies, ensuring that taxpayers receive the 

royalties due to them from development of public resources, and reducing 

emissions. BLM will work closely with EPA to ensure an integrated approach.

Reduce Methane Emissions while Improving Pipeline Safety

The Department of Transportation’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety 

Administration (PHMSA) will propose natural gas pipeline safety standards in 

2015. While the standards will focus on safety, they are expected to lower 

methane emissions as well.

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Drive Technology to Reduce Natural Gas Losses and Improve Emissions 

Quantification

The President’s FY16 Budget will propose $15 million in funding for the 

Department of Energy (DOE) to develop and demonstrate more cost-effective 

technologies to detect and reduce losses from natural gas transmission and 

distribution systems. This will include efforts to repair leaks and develop next 

generation compressors. The President’s budget will also propose $10 million to 

launch a program at DOE to enhance the quantification of emissions from natural 

gas infrastructure for inclusion in the national Greenhouse Gas Inventory in 

coordination with EPA.

Modernize Natural Gas Transmission and Distribution Infrastructure

DOE will continue to take steps to encourage reduced emissions, particularly from 

natural gas transmission and distribution, including:

• Issuing energy efficiency standards for natural gas and air compressors;

• Advancing research and development to bring down the cost of detecting leaks;

• Working with FERC to modernize natural gas infrastructure; and

• Partnering with NARUC and local distribution companies to accelerate pipeline 

repair and replacement at the local level.

Release a Quadrennial Energy Review (QER)

The Administration will soon release the first installment of the QER, which 

focuses specifically on policy actions that are needed to help modernize energy 

transmission, storage, and distribution infrastructure. This installment of the QER 

will include additional policy recommendations and analysis on the environmental, 

safety, and economic benefits of investments that reduce natural gas system 

leakage.

INDUSTRY ACTIONS TO REDUCE METHANE EMISSIONS. 

The Administration’s actions represent important steps to cut methane emissions 

from the oil and gas sector. Fully attaining the Administration’s goal will require 

additional action, particularly with respect to existing sources of methane 

emissions. Several voluntary industry efforts to address these sources are 

underway, including EPA’s plans to expand on the successful Natural Gas STAR 

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Program by launching a new partnership in collaboration with key stakeholders 

later in 2015. EPA will work with DOE, DOT, and leading companies, individually 

and through broader initiatives such as the One Future Initiative and the 

Downstream Initiative, to develop and verify robust commitments to reduce 

methane emissions. This new effort will encourage innovation, provide 

accountability and transparency, and track progress toward specific methane 

emission reduction activities and goals to reduce methane leakage across the 

natural gas value chain.

Voluntary efforts to reduce emissions in a comprehensive and transparent manner 

hold the potential to realize significant reductions in a quick, flexible, cost-effective 

way. Achieving significant methane reductions from these voluntary industry 

programs and state actions could reduce the need for future regulations. The 

Administration stands ready to collaborate with these and other voluntary efforts, 

including in the development of a regime for monitoring, reporting and 

verification. 

BUILDING ON PROGRESS

Today’s announcement builds on the “Strategy to Reduce Methane Emissions” 

released in March 2014. Since its release, the Administration has taken a number 

of actions to set us on a course to reduce methane emissions from the oil and gas 

sector and other sources:

• DOE has launched a new initiative that will make up to $30 million available to 

develop low-cost highly sensitive technologies that can help detect and 

measure methane emissions from oil and gas systems. Just last month, DOE 

announced the 11 innovative projects selected.

• DOE convened a series of roundtable discussions with leaders from industry, 

environmental organizations, state regulators, consumer groups, academia, 

labor unions, and other stakeholders. The meetings culminated in July 2014, 

with the creation of an Initiative to Modernize Natural Gas Transmission and 

Distribution Infrastructure that laid out a series of executive actions, 

partnerships, and stakeholder commitments to help modernize the nation’s 

natural gas transmission and distribution systems, increase safety and energy 

efficiency and reduce methane emissions.

• The US Department of Agriculture (USDA), EPA and DOE, in partnership with 

the dairy industry, released a Biogas Opportunities Roadmap in August 2014 

12/7/2015

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highlighting voluntary actions to reduce methane emissions through the use of 

biodigesters.

• BLM released an Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM) in April 

2014 to gather public input on the development of a program for the capture 

and sale, or disposal, of waste methane from coal mines on public lands. 

• EPA proposed updates to its 1996 New Source Performance Standards for 

new municipal solid waste landfills and sought public feedback on whether EPA 

should update guidelines for existing landfills in June 2014, which they 

anticipate finalizing this year. 

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