LONE STAR CHAPTER

Call: 512.477.1729 . Explore, enjoy and protect the planet . Fax: 512.477.8526 

lonestar.chapter@sierraclub.org . www.texas.sierraclub.org . PO Box 1931, Austin, TX 78767 

August 3, 2010 

RE: EPA’s Comprehensive Update of Air Quality Regulations for the Oil and Gas Sectors 

Dear sir or madam, 

The Lone Star Chapter of the Sierra Club appreciates the opportunity to make comments 

and raise issues related to EPA’s comprehensive update of air quality regulations for the oil and 

gas sectors. The Sierra Club encourages EPA to carefully consider these comments and 

questions as it promulgates new rules and regulations but most importantly, encourages the EPA 

to carefully and fully conduct a comprehensive update over all aspects of oil and gas 

development. EPA’s proposal for new rules and regulations should be extensive in order to 

facilitate best practice standards for all oil and gas development. As these industries search to 

develop hard to reach places and more unconventional finds, the EPA must be two steps ahead of 

industry in order to ensure that America’s air is as clean and healthy as possible. 

Introduction 

State regulators and community groups have linked oil and gas development to increased 

air emissions for decades. There is no doubt that as these industries develop this natural 

resource, air emissions of highly carcinogenic compounds, like benzene, volatile organic 

chemicals, and hydrogen sulfide are released into the air. Further, during the refining process, 

major emissions are currently released and under the failed oversight of Texas regulators, these 

emissions have not complied with the Clean Air Act for years. The failure of the Texas 

Commission on Environmental Quality’s flex permit program is just one example of this state’s 

failure to enforce our nation’s laws and demonstrates why EPA must update its existing rules and 

regulations over the oil and gas industries. 

Reports of major emissions violations are increasing; reports of major accidents are 

increasing; and reports of industry putting profit before safety and human health are apparent. 

The EPA must do more to protect citizens as these entities profit off our shared natural resources. 

We emphasize that EPA must not miss this opportunity. It must promulgate strong rules and 

regulations to force best practices on an industry that routinely sees record profits. 

This must be a comprehensive update 

 

First and foremost, the EPA needs to be as comprehensive as possible in reviewing and 

updating federal air quality regulations. All sources of air pollution in the oil and gas sector, 

including exploration, production, processing, transmission, distribution, and storage, and all 

pollutants released by these sources need to be regulated, including greenhouse gases such as 

methane, odors, hazardous air pollutants, hydrogen sulfide, and smog and haze-forming gases. 
 LONE STAR CHAPTER

Call: 512.477.1729 . Explore, enjoy and protect the planet . Fax: 512.477.8526 

lonestar.chapter@sierraclub.org . www.texas.sierraclub.org . PO Box 1931, Austin, TX 78767 

It is also goes without saying that citizens, particularly in Texas, look to the EPA to 

protect us from the worst of these industries. For years, major oil refineries in the state of Texas 

have been operating under illegal flex permits, allowing massive emissions into our air with 

absolutely no oversight by our state agency or Governor. Only the EPA can assure that rogue 

states like Texas abide by the minimum safety requirements set by our Congress. If EPA sets the 

floor for these types of regulations, it must work overtime to ensure that no state undermines its 

efforts. 

Environmental justice must be justice for the immediate community 

While you are reviewing these rules and regulations, examine the regulations you already 

have in place that provide loopholes to industry or alternatives to industry that do not meet the 

goal of protecting our public health or environment. One example is the regulations EPA has 

adopted as guidelines for an industry Supplemental Environmental Project. A Supplemental 

Environmental Project (SEP) is an environmental project that a violator voluntarily agrees to 

perform as part of the settlement of an enforcement action. Although the violator is not legally 

required to perform a SEP, the cash penalty may be lower if the company chooses to perform 

one. 

A SEP is only required during an enforcement action, meaning that EPA has already 

identified that an industry participant has violated the law. But rather than provide for real 

benefit to the community most affected by that violation, EPA has promulgated regulations that 

allow industry to “pick” where to spend its money, including a category entitled “emergency 

planning and preparation.” This rule allows industry to spend its money on protections that it 

should already have in place but under the guise of a penalty. EPA should reconsider these 

regulations and promulgate guidelines for SEPs that actually benefit the immediate communities 

affected by the violation from the industry participant but still allow that participant to propose a 

variety of different types of projects. 

Further, in adopting any new rules, the EPA should not provide exemptions to 

compliance in the case of startups, shutdowns, malfunctions, or any other situation. Those 

loopholes affect the immediate communities at a greater rate than any other loophole within the 

current rules and regulations. For the sake of public health and welfare, continuous compliance 

needs to be assured and no community should be exempt from this protection—particularly not 

the community closest in location. 

Life Cycle Approach is a Necessity 

Air emissions occur throughout every stage of exploration, production and transmission 

and thus, should be carefully regulated throughout the entire life cycle of a well or play. Thus, 

with any proposed rules and regulations by EPA, EPA should examine the following 

nonexclusive list of potential emission points: 
 LONE STAR CHAPTER

Call: 512.477.1729 . Explore, enjoy and protect the planet . Fax: 512.477.8526 

lonestar.chapter@sierraclub.org . www.texas.sierraclub.org . PO Box 1931, Austin, TX 78767 

• Venting of wells during initial set up and maintenance 

• Compression stations 

• Pipelines and transmission 

• Gathering stations and accompanied transmission 

• Seasonal differences in air temperatures and how such variations affect seals, 

pipelines, and compressing 

• Processing units and refineries 

• Worst-case scenarios for major explosions or other accidents 

These are but a few examples of how the EPA must examine the entire life cycle of these 

industries in order to adequately protect the public from air emissions. 

Fugitive Emissions 

 

The EPAs regulations should also account for fugitive emissions as industry uses this to 

allow major emissions without any regulatory oversight. Often, fugitive emissions occur 

because maintenance is delayed or never done, thus increasing pollution emissions near a site for 

absolutely no reason. EPA should provide a floor of regulations for these types of emissions to 

encourage best practices for industry participants and to ensure that the public is protected. 

It is also particularly important that all sources of fugitive emissions be examined and 

regulated. There are multiple points where emissions or spills can occur—from the well bore to 

the pipeline. EPA should examine each potential point source so that emissions or spills are 

minimized. 

After identifying the various pollution pathways, EPA should also consider its regulations 

in the light of worst-case scenarios and should support adequate regulation or bonding 

requirements for potential disasters. As we have seen with the BP Oil Disaster in the Gulf of 

Mexico, industry must be required to plan for and anticipate major catastrophes so that both the 

environment and human life may be saved. It is always important to remember that our 

environmental laws protect the public health, first and foremost, and then the natural world. 

Air Emissions of Benzene and other BTEX compounds should be closely regulated 

Of particular importance in the Barnett Shale, are the unforeseen air emissions of benzene 

and other highly carcinogenic compounds, often referred to as the BTEX compounds. For 

example, the town of DISH, Texas – at its own expense – found high concentrations of 

carcinogenic and neurotoxin compounds in ambient air near people’s homes. This is but one 

example of the interconnection between natural gas drilling and air emissions. 

Likewise, citizens or municipalities should not be required to conduct baseline testing at 

their own cost in order to demonstrate that industry is at fault for the perceived changed in air 
 LONE STAR CHAPTER

Call: 512.477.1729 . Explore, enjoy and protect the planet . Fax: 512.477.8526 

lonestar.chapter@sierraclub.org . www.texas.sierraclub.org . PO Box 1931, Austin, TX 78767 

quality. Thus, the EPA should work to mandate baseline testing for both air and water quality to 

ensure that industries that are making a profit off our natural resources adequately protect the air 

we breathe and the water we drink. 

Similarly, the emissions that result from frack jobs, coupled with the transportation of 

these fluids along pipelines for disposal or in trucks to the well site should be examined for how 

they impact an area’s ability to meet the National Ambient Air Quality Standards. Thus, EPA’s 

update of its regulations cannot simply be artificially limited to only one source at a time but 

must examine the air emissions resulting from this huge use of chemicals in hundreds of well 

sites in one regional area. 

Best Available Controls and Technologies 

EPA’s promulgated rules and regulations should force new pollution controls as entities 

seek new permits and expand drilling across the nation. Like with all air permits under the Clean 

Air Act, EPA’s new rules and regulations should require the most stringent pollution controls 

possible. But further, EPA’s new promulgated rules and regulations should focus on requiring 

technologies that are inherently low emitting, rather than simply requiring add-on controls. 

Technologies exist now that would better protect the public health and the environment. As the 

oil and gas industries expand their reach to unconventional sources and seek to earn as much 

profit as possible in unconventional places, they must be required to use the best available 

controls and technologies. 

Examples of basic pollution controls that should be required are (1) electric motors 

(rather than diesel) be used to drive gas compressors and other stationary infrastructure, (2) 

condensate tanks should be equipped with vapor recovery units to monitor and control VOC 

emissions, and (3) pipeline networks should be equipped with no-bleed pneumatic valves and 

fittings. These basic updates could immediately provide real benefit to communities but unless 

forced to adopt best available controls, oil and gas entities will continue to avoid these types of 

updates. 

Open Pits Must Be An Emission Source and Regulated 

Similarly, open pits containing hazardous chemicals, or fluids or flowback, should 

receive added scrutiny as the evaporation process leads to real problems in both air and water 

quality. Again, another easy industry fix – mandating a closed loop system – could alleviate this 

problem. 

Cumulative Impacts 

There are over 9,000 horizontal producing wells in the Barnett Shale and an unknown 

number of dry holes, disposal wells, or other types of wells. When updating the rules and 

regulations for the oil and gas industries, EPA must analyze the cumulative impacts of large 

scale development, and in particular, must look at the cumulative impacts on air quality. As 
 LONE STAR CHAPTER

Call: 512.477.1729 . Explore, enjoy and protect the planet . Fax: 512.477.8526 

lonestar.chapter@sierraclub.org . www.texas.sierraclub.org . PO Box 1931, Austin, TX 78767 

thousands of wells are drilled in a gas shale play, the cumulative impacts for a region must be 

accounted for and protected against major pollution. 

Enforceability 

The EPA needs to ensure that any proposed rules and regulations include monitoring, 

recordkeeping, and reporting to ensure continuous compliance with the standards and to allow 

the public, States, and the EPA to easily enforce violations. The importance of ensuring that 

these regulations are enforced cannot be stressed enough. All too often, enforcement is an 

afterthought and states or regulators turn a blind eye to violations. Only with strict enforcement 

can the public be assured that the air we breathe is clean and healthy. EPA must ensure that 

public accountability and enforcement occurs in all of its promulgated rules and regulations. 

Concluding Remarks 

 Put simply, the nation cannot afford to make mistakes with the oil and gas industry, as 

evidenced by the BP Oil Disaster, the pipeline burst near Lake Michigan, and multiple other 

examples that have occurred within recent years. Thank you for this opportunity to provide 

comments as EPA examines its current rules and regulations affecting the oil and gas industries. 

Again, please take this opportunity to carefully update these rules and regulations to ensure not 

only best practices but that the public health is carefully protected. 

Sincerely, 

/s/ Jen Powis 

Lone Star Chapter of the Sierra Club