American Oil and Gas Reporter - July 2015 - 144

ConventionSection: Texas Independent Producers & Royalty Owners

Federal Bureaucracy Still A Challenge
AUSTIN, TX.-Federal agencies are
obligated to safeguard what all Americans
agree needs to be protected, including
water, air and wildlife, poses Raymond
James Welder III, chairman of the Texas
Independent Producers & Royalty Owners
Association.
"And yet, we have what seem to be
incessant examples of bureaucratic overreach, beyond what Congress intended.
It is a constant problem. My own view is
that Congress can fix the problem very
quickly. When federal bureaucracies overstep their bounds, their funding needs to
be cut," recommends Welder, president
of Welder Exploration & Production Inc.
in San Antonio.
One example of how federal bureaucracy has proven more harmful than helpful is the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency's pursuit of another round of air
quality standards, says TIPRO President
Edwin Longanecker. Its new rules require
oil and gas producers to reduce methane

emissions by as much as 45 percent from
2012 levels by 2025. He points out EPA
is promulgating the standard despite overwhelming evidence that the industry already is addressing the problem, and observes that even though U.S. natural gas
production has increased in the past
decade, methane emissions have fallen
by 73 percent in many production areas.
Longanecker calls this a prime example
of politics, not science, driving the regulatory agenda, continuing the ongoing,
anti-fossil-fuel mantra of the Obama administration and its allies among environmental activist groups.
"Oil- and natural gas-related emissions
represent only 2 percent of total U.S.
greenhouse gas emissions, yet the Obama
administration again is targeting this industry," Longanecker assesses. "These
rules will place unnecessary burdens on
a sector that is struggling already. By
adding another layer of requirements,
they actually could slow progress on re-

144 THE AMERICAN OIL & GAS REPORTER

ducing methane emissions."
TIPRO also continues to monitor EPA's
pending actions on ozone standards, Longanecker says. The agency published proposals to modify federal limits in November. It seeks to tighten the National Ambient
Air Quality Standard for ozone from 75
parts per billion, a level adopted in 2008,
to between 65 and 70 ppb by Oct. 1. He
points out that standard, which has not
been finalized, will add several Texas
counties to the nonattainment list, including
some oil and gas producing counties.
The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality has concluded lowering
the federal standard will offer a negligible
public health benefit, Longanecker says.
"Changing the standard also will be costly," he holds. "Working toward compliance will require emission reduction
strategies, such as adding pollution control
technology to certain emission sources,
adding air monitors and retrofitting industrial plants."

American Oil and Gas Reporter - July 2015

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