By March 18, 2016 Read More →

Bureau of Ocean Energy overreaching on air quality regulatory program – API

In a February 10 letter to Director Hopper, API called on BOEM to not fundamentally alter the current Air Quality Regulatory Program

BOEM

Erik Milito, API upstream group director

The energy industry is accusing the Obama Administration of regulatory overreach again, this time over proposals to regulate air quality in the Outer Continental Shelf.

The OCS is the part of the internationally recognized continental shelf of the United States that falls under federal jurisdiction and includes offshore Atlantic, Gulf of Mexico, Pacific, and Alaska.

According to API Group Director of Upstream and Industry Operations Erik Milito, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management’s own conclusions contradict the proposal, showing that offshore operations don’t significantly impact onshore air quality.

“The agency is mandated to regulate OCS emissions only if the activities have significant effects on onshore air quality. Based on the agency’s own studies, that simply isn’t the case. This is regulation for regulation’s sake,” said Milito.

BOEM air modeling studies are not expected to be completed until 2017 and were commissioned to inform the rule, says Milito, and the agency should not get ahead of the science and proceed with a rule proposal without the necessary data to justify costly regulatory changes.

“The suggested regulatory changes could significantly affect operations, and a robust cost impact analysis is necessary. This is yet another agency piling on new regulations that could hinder domestic energy production and add untold costs to industry operations,” said Milito.

In a Feb. 10 letter to Director Hopper, API called on BOEM to not fundamentally alter the current Air Quality Regulatory Program.

The agency and neighboring states have repeatedly concluded that offshore emission sources do not contribute significantly to onshore air quality.

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