On Wednesday, September 28, members from the House Science, Space, and Technology Committee introduced 3 bills to improve our ability to monitor methane emissions from the oil and gas industry.

Most of the existing data about methane emissions on federal lands are self-reported by oil and gas operators and current systems make it difficult to verify the accuracy of the data. There is also a lack of data on leaks, fugitive emissions, and emissions from poorly sealed and abandoned wells.  

The bills follow a hearing and committee staff report from earlier this summer on methane emissions from the oil and gas sector. As both Committee Chair Rep. Eddie Johnson (D-TX) and Ranking Member Rep. Frank Lucas (R-OK) remarked at the June hearing, “gas sector emissions are the low hanging fruit of methane mitigation.” There was also wide agreement among hearing witnesses that limiting methane emissions from the oil and gas sector was doable, although witnesses and committee members disagreed over the best course of action to reach this goal. 

Methane has a global warming potential 80 times higher than carbon dioxide for the first 20 years it’s in the atmosphere and its release contributes to the growing taxpayer costs of climate change. Oil and natural gas systems are responsible for about 34% of global, manmade-made methane emissions. Over the last decade, oil and gas operators on federal lands in the U.S. reported releasing 300 billion cubic feet (bcf) of natural gas into the atmosphere. However, there is significant evidence that the real amount of methane released on federal lands is much higher.  

Vast discrepancies also exist in the government data we have on methane emissions. For example, in 2019, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) estimated 150 bcf of methane was lost on federal lands. However, oil and gas operators reported releasing only 43 bcf. Satellite data also suggests that the self-reported lost gas volume could have been inaccurate. In 2015, oil and gas operators reported flaring (burning off) 28.9 bcf of natural gas in New Mexico, but satellite data indicated operators actually flared 42.4 bcf of gas, 46% more than what was reported.  

The lack of data about lost gas on federal leases and inconsistency of available data contributes to our inability to understand and solve this issue. Improving our ability to effectively measure, prevent, and respond to methane emissions benefits taxpayers as well as the climate.  

The following bills were introduced on September 28, 2022:  

The Methane Emissions Research Act of 2022  

Introduced by U.S. House Science, Space, and Technology Committee Chair Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX), the bill would direct the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to conduct a measurement-based national methane research pilot study to quantify methane emissions from domestic oil and gas infrastructure. The $20M pilot would develop and implement procedures for measuring and characterizing methane emissions from areas of oil and gas infrastructure within 2 of the 7 regions identified in a September 2022 report by the Energy Information Administration (EIA). Two years after enactment of the bill, the EPA would be required to submit a report on the pilot program, including the program’s findings and an analysis of how the pilot study could contribute to a national methane census or help reconcile data in the EPA’s Inventory of U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks. 

The Methane Super-Emitter Strategy Act of 2022  

Introduced by Rep. Don Beyer (D-VA), the bill would require the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), with the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, to develop a federal methane super-emitter detection strategy. The $1.2M program would assess, evaluate, and make recommendations regarding the use of technology to monitor and detect large methane emission events, also known as methane super-emitters. 

The Methane Emissions Mitigation Research and Development Act  

Introduced by Reps. Sean Casten (D-Il) and Peter Meijer (R-MI), the bill would require the Department of Energy (DOE) to better prevent and respond to methane releases by promoting emissions-reduction technologies in the private sector, researching emission detection technologies, and mapping natural sources of methane emissions, among other initiatives. The DOE would also create a Methane Emissions Measurement and Mitigation Research Consortium to facilitate methane emissions data sharing. The bill authorizes a total of $182M to be appropriated between FY 2023 and 2027.