[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 121 (Wednesday, July 29, 2015)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1156]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




INTRODUCTION OF THE NATURAL GAS ENVIRONMENTAL AND ECONOMIC SECURITY ACT

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                         HON. ALAN S. LOWENTHAL

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, July 29, 2015

  Mr. LOWENTHAL. Mr. Speaker, today I am introducing the Natural Gas 
Environmental and Economic Security Act with a number of my colleagues, 
including the Ranking Member of the House Natural Resources Committee 
Raul Grijalva, to reduce the frivolous and unnecessary waste of natural 
gas from public lands. Large volumes of natural gas are regularly 
flared, vented, or simply leak from Federal oil and gas leases--in 2013 
alone, the amount of lost gas could meet the heating and cooking needs 
of 1.6 million American homes according to the Environmental Defense 
Fund. To make matters worse, the Center for American Progress and The 
Wilderness Society showed that the amount of gas lost to venting and 
flaring doubled between 2008 and 2013, with no sign of the trend 
slowing. In addition, this wasted gas is not subject to royalties, 
costing the American taxpayers as much as $58 million annually in lost 
revenue according to the Government Accountability Office.
   Beyond being economically wasteful, these processes are bad for 
human health and the environment. Gas released to the atmosphere from 
venting and leaks contributes dramatically to climate change, since 
methane, the major component of natural gas, has 25 times the warming 
impact of carbon dioxide over 100 years. In 2013 alone, the 
Environmental Defense Fund estimated that the volume of methane 
released to the atmosphere was equivalent to the emissions from 5.6 
million cars. Venting, flaring, and leaks all affect local air quality 
as well by releasing volatile organic compounds, nitrogen oxides, and 
particulate matter into the atmosphere. These environmental costs 
undercut the potential benefits of natural gas as a lower-carbon, 
cleaner burning fuel alternative to coal.
   Local regulations have already demonstrated that the best way to 
curb venting, flaring, and fugitive releases is to both enact strong 
regulations and incentivize gas capture by collecting royalties on lost 
gas, and our bill, the Natural Gas Environmental and Economic Security 
Act takes this two-pronged approach. To address royalties, the bill 
amends the Mineral Leasing Act and the Outer Continental Shelf Lands 
Act to require royalties on all gas produced from new leases, including 
gas used on the lease to power equipment. Gas lost in acute emergency 
situations would remain exempt from royalties to ensure that safety is 
not compromised.
   The bill would also require that 99 percent of all gas produced each 
year from Federal leases be captured within 5 years. It also prohibits 
venting and limits routine flaring. To reach the 99 percent goal, the 
bill establishes equipment and operation standards, mandatory leak 
detection and repair procedures, and recordkeeping requirements; it 
also institutes new reporting requirements for all gas produced, 
disposed, or leaked on a lease and requires public disclosure of the 
data. Market-appropriate enforcement mechanisms for non-compliance, as 
well as guidelines for applying such measures, are also established.
   This bill is a win-win for the American taxpayer, providing both 
environmental and economic benefits, while also promoting the growth of 
the domestic methane mitigation industry, which is creating high-paying 
jobs through small businesses across the nation. Further, many of these 
gains come at minimal or no cost to producers, since many mitigation 
technologies pay for themselves once the captured gas is marketed.
   The Natural Gas Environmental and Economic Security Act stops the 
waste of valuable taxpayer resources, protects the environment and 
public heath, and boosts the economy. I ask that my colleagues support 
this commonsense legislation and rein in the waste of natural gas from 
our public lands.

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