[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 81 (Wednesday, May 10, 2017)]
[Senate]
[Page S2872]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                  Congressional Review Act Resolution

  Mr. HEINRICH. Mr. President, I am proud that the Senate voted to 
reject an effort to overturn commonsense protections to reduce methane 
waste. It was 3 years ago that satellite images from NASA revealed that 
there is a giant cloud of methane--about the size of the State of 
Delaware--sitting over the Four Corners region in Northwestern New 
Mexico and Southwestern Colorado.
  Although evidence had shown that there was methane air pollution in 
the Four Corners as early as 2003, the image of NASA data is truly 
striking. This is a warning of a potentially major threat to public 
health for communities in the region.
  The San Juan Basin in the Four Corners region has long been a leading 
producer of oil and natural gas. With the natural gas boom of the mid-
2000s, production in the basin grew by leaps and bounds, and that 
created hundreds of new high-paying jobs and a major new domestic 
source of an important energy resource.
  Unfortunately, amid all this growth, some producers developing 
natural gas on our public lands and on Tribal lands released harmful 
air pollution and wasted these publicly owned resources by allowing 
methane to leak into the air from faulty equipment and pipes, and even 
by burning off valuable natural gas in the process called flaring.
  Following the discovery of the methane hotspot, researchers at NASA's 
Jet Propulsion Laboratory joined Caltech and University of Michigan 
scientists to conduct a detailed study into the cause of the methane 
cloud. Some producers claimed that the hotspot was caused primarily by 
natural seeps of gas from underground geologic formations and by gas 
venting out from an old coal mine in the region.
  The NASA researchers, using instrumentation mounted on aircraft that 
flew close to the ground and throughout 1,200 square miles of airspace 
in the Four Corners region, identified leaks from natural gas wells as 
the major methane emitters contributing to the methane air pollution.
  As greenhouse gas, methane has over 80 times the global warming 
potential as carbon dioxide over the short term. We have a moral 
obligation to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and to mitigate our 
contributions to climate change.
  Even absent its consequences for climate change, methane leaks waste 
valuable energy resources, and they harm public health. When methane 
leaks from oil and gas wells, harmful carcinogens such as benzene leak 
into the air alongside it.
  Because of the air pollution over the Four Corners region, the 
American Lung Association gave San Juan County in New Mexico an F 
rating for ozone pollution in 2016. That means children suffer more 
asthma attacks and seniors have more difficulty breathing.
  I want it to be clear that this is not a case of pitting development 
of our energy resources against human health. We have a golden 
opportunity to apply innovative, existing technologies to this problem, 
grow our economy, and improve air quality for the people of the Four 
Corners region. That is because minimizing the amount of methane that 
leaks, vents, or flares out of the oil and gas wells isn't just good 
for air quality, it is good for business and the bottom line.
  When oil and gas companies modernize their equipment to reduce leaks, 
they are able to capture more gas that they can sell, as well as 
increase worker safety at their wells. When we capture more gas, that 
also means we see more royalties and revenues for States, Tribes, and 
local communities. By updating oil and natural gas production equipment 
and infrastructure to reduce wasted natural gas, we create new jobs for 
energy workers and manufacturers.
  When we reduce wasteful leaks, it means that instead of having a 
giant methane cloud over the northwest corner of New Mexico and over 
the Navajo Nation--a major public health hazard--we put our publicly 
owned natural gas resources to beneficial use. That is the definition 
of a win-win situation.
  I say all this because that is exactly what the Bureau of Land 
Management's methane waste prevention rule is designed to do. These 
commonsense and cost-effective protections in the rule were put in 
place to reduce harmful methane and benzene pollution and to ensure 
that oil and gas operations are using technological advances that 
minimize emissions and maximize the amount of natural gas we produce.
  Between 2009 and 2015, the BLM estimates that oil and gas producers 
on our public and Tribal lands vented, flared, and leaked 462 billion 
cubic feet of methane. They wasted enough natural gas to supply over 6 
million American households for a year. Instead of heating our homes or 
fueling powerplants, powering buses, that gas was leaked into the 
atmosphere, wasting millions of dollars of this limited resource.
  It is estimated that the oil and gas industry wastes about $100 
million worth of natural gas every year. That also means $6 million 
each year of lost State revenue, revenue that pays for schools, roads, 
and emergency services in New Mexico. That is quite a figure.
  A recent report found that New Mexico taxpayers have lost out on over 
$42 million of royalty revenues since the year 2009--$42,728,949 to be 
exact. The BLM's methane waste prevention rule will help put a stop to 
this wasted resource.
  While developing the rule, the BLM held public meetings, it held 
Tribal consultations, and it factored in feedback from over 300,000 
comments submitted during the public comment period. The agency also 
coordinated with States like Colorado, Wyoming, and North Dakota that 
have already created similar protections to reduce methane leaking and 
flaring at the State level.
  The BLM rule will have minimal costs for oil and gas producers, and, 
in fact, leak detections and repairs required by the rule will help 
companies make more money selling the gas that they save. Meanwhile, 
this rule will grow our economy by investing in innovative companies 
that have developed the technologies to minimize leaks and protect our 
public health. This rule should not have been controversial.
  The overwhelming majority of my constituents in New Mexico support 
reducing wasted natural gas. A recent poll by Colorado College 
conducted after the election found that 74 percent of New Mexicans 
support the BLM's methane waste reduction rule.
  I am proud that enough Senators shared that view and voted to reject 
an attempt to repeal this commonsense protection of public health, air 
quality, and responsible development of our natural resources. There is 
nothing conservative about making it easier to waste a precious public 
energy source.
  We should be focused on reducing waste, capturing critical royalties 
for New Mexico communities, and putting our natural gas resources to 
beneficial use. This repeal effort of the methane rule would have 
represented a major step backward.
  Today's vote was a major victory for responsible development of our 
natural gas resources and our Nation's decades-long commitment to 
protect the air we breathe. On behalf of my constituents and theirs, I 
want to say a special thank-you to all 51 Senators who supported our 
efforts today. Thank you very much.
  Mr. President, I yield back the remainder of my time.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The bill clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. PETERS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.