Photo by Diana Beato
After a two-week extension on their self-imposed deadline, the EPA has finally announced some new rules to govern the controversial practice of fracking, but companies that use this method of extracting natural gas and oil won’t be forced to comply with these regulations until 2015, except in those states and cities that already have their own requirements in place.
A major component of the EPA’s new rules will require fracking companies to use a process called “green completion,” where special equipment is used to capture natural gas that is currently allowed to escape into the air. The EPA estimates this will contribute towards a significant reduction of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that are being emitted from these gas wells each year, which should improve outdoor air quality.
The Clean Air Task Force, a non-profit environmental group, is pleased that the EPA has finally updated their air emissions regulations, but is at the same time disappointed about the two-and-a-half year delay, which they say could be as much an environmental impact as “putting an additional million cars on U.S. highways, based on EPA estimates.”
