Position on S.J.Res. 11 & H.J.Res. 36

NPCA urges members of the Senate to vote against Senate Joint Resolution 11 (S.J.Res. 11)/House Joint Resolution 36 (H.J.Res.36); a resolution that would allow for continued excessive methane pollution and waste to be released from oil and gas facilities on public lands surrounding national parks. The resolution would eliminate the recently promulgated Bureau of Land Management rule relating to “Waste Prevention, Production Subject to Royalties, and Resource Conservation,” which was developed over the course of three years and with substantial agency research and public engagement.

Billions of cubic feet of methane are leaked, vented or flared from public lands each year, costing taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars, degrading localized national park air quality, and accelerating climate change. This waste can be easily prevented, and at very little cost.

Unfortunately, the Senate may vote on S.J.Res.11/H.J.Res.36 to repeal commonsense rules to control methane waste on public lands and prevent the agency from ever issuing a similar climate and cost savings rule on methane in the future. Repealing these rules will hurt taxpayers’ lungs and wallets. It will also increase air pollution in national parks, recognizing that methane is 84 times more powerful than carbon dioxide and a major contributor to smog. Luckily for our nation’s parks and public health, the oil and gas industry has also expressed concerns about the efforts to repeal these commonsense safeguards.