WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Energy have announced that applications are open for $850 million in federal funding for projects that will help monitor, measure, quantify and reduce methane emissions from the oil and gas sectors.
Oil and natural gas facilities are the largest industrial source of methane in the United States. A climate 'super pollutant,' it is many times more potent than carbon dioxide and is responsible for approximately one third of the warming from greenhouse gases occurring in the country, according to EPA.
This funding from the Inflation Reduction Act-the largest climate investment in history-will help mitigate legacy air pollution, create good jobs in the energy sector and disadvantaged communities, reduce waste and inefficiencies in U.S. oil and gas operations, and realize near-term emissions reductions, helping the United States reach President Biden's ambitious climate and clean air goals, EPA said in a press release.
The funding will help small oil and natural gas operators reduce methane emissions and transition to innovative methane emissions reduction technologies.
Another key objective of this funding is to enhance the detection and measurement of methane emissions from oil and gas operations at regional scale, while ensuring nationwide data consistency through the creation of collaborative partnerships spanning the country's oil and gas-producing regions. These will draw in oil and natural gas owners and operators, universities, environmental justice organizations, community leaders, unions, technology developers, Tribes, state regulatory agencies, non-governmental research organizations, federally funded research and development centers and DOE's National Laboratories.
'Today, we're building on strong standards and historic progress to cut methane pollution and protect communities across the country,' said EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan.
'As we continue to accelerate the nation's clean energy transition, we are taking steps now to drastically reduce harmful emissions from America's largest source of industrial methane - the oil and gas sector,' said U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer M. Granholm.
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