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Pennsylvania to require gas drillers to reduce air pollution

HARRISBURG (AP) — Pennsylvania will begin enforcing tougher air pollution standards on its booming natural gas industry, the governor’s office said Thursday, with environmental advocates saying the standards will put the state among the leaders in going beyond federal requirements.

The new permits will take effect in August and begin requiring the Marcellus Shale exploration industry to use better equipment to reduce methane emissions and other air pollutants, check for leaks more frequently and repair those leaks within a tighter time frame.

The permits will apply to new or updated well sites and compression, processing and transmission stations along pipelines. Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf’s administration has signaled that it will eventually move to apply tougher standards to existing equipment.

Pennsylvania is the nation’s second-largest natural gas-producing state behind Texas, and the Marcellus Shale is the nation’s most prolific natural gas reservoir.

Preventing methane leaks from well-site equipment and pipelines has become important for regulators because methane is a potent greenhouse gas.

Industry officials point to government data that says methane pollution is falling, even as production rises, and that companies have every incentive to ensure methane makes it into the pipeline, rather than the atmosphere.

Environmental advocacy groups praised the move.

Andrew Williams, director of regulatory and legislative affairs for the Washington-based Environmental Defense Fund, said the new requirements give Pennsylvania some of the toughest methane regulations in the nation, going beyond federal requirements in the breadth of facilities covered and the frequency of leak-detection checks that companies must perform.

However, industry officials have maintained that the regulations will still mean steep new costs.

Companies also have criticized the lack of clarity in the permits, said they will face longer waiting periods to secure necessary equipment and suggested that a phase-in period would help them plan for the new rules.

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