On July 20, the Colorado Department of Public Health & Environment Air Pollution Control Division announced passage of a groundbreaking greenhouse gas (GHG) intensity verification rule. Approved unanimously by the state’s Air Quality Control Commission, the new rule defines how certain oil and gas facilities must calculate their greenhouse gas intensity, monitor operations to ensure compliance with intensity standards, and keep records to accurately account for emissions from their operations. Both environmental and industry workgroups played a major role in developing the final rule.
The term “intensity” refers to the ratio of a facility’s amount of greenhouse gas emissions to the amount of oil and gas it produces. The GHG intensity program applies to upstream oil and gas operations, which are also known as “well sites” or “production” facilities. The program includes two main parts: the new verification rule and GHG intensity standards. The new verification rule will ensure facilities adhere to the intensity standards adopted in 2021. The standards become more protective over time in accordance with the 2021 Colorado Greenhouse Gas Pollution Reduction Roadmap, which calls for the oil and gas industry to achieve a 36% GHG reduction by 2025 and a 60% reduction by 2030.
“The rule that we passed today is designed to accurately measure emissions from oil and gas operations to ensure that the industry is meeting its regulatory obligations to reduce [GHG] emissions,” said Martha Rudolph, Air Quality Control Commission Hearing Officer of the rulemaking hearing, who also serves as a Board Member for ECOS affiliate ERIS.
The new rule includes several requirements, such as: All facility operators must use direct measurement to inform their emissions inventory.
- Certain facility operators must use a third-party auditor to review emissions reports. The auditor must be certified by the division.
- The division will confirm facilities’ compliance with emissions standards. The division will incorporate its own aerial and ground air monitoring in emissions calculations.
- The division will maintain its emissions database based on a combination of reporting and direct measurements from facilities.
