The Grand Junction Daily Sentinel: Cleaning up the air over there
When Colorado’s Air Quality Control Commission in 2014 passed a first-in-the-nation rule targeting methane emissions from oil and gas development, the immediate benefit was reduced in-state releases of a greenhouse gas that is emitted together with hazardous volatile organic compound pollutants.
A longer-term and perhaps less anticipated bonus has been the inspiration the rule has provided to other states, and the federal government, to take similar steps to reduce emissions, which incidentally would provide further benefits for Coloradans beyond those provided by the rule that was adopted here.
The latest example is in the state of Utah, where the Division of Air Quality is proposing new regulations aimed at reducing VOC emissions from the oil and gas sector. The rule would incorporate measures already implemented by Colorado and Wyoming, including requirements for periodic leak detection and repair. Among other measures are requirements to either capture and collect potential gas emissions or flare the emissions to reduce their pollution impacts.

