American Oil and Gas Reporter - January 2017 - 18

IndustryDigest
for the bureau to categorize its total
control of all emissions under the guise
of 'waste minimization.' Congress has
not delegated authority to the bureau to
regulate emissions, much less emissions
that are not federal minerals," the two
states say.
The court filing asks the court to
vacate BLM's proposed venting rule.
According to media reports, North
Dakota set aside $1 million in its 201719 budget for legal challenges of the
BLM rule and other federal regulations.
❒

TIPRO Encouraged
By RCRA Case Despite
Intervenor Status Denial
WASHINGTON-A federal court has
rejected attempts by several groups to
intervene in a legal attempt to force the
Environmental Protection Agency to
adopt national oil and gas waste
regulations. Even so, the Texas

Independent Producers & Royalty
Owners Association is citing the
language of the rejection as a reason for
optimism.
A coalition of anti-development
groups-including the Environmental
Integrity Project, Natural Resources
Defense Council and Earthworks-sued
the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency in May, arguing the agency has
failed to meet its obligations under the
Resource Conservation and Recovery
Act to review and revise federal
regulations covering waste disposal.
According to the filing, the lawsuit
asks the court to order EPA to
strengthen federal regulations for
underground injection wells and storage
pits handling drilling and fracture
fluids, ban road spreading and land
spreading of wastewater, and complete
required reviews of federal and state oil
and gas waste regulations.
The Texas Independent Producers &
Royalty Owners Association has filed a
motion with the U.S. District Court for
the District of Columbia asking to

intervene. The motion claims the
environmental groups have sought to
compel EPA to exceed its authority,
even though Texas' waste management
program is the country's most robust
(AOGR, September 2016, pg. 16). The
state of North Dakota's attempt to
secure intervenor status also has failed,
as have those of the American
Petroleum Institute and Independent
Petroleum Association of America.
TIPRO's filing suggests that the
plaintiffs seek to circumvent a statutory
framework that unambiguously places
authority for solid waste regulations
with the states. If the anti-development
groups want to change that control
structure, TIPRO holds, the proper
channel is through Congress, not EPA
or the court.
TIPRO President Ed Longanecker
says the court's decision in rejecting the
intervenors is a victory for the oil and
gas industry because it emphatically
states EPA and the plaintiffs cannot
negotiate federal waste-handling rules,
but only negotiate an agreement with

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American Oil and Gas Reporter - January 2017

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