EPA Urged to Reconsider Studying Oil and Gas ELGs for PFAS
(by Mackenzie Moyer)
On December 18, 2024, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published a Notice of Availability in the Federal Register announcing EPA’s Preliminary Effluent Guidelines Program Plan 16 (Preliminary Plan 16). Under the Clean Water Act, the EPA is required to biennially publish a plan for new and revised effluent limitations guidelines (ELGs) and pretreatment standards. Preliminary Plan 16 includes a proposal for a study of the oil and gas discharge category (40 C.F.R. Part 435), specifically Subpart E, and certain wastewater plants, to determine whether the sector should be subject to ELGs for PFAS.
The public comment period for Preliminary Plan 16 closed on January 17, 2025. In the comments EPA received, both industry and certain states urged EPA to reconsider the study. The American Petroleum Institute, American Exploration and Production Council, and the Independent Petroleum Association of America’s joint comments emphasize that further review is not necessary both because of the low priority ranking of the Oil and Gas Extraction Category for review and the fact that techniques to extract crude oil and natural gas have not changed substantially since the last promulgation of revisions to the category in 2016. The Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) also provided comments doubting the appropriateness of technology-based effluent limits. Wyoming DEQ recommends that EPA investigate operational remedies instead of numeric ELGs. Other states including Minnesota and Louisiana also provided comments.
The Notice of Availability as well as the public comments received on Preliminary Plan 16 are available at the regulatory docket, found here.