Dear Friend, Clean Air Council is partnering with FracTracker to update you on recent efforts to reduce methane, and other air pollution, from the gas extraction industry. Join us September 28th at 2 PM on Zoom to hear about several new developments that will significantly impact residents who live in gas extraction areas across the country. As the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) prepares to finalize methane pollution standards for new and existing oil and gas facilities, it is vital that we understand how that rule is connected to other current state and federal actions. After attending the webinar you will be prepared to speak with your neighbors and elected representatives about efforts to reduce pollution from the gas industry and how they can be strengthened. Clean Air Council’s new Policy Advocate Alice Lu will discuss the EPA’s new standards for reporting methane pollution from the oil and gas industry, and how funds collected based on these emissions could fund the Methane Emissions Reduction Program (MERP) passed within the Inflation Reduction Act. Comments on this rule are due Monday, October 2nd and we will instruct you how to submit an official and meaningful comment. You will also hear from Clean Air Council’s Russell Zerbo about a new federal funding opportunity for Pennsylvania to support the plugging of small, but functioning gas wells. If these wells aren’t properly plugged, they are at risk of being abandoned, adding to the hundreds of thousands of orphan and abandoned wells in Pennsylvania. FracTracker Western Program Director Kyle Ferrar, MPH will discuss efforts in California to increase well-bonding costs for small wells that could be abandoned. Increasing the bonds required to purchase small wells, that create large amounts of air pollutants, ensures that governments have funds on hand to plug wells if they are abandoned by their owners. Recently, the Pennsylvania legislature froze well bonds for conventional wells at $2,500 while the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) estimates that the average well-plugging costs $33,000. FracTracker Executive Director Shannon Smith will speak to efforts across the country to address numerous orphaned and abandoned gas and oil wells in various individual states. DEP released a report last year detailing that inspectors found more than 3,000 newly-abandoned wells over a recent 5-year period. DEP has also documented over 25,000 abandoned wells in the state. Clean Air Council and FracTracker want to update you on the latest progress in current efforts to reduce methane pollution from the oil and gas industry. Please join us September 28th at 2 PM on Zoom. We hope to see you there. | 
