WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S Interior Department’s Bureau of Land Management on Monday proposed rules to limit methane leaks from oil and gas drilling on public lands, the latest move by the Biden administration to crack down on the potent greenhouse gas.
The proposal would place monthly limits on flaring and require oil and gas companies to undertake methane leak detection programs on federal land.
Methane is the main component of natural gas.
The Interior Department said that venting and flaring activity from production on public lands has significantly increased over the last several decades.
“This draft rule is a common-sense, environmentally responsible solution as we address the damage that wasted natural gas causes,” BLM Director Tracy Stone-Manning said in a statement.
(Reporting by Valerie Volcovici; Editing by Mark Porter)
