New Methane Emission Rules in MA
The rules fall short, but leave a door open
By David Zeek, Sierra Club, and Debbie New, Mothers Out Front
On Behalf of The Gas Leaks Allies
Re: MassDEP final regulation 310 CMR 7.73 Reducing Methane Emissions from Natural Gas Distribution Mains and Services
Our Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has set new rules to lower greenhouse gas emissions in our state. Put simply, they’ve let us down, but wisely left open a door to do better. The Gas Leaks Allies — a coalition of 21 environmental groups, researchers, legal and policy experts, health professionals, labor unions, community organizations, and mothers — are ready to help.
Thanks to a ruling from our Supreme Judicial Court and an executive order from Governor Baker, DEP is required to come up with regulations to cut emissions to meet the ambitious targets set by the Global Warming Solutions Act (GWSA). These cuts have to be deep and immediate if we’re going to make the law a reality. But there’s more at stake than legal requirements. We need good, strong rules to protect our health, safety, and a livable Massachusetts for our children.
Part of the new DEP regulations address natural gas leaking from pipes under our streets. This gas, mostly methane, is a greenhouse gas on steroids that accounts for 10% of our state’s emissions.
The new rules measure methane emissions based on national data and information from gas companies. This doesn’t tell us what’s actually in our air in Massachusetts where we have one of the oldest, leakiest systems in the country. While we acknowledge that DEP is woefully underfunded, we are disappointed that the current rules aren’t based on measuring our state’s actual emissions. We hope DEP can begin a program of measuring methane so we can know how much is leaking and whether or not we’re actually reducing emissions.
We also hope DEP will be consistent. The current rules are based on different emissions factors for the starting point in 1990 and results reported since 2014. The 2014 numbers assume much lower emissions of methane as if the gas distribution system has somehow healed itself in the intervening years. We need one set of emissions factors applied to all years so we can know whether we’re making progress — or not, and then adjust.
We also continue to strongly recommend fixing the worst gas leaks first, a highly efficient means of lowering emissions that the new rules fail to include. Addressing this small number of high volume leaks — just 1,100 of over 16,000 leaks statewide — would cut methane emissions in half and could be done in a year or two.
While the new rules won’t do much in the three short years they cover, DEP has given us all a chance to do more, better, and faster. Given our legal obligation to drastically reduce methane emissions by 2050, DEP will review their regulations by the end of 2020.
We’re ready to help. We’ll start by advocating for more funding for DEP so they can do their job effectively. We’ll share results from our current research on how to find the biggest leaks so we can cut even more emissions by prioritizing these high volume gushers.
We’ll work with DEP to find manageable ways to measure and monitor methane emissions so we can establish dramatic but achievable goals. We offer our coalition’s expertise and hope we can work together to ensure an accelerated path to make Massachusetts safer, healthier, and livable for our children.
*The Gas Leaks Allies
Arise Springfield.org
Boston Climate Action Network
Brookline GreenSpace Alliance
Clean Water Action
Climate Action Now–Western MA
Conservation Law Foundation
Consumers for Sensible Energy
Emerald Necklace Conservancy
Friends of the Public Garden
Garden Club of the Back Bay
Gas Safety USA
Green Committee, Neighborhood Association of Back Bay
Green Justice Coalition
Home Energy Efficiency Team
MA Health Professionals For Clean Energy
Mothers Out Front
Sierra Club, MA Chapter
Springfield Climate Justice Coalition
Twodegrees@greenneighbors.earth
350MA
Dr. Nathan Phillips, Boston University
Dr. Margaret Cherne-Hendrick, Boston University Institute for Sustainable Energy
