{"id":16049,"date":"2017-07-27T15:58:38","date_gmt":"2017-07-27T19:58:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/?p=16049"},"modified":"2017-07-27T16:06:45","modified_gmt":"2017-07-27T20:06:45","slug":"four-opportunities-to-strengthen-canadas-draft-methane-regulations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/2017\/07\/27\/four-opportunities-to-strengthen-canadas-draft-methane-regulations\/","title":{"rendered":"Four opportunities to strengthen Canada\u2019s draft methane regulations"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

Canada\u2019s move to reduce methane emissions from its oil and gas sector passed another milestone this week, as the deadline passed for stakeholders to submit comments about the proposed regulations to Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC). EDF issued extensive comments commending ECCC for moving forward, but urging decision makers to address some critical weaknesses of the draft rules.<\/p>\n

EDF is not alone in this thinking. A group of investors from Canada, US, and Europe, which together represent $89 billion CAD in investments, released a synopsis<\/a> of their comments. Many leading Canadian NGOs, including the David Suzuki Foundation, the Pembina Institute, Environmental Defence (no relation to this EDF), Equiterre, and the Blue Green Alliance, also issued a press release urging ECCC<\/a> to improve and strengthen the draft regulations.<\/p>\n

As Canada\u2019s effort to regulate this potent greenhouse pollutant continues, EDF is focused on ensuring Canada takes advantage of low-cost reduction opportunities, which have the added benefit of improving air quality, eliminating waste, stimulating innovation, and creating jobs. For that to happen, the country\u2019s draft methane regulations need to be strengthened.<\/p>\n

Here are four ways that can happen:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Fix the Timeline<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    In the days before the draft regulations were released in May, the oil and gas industry successfully lobbied government officials to delay implementation of the regulations by as much as three years. This would result in the release of an estimated 55 million additional tons of methane<\/a> compared to the original timelines. Delaying key provisions for five years is excessive and inconsistent with how \u2013 for example \u2013 US jurisdictions have regulated methane. We urged ECCC to reset the timetable so the regulations begin in 2019 (not 2020) and full implementation occurs by 2022 (not 2023).<\/p>\n

      \n
    1. Require Quarterly Leak Inspections<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      Because methane is invisible and odorless, and many leaks are intermittent, it\u2019s nearly impossible to find methane leaks unless you\u2019re looking for them. Canada\u2019s proposal calls for leak inspections only three times a year; we urged EEEC to implement inspections four times a year instead. This may seem like a minor detail, but the effectiveness of any detection requirement is better with greater frequency. In fact, the International Energy Agency has said \u201ctracking and fixing these [methane] leaks \u2013 which can be short-lived and intermittent \u2013 requires a systematic effort of measurement, reporting and monitoring, backed up by effective regulation. More regular inspections mean better odds of catching serious but intermittent problems. Across the United States, regulatory best practice is four times a year. Canada\u2019s rules should follow this industry best practice.<\/p>\n

        \n
      1. Reduce Venting<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

        Unlike leaks, venting is the intentional release of methane, and ECCC has proposed regulations that will significantly reduce venting across Canada. That\u2019s great, but the proposed rules include exceptions and loopholes, and still allow for venting. In recognition of the availability of technologies that eliminate venting, leading U.S. jurisdictions increasingly prohibit venting. Strengthening the venting provisions will ensure that Canada is in line with regulatory best practices on venting.<\/p>\n

          \n
        1. Ensure \u201cequivalent\u201d really means equivalent<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

          Canadian law allows provinces to develop their own regulations and have those regulations take place instead of federal regulations if there are \u201cprovisions that are equivalent to a regulation.\u201d \u00a0We urged ECCC to ensure that any equivalency agreement show that equal or greater reductions are achieved. If a province\u2019s rules don\u2019t achieve the reductions the federal rules would, they shouldn\u2019t be considered \u201cequivalent.\u201d<\/p>\n

          These are simple, commonsense steps that are squarely consistent with the goals and intent of the policy, which can make implementation faster, cheap and more effective. We hope the Canadian government will consider these opportunities as they review public comments. Final regulations are expected late this year or early next.<\/p>\n

          Image source: Flickr user davebloggs007<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

          Canada\u2019s move to reduce methane emissions from its oil and gas sector passed another milestone this week, as the deadline passed for stakeholders to submit comments about the proposed regulations to Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC). EDF issued extensive comments commending ECCC for moving forward, but urging decision makers to address some critical weaknesses …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6720,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,55717,693],"tags":[641,105763],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-16049","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","category-methane-2","category-natural-gas","tag-canada","tag-canada-methane"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nFour opportunities to strengthen Canada\u2019s draft methane regulations - Energy Exchange<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/2017\/07\/27\/four-opportunities-to-strengthen-canadas-draft-methane-regulations\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Four opportunities to strengthen Canada\u2019s draft methane regulations - Energy Exchange\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Canada\u2019s move to reduce methane emissions from its oil and gas sector passed another milestone this week, as the deadline passed for stakeholders to submit comments about the proposed regulations to Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC). EDF issued extensive comments commending ECCC for moving forward, but urging decision makers to address some critical weaknesses ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/2017\/07\/27\/four-opportunities-to-strengthen-canadas-draft-methane-regulations\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Energy Exchange\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-07-27T19:58:38+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2017-07-27T20:06:45+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/38\/files\/2017\/07\/canada-pumpjack.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Drew Nelson\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Drew Nelson\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/energyexchange\\\/2017\\\/07\\\/27\\\/four-opportunities-to-strengthen-canadas-draft-methane-regulations\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/energyexchange\\\/2017\\\/07\\\/27\\\/four-opportunities-to-strengthen-canadas-draft-methane-regulations\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Drew Nelson\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/energyexchange\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/d6ddc3086bb097e78ab30d71491a7ab0\"},\"headline\":\"Four opportunities to strengthen Canada\u2019s draft methane regulations\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-07-27T19:58:38+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-07-27T20:06:45+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/energyexchange\\\/2017\\\/07\\\/27\\\/four-opportunities-to-strengthen-canadas-draft-methane-regulations\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":626,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/energyexchange\\\/2017\\\/07\\\/27\\\/four-opportunities-to-strengthen-canadas-draft-methane-regulations\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/energyexchange\\\/wp-content\\\/blogs.dir\\\/38\\\/files\\\/2017\\\/07\\\/canada-pumpjack.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Canada\",\"Canada methane\"],\"articleSection\":[\"General\",\"Methane\",\"Natural Gas\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/energyexchange\\\/2017\\\/07\\\/27\\\/four-opportunities-to-strengthen-canadas-draft-methane-regulations\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/energyexchange\\\/2017\\\/07\\\/27\\\/four-opportunities-to-strengthen-canadas-draft-methane-regulations\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/energyexchange\\\/2017\\\/07\\\/27\\\/four-opportunities-to-strengthen-canadas-draft-methane-regulations\\\/\",\"name\":\"Four opportunities to strengthen Canada\u2019s draft methane regulations - Energy Exchange\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/energyexchange\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/energyexchange\\\/2017\\\/07\\\/27\\\/four-opportunities-to-strengthen-canadas-draft-methane-regulations\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/energyexchange\\\/2017\\\/07\\\/27\\\/four-opportunities-to-strengthen-canadas-draft-methane-regulations\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/energyexchange\\\/wp-content\\\/blogs.dir\\\/38\\\/files\\\/2017\\\/07\\\/canada-pumpjack.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-07-27T19:58:38+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-07-27T20:06:45+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/energyexchange\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/d6ddc3086bb097e78ab30d71491a7ab0\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/energyexchange\\\/2017\\\/07\\\/27\\\/four-opportunities-to-strengthen-canadas-draft-methane-regulations\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/energyexchange\\\/2017\\\/07\\\/27\\\/four-opportunities-to-strengthen-canadas-draft-methane-regulations\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/energyexchange\\\/2017\\\/07\\\/27\\\/four-opportunities-to-strengthen-canadas-draft-methane-regulations\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/energyexchange\\\/wp-content\\\/blogs.dir\\\/38\\\/files\\\/2017\\\/07\\\/canada-pumpjack.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/energyexchange\\\/wp-content\\\/blogs.dir\\\/38\\\/files\\\/2017\\\/07\\\/canada-pumpjack.jpg\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/energyexchange\\\/2017\\\/07\\\/27\\\/four-opportunities-to-strengthen-canadas-draft-methane-regulations\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/energyexchange\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Four opportunities to strengthen Canada\u2019s draft methane regulations\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/energyexchange\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/energyexchange\\\/\",\"name\":\"Energy Exchange\",\"description\":\"Accelerating the clean energy revolution\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/energyexchange\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/energyexchange\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/d6ddc3086bb097e78ab30d71491a7ab0\",\"name\":\"Drew Nelson\",\"description\":\"Follow Drew on Twitter \u00bb\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/energyexchange\\\/author\\\/dnelson\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Four opportunities to strengthen Canada\u2019s draft methane regulations - Energy Exchange","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/2017\/07\/27\/four-opportunities-to-strengthen-canadas-draft-methane-regulations\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Four opportunities to strengthen Canada\u2019s draft methane regulations - Energy Exchange","og_description":"Canada\u2019s move to reduce methane emissions from its oil and gas sector passed another milestone this week, as the deadline passed for stakeholders to submit comments about the proposed regulations to Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC). EDF issued extensive comments commending ECCC for moving forward, but urging decision makers to address some critical weaknesses ...","og_url":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/2017\/07\/27\/four-opportunities-to-strengthen-canadas-draft-methane-regulations\/","og_site_name":"Energy Exchange","article_published_time":"2017-07-27T19:58:38+00:00","article_modified_time":"2017-07-27T20:06:45+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/38\/files\/2017\/07\/canada-pumpjack.jpg","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"author":"Drew Nelson","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Drew Nelson","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/2017\/07\/27\/four-opportunities-to-strengthen-canadas-draft-methane-regulations\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/2017\/07\/27\/four-opportunities-to-strengthen-canadas-draft-methane-regulations\/"},"author":{"name":"Drew Nelson","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/#\/schema\/person\/d6ddc3086bb097e78ab30d71491a7ab0"},"headline":"Four opportunities to strengthen Canada\u2019s draft methane regulations","datePublished":"2017-07-27T19:58:38+00:00","dateModified":"2017-07-27T20:06:45+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/2017\/07\/27\/four-opportunities-to-strengthen-canadas-draft-methane-regulations\/"},"wordCount":626,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/2017\/07\/27\/four-opportunities-to-strengthen-canadas-draft-methane-regulations\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/38\/files\/2017\/07\/canada-pumpjack.jpg","keywords":["Canada","Canada methane"],"articleSection":["General","Methane","Natural Gas"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/2017\/07\/27\/four-opportunities-to-strengthen-canadas-draft-methane-regulations\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/2017\/07\/27\/four-opportunities-to-strengthen-canadas-draft-methane-regulations\/","url":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/2017\/07\/27\/four-opportunities-to-strengthen-canadas-draft-methane-regulations\/","name":"Four opportunities to strengthen Canada\u2019s draft methane regulations - Energy Exchange","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/2017\/07\/27\/four-opportunities-to-strengthen-canadas-draft-methane-regulations\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/2017\/07\/27\/four-opportunities-to-strengthen-canadas-draft-methane-regulations\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/38\/files\/2017\/07\/canada-pumpjack.jpg","datePublished":"2017-07-27T19:58:38+00:00","dateModified":"2017-07-27T20:06:45+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/#\/schema\/person\/d6ddc3086bb097e78ab30d71491a7ab0"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/2017\/07\/27\/four-opportunities-to-strengthen-canadas-draft-methane-regulations\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/2017\/07\/27\/four-opportunities-to-strengthen-canadas-draft-methane-regulations\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/2017\/07\/27\/four-opportunities-to-strengthen-canadas-draft-methane-regulations\/#primaryimage","url":"http:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/38\/files\/2017\/07\/canada-pumpjack.jpg","contentUrl":"http:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/38\/files\/2017\/07\/canada-pumpjack.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/2017\/07\/27\/four-opportunities-to-strengthen-canadas-draft-methane-regulations\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Four opportunities to strengthen Canada\u2019s draft methane regulations"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/#website","url":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/","name":"Energy Exchange","description":"Accelerating the clean energy revolution","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/#\/schema\/person\/d6ddc3086bb097e78ab30d71491a7ab0","name":"Drew Nelson","description":"Follow Drew on Twitter \u00bb","url":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/author\/dnelson\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16049","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6720"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16049"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16049\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16049"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16049"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16049"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=16049"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}