Over the past several years, emissions and air quality issues from oil and gas operations in the Permian Basin have been focused areas of concern for environmental groups and the driver for flyover monitoring and enforcement by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. We can expect that addressing unauthorized emissions from oil and gas facilities will continue to be a priority for TCEQ. TCEQ will host the following three free online workshops directed at various aspects of oil and gas industry compliance:

• Emissions Event Workshop: November 5, 2020, 9:00am to noon Central
  Topics covered will include how to determine if unauthorized emissions are from routine operations or an emissions event, a venting and flaring overview from the Railroad Commission, and information on NSPS Subpart OOOO and sour gas compliance. Discussion will no doubt cover information TCEQ provided in its just-issued TCEQ Compliance Alert: Guide to Oil and Gas Emissions Events.
   
• Air Permitting Options for the Oil and Gas Industry: November 12, 2020, 9:00am to 11:30am Central
  This session will cover the use of the following New Source Review (NSR) permitting mechanisms: permits by rule, standard permits, and case-by-case NSR permits.
   
• The Audit Act and Permian Basin Find It and Fix It Initiative: November 17, 2020, 9:00am to 11:30am Central
  At this workshop TCEQ will explain the temporary “Find It and Fix It” Initiative, for which notification of intent to participate must be submitted no later than January 31, 2021. A Permian Basin owner or operator can choose to participate in the initiative or conduct self-auditing pursuant to the Texas EHS Audit Privilege Act, but cannot do both. Accordingly, comparison of the requirements and benefits of those programs will assist with evaluating whether and how to use one of these programs to detect and correct noncompliance over the coming months.

As the leading law firm for environmental law and litigation, B&D helps clients in Texas, the U.S., and around the globe meet environmental, health, and safety challenges. Several of our attorneys formerly worked for TCEQ, the Texas Office of the Attorney General, and the U.S. Department of Justice. We maintain close relationships with key federal and state environmental agency personnel at TCEQ and U.S. EPA and represent clients in defense of enforcement actions. Our Air practice provides strategic, business-focused advice to the oil and gas industry. For more information, please contact the authors.