S. 4619, Oil and Gas Deregulation. Quorum's AI analysis reads it as a net cost — and names who bears it.
S. 4619 · Net cost
What it does
This bill exempts small oil and gas wells (producing 15 barrels of oil per day or less, or 90,000 cubic feet of natural gas per day or less) from federal Clean Air Act emissions standards, monitoring, and leak-detection requirements. It also prevents states from imposing their own standards on these wells and automatically approves state plan revisions that remove marginal-well regulations within 180 days.
The analysis names independent oil and gas producers — and 3 more groups — among the beneficiaries.
The cost
Aggregate exemption: while individual 'marginal wells' are small, thousands exist nationwide; the cumulative methane and VOC emissions from all exempted wells may be substantial, but will no longer be tracked or reported.
The analysis put a high warning level on this bill. Transparency scores 65%, and the analysis found no provisions unrelated to the bill's subject.
Who is behind it
Filed by Cynthia Lummis. Cosponsored by Dave McCormick, James Lankford, Jerry Moran and John Barrasso.