Letters & Comments

Dear Administrator Pruitt: The Independent Producers have participated individually or through IPAA in most, if not all, of the rulemakings and associated litigation since the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed to revise the New Source Performance Standards (NSPS) for the Oil and Natural Gas Sector in August 2011. 76 Fed. Reg. 52,738 (Aug. 23, 2011). While most of the Independent Producers represent companies that engage in large volume hydraulic fracturing horizontal or unconventional drilling, a significant portion of their membership is also comprised of “mom and pop” operations that engage in some form of hydraulic fracturing, generally involving vertical wells drilled into geological formations currently referred to as conventional wells. From the beginning of these rulemakings, most of the Independent Producers have tried to explain to the EPA that their “one-size-fits-all” approach to regulating this industry is inappropriate. The Proposed Rule represents another, necessary, opportunity to work with the EPA to tailor 40 C.F.R. Part 60, Subpart 0000a to reduce the impact on the Independent Producers and their individual members while still providing adequate protection of the environment. The Independent Producers’ Petition for Reconsideration submitted on August 2, 2016, to the EPA outlines the primary issues that should be addressed during the two-year time period set forth in the Proposed Rule.1 As a result of various factors, including the regulatory burden, many individual members of the Independent Producers have not drilled a single well in the past five years. The Proposed Rule will have a tremendous benefit to the Independent Producers and their individual members, while having little to no negative impact on the environment. The proposed two-year time period is entirely appropriate for the Independent Producers to educate the new Administration on their concerns as well as make the appropriate and necessary changes to current regulations.

Dear Ambassador Lighthizer, Secretaries Ross, Tillerson and Mnuchin and Director Cohn: As associations representing millions of small, medium and large companies across every major sector of the U.S. economy employing tens of millions of U.S. workers, we urge that robust market access commitments and investment protections, enforceable through investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS), be maintained and upgraded in the negotiations to modernize the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). The original NAFTA included basic access, protection and enforcement provisions that have helped grow manufacturing, services and agricultural industries by enabling our businesses to reach new consumers and to participate in foreign infrastructure, energy and resource development projects. The negotiations to modernize NAFTA provide an important opportunity to upgrade the agreement to improve protection and enforcement tools against the theft, discrimination and unfair treatment of U.S. property overseas.

The Independent Petroleum Association of America (IPAA) submits the following comments on the June 2017 Independent Alternatives Analysis of Enbridge’s Line 5 Pipelines, conducted by Dynamic Risk Assessment Systems (Analysis) for the State of Michigan. IPAA represents the companies that drill 90 percent of the nation’s oil and natural gas wells. These companies produce 82 percent of American natural gas and 68 percent of American oil. IPAA members represent the full range of producers, from small family-owned businesses, to the large independent companies that are some of the largest domestic natural gas producers.

Dear Leader McConnell and Leader Schumer, As associations representing businesses of all industries, forms, and sizes in all 50 states, we urge the Senate to take expeditious steps to ensure the timely confirmation of qualified pending nominees to administration positions. The slow pace of confirmations is depriving agencies across the government of critical leadership and in the case of independent agencies, the quorum necessary to conduct critical business.

Dear Senator Lankford and Representative Jenkins: We, the undersigned organizations, wish to express our full support for the Transparency and Honesty in Energy Regulations Act (THERA) of 2017. This important bill builds upon the Trump administration’s Executive Order 13783, which implemented critical reforms to the use of social cost of greenhouse gases in rulemaking. This bill provides needed regulatory certainty, ensuring key rulemaking principles are upheld regardless of the administration in power, which will help grow the economy, create jobs and strengthen our energy independence.

To whom it may concern: The American Petroleum Institute (API), National Ocean Industries Association (NOIA), Independent Petroleum Association of America (IPAA), International Association of Drilling Contractors (IADC), the International Association of Geophysical Contractors (IAGC), and the Offshore Operators Committee (OOC) offer the following comments in response to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) request for comments on designations and expansion of Nation Marine Sanctuaries and Marine National Monuments over the past 10 years pursuant to Executive Order 13795.

In June 2017, the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Office of Inspector General (OIG) announced that it intended to initiate a preliminary investigation regarding EPA’s estimation of methane emissions from the oil and natural gas production sector. … IPAA’s member companies are significantly affected by the methane emissions and Volatile Organic Compound (VOC) regulations and Control Techniques Guidelines (CTG) that EPA has promulgated over the past several years. A key part of the debate over these regulations relates to their justification – justification that is based on EPA estimates of methane emissions. Throughout this debate, IPAA has been concerned that EPA has overestimated methane and VOC emissions. These overestimations then become critical to the justification of EPA’s regulations; several estimation actions occurred at key times in the regulatory process when the Obama Administration sought to move aggressively to expand federal regulation of oil and natural gas production.

Dear Speaker Ryan and Democratic Leader Pelosi: The undersigned associations are writing to express our support for H.R. 2910, legislation introduced by Rep. Bill Flores (R-TX) to improve interagency coordination in the review of proposed natural gas pipelines. The legislation is scheduled for consideration by the House this week and has our united support.

Dear Majority Leader McConnell, Speaker Ryan, and Minority Leaders Schumer and Pelosi: The undersigned, which represent a diverse group of industries from across the country, write to express our strong support for H.R. 806 and S. 263, the “Ozone Standards Implementation Act of 2017.” This legislation provides a common-sense approach for implementing national ambient air quality standards, recognizes ongoing state efforts to improve air quality through a reasonable implementation schedule for the 2015 ozone standards, streamlines the air permitting process for businesses to expand operations and create jobs, and includes other reforms that bring more regulatory certainty to federal air quality standards. Additionally, the undersigned support language including certain elements of H.R. 806 and S. 263 included in the Fiscal Year 2018 Interior, Environment and Related Agencies Appropriations bill.

The Independent Petroleum Association of America (IPAA) and its Cooperating Associations submit the following comments in response to the request for stakeholder input to the Senate Finance Committee’s consideration of tax reform. Collectively, these organizations represent the thousands of independent oil and natural gas explorers and producers, as well as the millions of royalty owners, in the United States that would be adversely affected by changes to Intangible Drilling Costs (IDC), the Percentage Depletion deduction and the Passive Loss Exception for Working Oil and Gas Interests. As defined by the Internal Revenue Code (IRC) Section 613(A), an independent producer is a producer that does not have more than $5 million in retail sales of oil and gas in a year or one that does not refine more than an average of 75,000 barrels per day of crude oil in a given year. Independent producers drill about 95 percent of American oil and natural gas wells, produce about 54 percent of American oil, and more than 85 percent of American natural gas. Independent producers historically reinvest over 100 percent of American oil and natural gas cash flow back into new American production.