The State of Texas has joined North Dakota in filing suit against the Environmental Protection Agency in a challenge of new methane emission rules for the oil and gas industry. In a filing with the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, Case #16-1257, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton asked for a review of the EPA’s final actions filed with the federal registry in May.
The filing came days after North Dakota was the first state to sue the EPA and its director Regina McCarthy. North Dakota argued the new rule is “arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discretion and not in accordance with law.”
The new rule requires shale oil and gas producers to reduce methane leaks at new and modified drilling sites. The Texas suit was filed by the State of Texas, the Railroad Commission of Texas and the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.
