AG Paxton: Texas Leads 11-State Coalition Urging EPA to Suspend Obama Admin Information Requests

Texas Insider Report: AUSTIN Texas   Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton today led an 11-state coalition in signing a letter urging the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to suspend and withdraw the current information collection request for existing oil and gas facilities. The EPA previously issued its Methane Rule which unlawfully attempted to regulate methane before the EPA made the required statutory finding of endangerment. A number of states have filed suit on the unlawful Methane Rule. Despite those pending lawsuits the Obama-era EPA went even further by demanding information from oil and gas producers in November that relates to the unlawful Methane Rule. The letter to the current administrator of the EPA explains how even the EPA itself estimates the industry cost of responding to the Obama-era unlawful request would total about $42 million.

Many companies involved with this request cannot afford the time and expense of complying with an empty heavily regulatory burden. The information request puts strain on these companiesand all for the purpose of supporting an unlawful rule Attorney General Paxton said. The EPAs request directed only to oil and gas producers is clearly more harassment than an actual search for pertinent information.  We sincerely hope that the era of regulatory harassment is over and the era of common sense regulation can begin.

The States joined with Texas on the letter are: Alabama Arizona Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Mississippi (through its governor) Montana Oklahoma South Carolina and West Virginia. To view a copy of the letter click here: https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/files/epress/EPA_Letter_-_Final.pdf?cachebuster:0