Mike Pompeo: “The EPA already asserts that it has authority to regulate greenhouse gas emissions--and methane is defined as a…”

“The EPA already asserts that it has authority to regulate greenhouse gas emissions--and methane is defined as a greenhouse gas. The EPA's New Source Performance Standards capture GHG emissions above a certain threshold. Permits are already required for facilities whose emissions are anticipated to be above that threshold. The EPA's permitting process should be the forum for this decisionmaking. FERC's primary role, rather, should be as an economic regulator--the same way that it is today, and the same way it would be after H.R. 1900 would become law. It would want to defer environmental matters like this to the appropriate agency, which would be the EPA. The amendment is structured such that the determination would have to be made before the NEPA analysis would begin. In other words, when the FERC ``complete'' application is filed and FERC is put into the role of determining methane ``best practices'' rather than EPA. This puts the cart before the horse. Such decisions on methane emissions should be made as part of the EPA permitting process. Regarding methane emissions in general, the industry has every incentive to control methane leaks. Escaping methane is escaping product--something they do not want to happen. That means losses for their businesses. This amendment would add unnecessary requirements to a problem that is already being addressed. I urge my colleagues to vote ``no'' on the Tonko amendment, and I yield back the balance of my time. The CHAIR.…”