OREANDA-NEWS. July 31, 2017. Oil and gas companies are asking a federal court to reconsider its decision to reinstate methane regulations the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) unsuccessfully tried to delay earlier this year.

The American Petroleum Institute and other industry groups late yesterday asked the DC Circuit Court of Appeals to reverse a ruling scrapping the earlier attempt to halt the regulations. A panel of judges, in a 2-1 vote on 3 July, agreed with environmentalists that EPA erred in delaying the measure based on industry concerns that were already addressed.

EPA issued those regulations last year as part of former president Barack Obama's efforts to reduce emissions of the potent greenhouse gas. Oil and gas companies are required to install low-emissions equipment at new facilities and regularly inspect that equipment for leaks. But EPA is considering rescinding the regulations and last month issued a three-month regulatory delay that the court then threw out.

But the industry groups, in their legal appeal, say EPA's three-month delay was "unreviewable" in court because it was part of a regulatory reconsideration process that is still ongoing. US judges will typically block lawsuits until a federal agency concludes its decision-making process, but the court in this case found the delay had the practical effect of being a final action that was subject to litigation.

The industry's legal appeal comes even as many US oil and gas companies report they are in attainment with the regulations and have raised concerns about the costs and uncertainty with the "whipsaw" in regulatory requirements. BP, Shell, ExxonMobil and Pioneer Natural Resources say they have been complying with the regulations ever since they came into effect last year.

EPA has yet to file its own appeal. The agency says it is continuing to move forward with a proposal to delay the methane regulations for two years to give it time to finish a reconsideration process where it could rescind the regulations. EPA is accepting comment on that proposal until 9 August and aims to finalize it by next month.