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Effluent Guidelines
Coalbed Methane Extraction
Request for Comment on Coalbed Methane Extraction Sector Questionnaire
EPA 821-F-08-003; July 2008
EPA is requesting comment on a questionnaire for the coalbed methane extraction sector. This is the second and final opportunity for public comment on this questionnaire. Comments are due to EPA on or before August 14, 2008.
In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA)(44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.), EPA has submitted an Information Collection Request (ICR) to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval. This is a request for a new collection of data from coalbed methane extraction facilities. EPA is considering an ICR to help complete a detailed study of these facilities that discharge produced waters as part of their extraction process. EPA is soliciting comments on the proposed information collection request. This is the second opportunity for public comment on this survey. EPA collected 35 public comments during the first comment period, which ended on April 24, 2008.
Background
The Clean Water Act (CWA) directs EPA to develop regulations, called effluent guidelines, to limit the amount of pollutants that are discharged to surface waters or to sewage treatment plants. Coalbed methane (CBM) extraction activities accounted for about 9.4 percent of the total U.S. natural gas production in 2006 and are expanding in multiple basins across the United States. EPA’s effluent guidelines do not currently regulate pollutant discharges from CBM extraction operations.
CBM extraction requires removal of large amounts of water from underground coal seams before CBM can be released. CBM wells typically have a distinctive production cycle characterized by an early stage when large amounts of water are produced to reduce reservoir pressure which in turn encourages release of gas; a stable stage when quantities of produced gas increase as the quantities of produced water decrease; and a late stage when the amount of gas produced declines and water production remains low. Pollutants often found in these wastewaters include chloride, sodium, sulfate, bicarbonate, fluoride, iron, barium, magnesium, ammonia, and arsenic.
EPA identified the CBM sector as a candidate for a detailed study in the final 2006 Effluent Guidelines Program Plan (71 FR 76656; December 21, 2006) and also announced plans to develop an industry questionnaire to support this detailed study. EPA is conducting the study to determine if it would be appropriate to initiate an effluent guidelines rulemaking for the Oil and Gas Extraction Point Source Category (40 CFR 435) to control pollutants discharged in CBM produced water.
About this Proposed Information Collection
EPA plans to collect information from coalbed methane extraction facilities to determine if effluent guidelines are required to control the discharge of pollutants into surface waters of the United States and to publicly owned treatment works (POTWs).
If approved, the information collection would collect detailed information from about 650 CBM projects, with questions about technical and economic information from a wide range of CBM operations. CBM operators typically group CBM wells into separate entities for decision-making. EPA is identifying these collections of CBM wells as CBM projects. The questionnaire will collect information regarding the geographical and geologic differences in the characteristics of CBM produced waters, environmental data, current regulatory controls, availability and affordability of treatment technology options. Response to the questionnaire is mandatory for recipients and EPA will administer the questionnaire using its authority under Section 308 of the CWA, 33 U.S.C. 1318. Comments can include data submissions and can address any aspect of this collection, including EPA’s estimate of the respondent burden and the utility of the requested information.
How to Get Additional Information
For further information regarding the questionnaires, please contact the 304(m) Plan Project Manager for more information.
The proposed questionnaire can be found at Regulations.gov where, in addition to reviewing the questionnaire, you may access the index listing the contents of the docket and submit comments. The ID of the docket for the coalbed methane detailed study is EPA-HQ-OW-2006-0771.
The Federal Register Notice and the questionnaires can also be found on our web site.