We've noted previously a U.S. EPA rulemaking proposal designed to to reduce air emissions from oil and gas operations. Here is an article from Forbes.com on the public hearing recently held in Texas on the issue: "The agency is proposing standards to curb hydraulic fracturing, or 'fracking,' by requiring operators to capture and sell natural gas that now escapes into the air. Thursday's EPA hearing was held in a region with a vast area of urban drilling atop the natural gas-rich Barnett Shale. The EPA's proposal would apply new pollution control standards to about 25,000 gas wells that are hydraulically fractured each year. *** While industry representatives touted the jobs and prosperity that drilling brings, critics argued it's not worth the environmental risk of toxic spills, scattered drill site explosions, tainted drinking water and polluted air."
