The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Energy recently announced approximately $850 million for 43 projects, including seven projects in Colorado and Wyoming. They were selected for negotiation that will help small oil and gas operators, tribes, and other entities across the country to reduce, monitor, measure, and quantify methane emissions from the oil and gas sector as part of President Biden’s Investing in America agenda.

The funding builds on unprecedented action to dramatically reduce methane emissions, with agencies taking more than 100 actions since 2023, including the finalization of an EPA rule that is expected to reduce methane emissions from covered oil and gas sources by 80% from 2024 to 2038 compared to projected emissions without the rule.   

The investment incentivizes companies’ near-term actions to conserve valuable energy resources for American consumers, improve operational efficiencies in a global market, and reduce methane emissions.   

Award recipients in EPA Region 8 include $3.8 million to Blue Mountain Operations, Rock Springs, Wyoming. Blue Mountain Operations intends to deploy and monitor a compact, fully integrated and solar-powered technology for remote oil and gas sites without grid power, designed to eliminate methane emissions and other secondary emissions. The project will also focus on investments in the development of a skilled workforce as well as a reduction in local pollution.  

“Our region is home to some of the largest-producing oil and gas operations in the country, and unfortunately many of our neighboring communities are overburdened with polluted air,” said EPA Regional Administrator KC Becker. “These grants will ensure the reduction of harmful greenhouse gases and volatile organic compounds while allowing operators to upgrade equipment and employ an underserved workforce.” 

“The public health of our nation depends greatly on our ability to drastically reduce harmful pollution from America’s largest source of industrial methane — the oil and gas sector,” said U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer M. Granholm. “This historic investment made possible by the Inflation Reduction Act is helping energy communities and deliver long-lasting health and environmental benefits across the country. At the same time, it will support small operators' ability to replace and upgrade old equipment, reducing emissions from marginal conventional wells, improving their supply chains to meet the growing market expectations for cleaner fuel sources.”   

The selected projects funded by the Inflation Reduction Act, the largest climate investment in history, represent a significant step in addressing climate change and improving air quality. By mitigating legacy air pollution and supporting small oil and natural gas operators, the projects will help reduce methane emissions through available and innovative technologies. Additionally, they will create partnerships to enhance emissions measurement and provide transparent data to affected communities. One Tribal consortium, 11 universities, and 20 private companies were selected for projects across the nation to deploy and test new and existing methane mitigation technologies. 

In total, EPA and DOE are partnering to provide $1.36 billion in financial and technical assistance as part of the Inflation Reduction Act’s Methane Emissions Reduction Program. DOE’s National Energy Technology Laboratory, under the purview of DOE’s Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management, will manage the selected projects. Learn more about the selected projects.    

The selections build on the $350 million in grant funding to states that EPA and DOE announced in December 2023 to support industry efforts to voluntarily reduce emissions at low-producing wells, monitor emissions, and conduct environmental restoration at well pads. Together, these investments are a key step in implementing the Methane Emissions Reduction Program.