Environmental Bylaw for Hydrocarbons Activities

This regulation concerns nationwide hydrocarbon operations, applying to operators in any segment of the hydrocarbon industry, including exploration, development and production, storage, transportation, industrialisation and commercialisation of petroleum, oil derivatives, natural gas, and associated products.

 

It requires that oil and gas activities control atmospheric emissions, effluent discharges, solid waste, and other sources of pollution from operated facilities. Operators shall also implement an environmental monitoring program in accordance with their environmental management plan and report to the competent environmental authority. Operators are also required to submit a monitoring plan (including for gaseous emissions) for approval.

 

Further, project proponents must obtain an Environmental Administrative Authorisation from the competent environmental authority, based on an environmental study of their activities. The decision to issue or deny such permits shall be supported by an environmental impact assessment process. 

 

In addition, environmental compliance auditing is required once every 3 years to assess the impact of projects and verify compliance with the environmental management plan, monitoring plan, obligations arising from environmental administrative authorisations, current environmental regulations and action plans, if applicable. 

 

While the regulation has no specific provisions regarding methane, it requires that equipment be operated in such a way as to control, minimize, or treat emissions in accordance with specified parameters and permissible limits. Operators are also required to conduct monitoring of atmospheric emissions based on the frequencies, parameters and permissible reference values established in the relevant Technical Standard. 

 In addition, the regulation requires monitoring of emissions into the atmosphere in accordance with the operators’ environmental management plan and the periodicity mandated under the regulation, as set out below:

1. weekly monitoring of fixed combustion sources in the exploration phase
2. quarterly monitoring of fixed combustion sources in the exploitation phase
3. continuous monitoring of fixed combustion sources during industrialisation and refining, with the continuous monitoring system being accredited or certified
4. semi-annual monitoring of fixed combustion sources during transportation and storage
5. for fugitive emissions, quarterly monitoring of tanks and lines during industrialisation and refining, commercialisation, and transport and storage

Art. 66 covers fugitive emissions monitoring, which should be performed periodically in tanks and storage vessels, pumps, compressors, transfer and conduction lines, through a measurement program of fugitive emissions of VOCs, with EPA 21 or similar methodologies. Measures should be adopted to reduce these emissions. 

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