Ottawa to announce plan to slash methane pollution from fossil fuel production, landfills

The Carney government is making good on a promise to help tackle one of the most potent forms of climate pollution, as it announces new measures to address methane emissions from the oil and gas industry.

CBC News obtained an early copy of the announcement that Environment, Climate Change and Nature Minister Julie Dabrusin is expected to deliver in Metro Vancouver Tuesday afternoon.

It contains significant emission reductions but offers more leeway to oil and gas producers to comply after many complained the original proposal was too strict. It also addresses methane released by landfills, which are responsible for a smaller portion of emissions.

Since becoming prime minister, Mark Carney has surprised some environmentalists by stripping away key planks of Canada’s climate policy and backing a potential pipeline to the Pacific coast.

Tuesday’s announcement is the new government's first where it is adding a climate policy, instead of removing one.

The previous Liberal government released draft regulations to reduce methane emissions from fossil fuel sites and landfills, but they had not been put into effect.

Methane is a little-known success story as Canada pursues its net-zero emissions by 2050 ambitions. Government data shows Canada is on track to achieve its previous target: a 40 to 45 per cent methane emissions cut.

Methane pollution mostly comes from fossil fuel extraction and production, often through accidental leaks or intentional releases. Some facilities burn off excess natural gas — which has methane as its primary component — through a practice known as flaring instead of capturing the valuable fuel.

But the climate-warming impact of releasing methane into the atmosphere is enormous. Its global warming potential is more than 80 times that of carbon dioxide.

The new regulations ban those releases, also known as "venting," and "establishes an inspection schedule to find leaks and repair them," according to an advance copy of the announcement CBC News obtained.

But operators have another compliance option, which some may find controversial because it could give industry players some more leeway. Operators can design their own approaches, providing a facility meets "methane intensity thresholds" that are on par with standards from "leading international voluntary certification programs."

It’s unclear from the details CBC News viewed what those standards are.

Fossil fuel companies, like MEG Energy, argued the Trudeau government's proposed regulations were "excessively prescriptive" and called for more flexibility.

The government states its analysis shows these new regulations are expected to reduce oil and gas production growth by an estimated 0.2 per cent between 2025 and 2035. But in terms of greenhouse gas emissions reductions, the policy is expected to slash 304 million tonnes.

Releasing natural gas into the atmosphere also takes a toll on the health of Canadians, especially those who live near these facilities. As such, the government says, the regulations are "expected to result in fewer premature deaths, reduce symptoms among asthmatics and prevent crop losses due to ozone damage."

Aside from cleaner air, conserving natural gas instead of wasting it could provide enough fuel to heat over 11 million Canadian homes for a year, according to government estimates.

Alongside the methane regulations for the oil and gas sector, the federal government is also releasing new measures for landfills.

Methane from food, paper and other organic waste in garbage dumps will now, in some cases, have to be monitored and captured.

Between 2026 and 2040, the landfill regulations are expected to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 100 million tonnes.