Officials from the regional and national offices of the Environmental Protection Agency visited the Southern Ute Indian Tribal Council on Monday following the announcement that the tribe won a $4.9 million grant to reduce methane emissions from natural gas extraction.
The award, announced Sept. 5, is expected to fund the implementation of the minor source review program for new oil and gas sources, an increased regulatory responsibility that the tribe took on this summer.
“They didn't really have a way to implement it, so that's where this grant comes in,” said EPA Region 8 Administrator KC Becker.
By increasing oversight and regulation of natural gas extraction on the reservation, the SUIT told the EPA it estimates it will reduce emissions by 247,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent over the next five years, and 1.2 million tons over the next 25 years.
Becker and Kenneth Martin, director of the EPA’s American Indian Environmental Office, met with the Tribal Council on Monday and toured a Red Cedar compressor station, which is owned by the tribe.
The tribal council declined a request from The Durango Herald to attend the tour and previously declined an interview request on this subject.
There are about 250 minor sources on the reservation that will be subject to the tribe’s minor source program. All told, the tribe estimates that increased regulation and oversight will mean a 29% decrease in greenhouse gas emissions from minor oil and natural gas sources.
“It’s a great impact on the air quality of the reservation,” Martin said.
The SUIT was one of 34 tribes and territories awarded a Climate Pollution Reduction Grant from a pot of $300 million. Including the non-tribal projects, the program is funding nearly $5 billion in pollution reduction endeavors. The 2022 Inflation Reduction Act, created the CPRG, has become a common talking point of 3rd Congressional District Rep. Lauren Boebert when criticizing President Joe Biden.
She called the legislation “a complete scam,” in part on the basis that it set aside billions of dollars to address clean energy development and greenhouse gas emission reductions.
“We are making investments into projects that are going to improve the climate, and I don't know what those effects are going to have on the inflation process, but again, we will swim within our lane here,” Martin said, as Becker joked that Congress, not the EPA, named the bill.
As he has traveled the country in recent weeks visiting communities that received IRA funding, Martin said he has observed communities with enormous needs that will use federal funding for projects such as microgrids to power refrigerators and lights.
“Ultimately a lot of it is greater self-determination,” Becker said.
rschafir@durangoherald.com
