OIL AND NATURAL GAS EXPLORATION AND PRODUCTION FACILITIES
EXISTING OWNER AUDIT PROGRAM AGREEMENT
IMPLEMENTATION CONSIDERATIONS
General Information
What has the EPA announced and why is the EPA doing this?
The EPA has expanded on its voluntary disclosure program for upstream oil and natural gas facilities by
providing existing owners the opportunity to find, correct and self-disclose Clean Air Act violations
through finalizing an Oil and Natural Gas Exploration and Production Facilities Existing Owner Audit
Program (Oil and Gas Existing Owner Audit Program or Program) tailored for existing owners of
upstream oil and natural gas exploration and production facilities.
EPA is making this audit program available to existing owners of oil and natural gas exploration and
production facilities for a limited sign-up period of 12 months to accelerate compliance in the EPA
National Compliance Initiative - Creating Cleaner Air for Communities. This Program will ensure
environmental protection, while providing certainty at upstream oil and natural gas exploration and
production facilities based on the EPA's analysis of these facilities' unique operations. This is an
opportunity to achieve timely and cost-effective public health and environmental protections and Clean
Air Act compliance.
This Program offers existing owners of upstream oil and natural gas exploration and production facilities
(i.e., well sites, including associated storage tanks and pollution control equipment) (Existing Owners)
incentives specifically tailored and designed to encourage voluntary self-disclosures of violations that
will, once corrected, yield significant pollutant reductions and public health and environmental
protections and to motivate facilities to participate and start making the necessary changes to their
equipment to address violations and return to compliance resulting in environmental improvements to
the surrounding communities.
EPA and states have seen significant excess emissions and Clean Air Act noncompliance from vapor
control systems at these facilities. Offering additional flexibilities under this Program encourages
Existing Owners with vapor control systems at these facilities to identify, correct, and self-disclose
Clean Air Act violations, thereby providing additional public health and environmental protections.
What incentives is the EPA offering to Existing Owners under this Program?
This Program offers Existing Owners certainty when they voluntarily address violations and return to
compliance through clearly defined civil penalty mitigation beyond what is offered by the EPA's Audit
Policy. This Program will be implemented through the Final Agreement Template for Existing Owners,
which will reduce transaction costs and improve efficiencies for the EPA and Existing Owners. The
EPA identified the need for these efficiencies through its past experiences working with new owners of
upstream oil and natural gas exploration and production facilities and believes expanding the voluntary
disclosure program to existing owners for a limited period will be similarly beneficial. As we explained
when we finalized the New Owner Program, these past experiences led the EPA to conclude that
developing a program that streamlines the process for reaching agreement on the audit terms and that
sets clearer expectations up front for corrective actions and penalty mitigation would lead to efficiencies
that result in enhanced compliance and environmental benefits sooner than might otherwise occur.
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This Program is voluntary and has been tailored to address concerns regarding excess emissions from
tanks and vapor control systems related to operation, maintenance, and/or design issues at oil and natural
gas exploration and production facilities. The EPA will not impose civil penalties for violations that are
discovered, corrected, and disclosed to the EPA by Existing Owners that enter into, and fulfill all
obligations under, an Oil and Natural Gas Exploration and Production Facilities Existing Owner Audit
Program Agreement (Agreement).
Logistical Considerations
Timeframe to Complete the Audit and Audit Scope
The schedule for completing the audits and corrective actions under the Program will be based primarily
on the scope of the audit and the number of facilities subject to the Agreement. With respect to the
audit's scope, the EPA strongly encourages Existing Owners of these facilities to conduct a
comprehensive Clean Air Act audit of all applicable statutory and regulatory requirements, including
permitting requirements. The EPA reserves its right not to enter into an Agreement under this Program if
the proposed audit appears insufficient to address the engineering and design, and operation and
maintenance, issues related to storage tanks at upstream oil and natural gas exploration and production
facilities that this Program seeks to address.
Existing Noncompliance at Oil and Natural Gas Production Facilities
This Program is not available if the EPA or a state has already discovered Clean Air Act noncompliance
at oil and natural gas production facilities that an owner/operator has proposed to audit under this
Program (e.g., a notice of violation has been issued or there is an ongoing enforcement action or active
investigation for violations at the facilities).
State Audit Programs
An Existing Owner participating in this Program may choose to enter into a parallel audit agreement
with a state that has an audit policy or equivalent self-disclosure program. However, a parallel
agreement with a state (or states) with an equivalent audit policy or self-disclosure program is not
required for participation in this Program. Further, an Existing Owner may choose to enter into an audit
agreement with a state that has an audit policy or equivalent self-disclosure program in lieu of an
agreement with the EPA. The EPA may take enforcement action with respect to violations that were not
disclosed to the state or that were disclosed but not corrected.
The Final Agreement Template
The EPA modeled the Final Agreement Template for Existing Owners on the template that was finalized
on March 29, 2019 for new owners under the New Owner Program. The EPA has revised and updated
both the New Owner and Existing Owner Final Agreement Templates to include, under Appendix B, the
option to design, install, verify, and operate a Closed Loop Vapor Control System as an alternative to
ensure that storage vessel tank emissions are properly controlled. In finalizing the New Owner Program,
EPA solicited both written and oral comments and conducted significant outreach from a variety of
stakeholders. A summary of stakeholder feedback and changes that EPA made to the draft agreement
template can be found here. For more information on Appendix B, please see the Implementation
Considerations for the New Owner Program posted here.
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EPA Points of Contact for the Oil and Gas Existing Owner Program
Existing Owners interested in participating in this Program or with questions about the Program should
contact Gregory Fried at fried.gregorv@epa.gov or (202) 564-7016 or Tim Sullivan at
sullivan.tim @epa.gov or (303) 312-6196.
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