作者：扎赫拉·希尔吉（Zahra Hirji）美国环境保护署周三表示，正在准备一项提案，以放宽旨在减少石油和天然气开采中甲烷排放的联邦规则。
By Zahra Hirji The US Environmental Protection Agency said Wednesday it is readying a proposal to loosen federal rules designed to cut methane releases from oil and gas operations.
环保署局长李·泽尔丁（Lee Zeldin）在圣达菲举行的在新墨西哥州石油和天然气协会年度会议上的演讲中，预先透露了即将出台的规则提案。
EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin previewed the upcoming rule proposal in a speech at the New Mexico Oil and Gas Association annual meeting in Santa Fe.
泽尔丁在该机构发布的一份声明中表示，特朗普领导的环保署距离宣布新规则“只有几天时间”。他补充说：“该提案解决了美国生产商和运营商向我们提出的许多问题。”
The Trump EPA “is days” away from announcing the new rules, Zeldin said in a statement released by the agency. “The proposal takes on many of the problems American producers and operators have raised with us,” he added.
该提案将包括修改拜登政府时期对产量最低的油井（被称为边际油井）的要求，并废除旨在帮助发现最大甲烷排放源的“甲烷超级排放源计划”。
The proposal will include changing Biden-era requirements for the lowest-producing wells, known as marginal wells, and rescinding the Methane Super-Emitter Program designed to help spot the biggest methane releases.
短期内，甲烷是一种比二氧化碳威力大得多的温室气体，在释放到空气中的头20年里，其变暖潜力大约高出80倍。石油和天然气行业是美国最大的工业甲烷污染源。
Methane is a far more potent greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide in the short term, with a roughly 80 times higher warming potential in the initial 20 years after release into the air. The oil and gas sector represents the nation’s largest industrial source of methane pollution.