(a) Each owner or operator must operate and maintain all liquid and gas collection, storage, processing and handling operations, regardless of size, so as to minimize leakage of natural gas emissions to the atmosphere.

(b) During all oil and natural gas well completion operations or recompletion operations at an oil and natural gas production facility and prior to the first date of production of each oil and natural gas well, each owner or operator must, at a minimum, route all casinghead natural gas to a utility flare or a pit flare capable of reducing the mass content of VOC in the natural gas emissions vented to it by at least 90.0 percent or greater and operated as specified in §§49.4165 and 49.4166.

(c) Beginning with the first date of production from any one oil and natural gas well at an oil and natural gas production facility, each owner or operator must, at a minimum, route all natural gas emissions from production operations and storage operations to a control device capable of reducing the mass content of VOC in the natural gas emissions vented to it by at least 90.0 percent or greater and operated as specified in §§49.4165 and 49.4166.

(d) Within ninety (90) days of the first date of production from any oil and natural gas well at an oil and natural gas production facility, each owner or operator must:

(1) Route the produced natural gas from the production operations through a closed-vent system to:

(i) An operating system designed to recover and inject all the produced natural gas into a natural gas gathering pipeline system for sale or other beneficial purpose; or

(ii) A utility flare or equivalent combustion device capable of reducing the mass content of VOC in the produced natural gas vented to the device by at least 98.0 percent or greater and operated as specified in §§49.4165 and 49.4166.

(2) Route all standing, working, breathing, and flashing losses from the produced oil storage tanks and any produced water storage tank interconnected with the produced oil storage tanks through a closed-vent system to:

(i) An operating system designed to recover and inject the natural gas emissions into a natural gas gathering pipeline system for sale or other beneficial purpose; or

(ii) An enclosed combustor or utility flare capable of reducing the mass content of VOC in the natural gas emissions vented to the device by at least 98.0 percent or greater and operated as specified in §§49.4165(c) and 49.4166.

(iii) If the uncontrolled potential to emit VOCs from the aggregate of all produced oil storage tanks and produced water storage tanks interconnected with produced oil storage tanks at an oil and natural gas production facility is less than, and reasonably expected to remain below, 20 tons in any consecutive 12-month period, then, upon prior written approval by the EPA the owner or operator may use a pit flare, an enclosed combustor or a utility flare that is capable of reducing the mass content of VOC in the natural gas emissions from the storage tanks vented to the device by only 90.0 percent.

(e) In the event that pipeline injection of all or part of the natural gas collected in an operating system designed to recover and inject natural gas becomes temporarily infeasible and there is no operational enclosed combustor or utility flare at the facility, the owner or operator must route the natural gas that cannot be injected through a closed-vent system to a pit flare operated as specified in §§49.4165 and 49.4166.

(f) Produced oil storage tanks and any produced water storage tanks interconnected with produced oil storage tanks subject to the requirements specified in 40 CFR part 60, subpart OOOO are considered to meet the requirements of §49.4164(d)(2). No further requirements apply for such storage tanks under §49.4164(d)(2).