BISMARCK (AP) — North Dakotans have a lot to say about the Biden administration’s plans to curb methane emissions, weighing in on how often oil field inspections should occur and how much the federal government can legally regulate.

Comments submitted earlier this year by state officials, the oil industry, the Three Affiliated Tribes and environmentalists are among those the Environmental Protection Agency will consider as it develops regulations surrounding the potent greenhouse gas that can leak from oil field infrastructure.

North Dakota officials say the EPA proposal has “significant technical and legal flaws” and that the agency “must drastically rework” its plans. The North Dakota Petroleum Council argues for more flexibility in leak inspections, while an environmental advocate says inspections should occur more frequently than what the EPA is considering. The tribe, meanwhile, says any new national standards “should not burden or prevent production of tribal trust minerals.”

Methane is the main component of natural gas produced in the Bakken oil fields. It has been the subject of a legal and political tug-of-war, particularly after the Obama administration proposed more stringent regulations in 2015. North Dakota is among a number of oil- and gas-producing states that sued the federal government over the Obama-era regulations. The Trump administration rolled back those rules, but Congress last year eliminated the Trump-era rule.

The Biden administration in late 2021 proposed regulations that include what it calls a “comprehensive monitoring program for new and existing well sites and compressor stations.” It suggests a number of steps that it says would reduce 41 million tons of methane emissions by 2035. That amount is equal to 920 million metric tons of carbon dioxide, another greenhouse gas. The EPA says that is more than the amount of carbon dioxide emitted by all passenger cars and commercial aircraft in the United States in 2019.

Comments submitted by two North Dakota regulators said the EPA’s proposal is unlawful in part because it relies upon presidential executive orders, whereas regulations must be based on authority granted by the Clean Air Act. State Mineral Resources Director Lynn Helms and state Air Quality Director Jim Semerad added that the federal government lacks authority to impose requirements for limiting emissions from existing infrastructure and can do so only for new facilities. The EPA can set guidelines for existing sites, but it’s states that have authority over the matter, they said.

The state also takes issue with the EPA’s idea to establish a community monitoring program that would allow members of the public to detect and report emissions in addition to the industry’s own inspections and those performed by government officials, The Bismarck Tribune reported.

“Such a program has serious pitfalls, including safety concerns, access rights (North Dakota’s regulators have proper legal access to safely inspect production operations), and the technical validity of any data collected by citizens using sophisticated monitoring equipment that is designed for use by trained professionals,” the state officials wrote.

The Petroleum Council, which represents numerous oil-related companies that operate in North Dakota, urged the EPA to allow for flexibility in its regulations, including with site visits during which inspectors point infrared cameras at oil and gas facilities to detect methane leaks, which are invisible to the naked eye.

“North Dakota’s climate poses many safety and logistical challenges that can limit inspector access to oil and gas locations for days or weeks,” President Ron Ness wrote.

He referenced the state’s brutal winters and unsafe site conditions during construction or maintenance work, asking that the EPA allow for inspection delays during those situations.

He added that EPA’s proposal to increase inspections from twice a year at well sites to four times a year in some cases could result in more emissions from the vehicles inspectors drive.

Inspections are done several ways in North Dakota under federal and state policies. Oil and gas companies must perform the inspections using either their own staff or a contractor, and they report those results to authorities, Semerad said. The state Department of Environmental Quality has its own inspectors as well, and they visit about 1,000 sites each year with cameras in search of leaks.

The department recently began an audit program in which state officials take a closer look at what leaks companies discover and whether they promptly fix them. The program so far is voluntary, with companies participating to check whether their processes are working, according to Semerad.

“Any one tool may not cover everything,” he told the Tribune, adding that the various parts of the inspection process in North Dakota complement one another.

An environmental activist on the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation suggested to the EPA that inspections occur monthly at all oil wells. The EPA should also increase the number of air quality monitors in North Dakota, said Lisa DeVille, vice president of Fort Berthold Protectors of Water & Earth Rights.

“My community is directly impacted by the toxic pollutants that are emitted alongside methane and we are also facing the terrible consequences of these greenhouse gases being emitted,” she wrote in her comments.

Chairman Mark Fox of the Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nation wrote that the tribe acknowledges people “living and working closest to oil and gas resources on tribal lands are exposed to human health risks,” as well as “the climate benefits of reducing methane emissions.”

But, he said, requiring quarterly inspections “could create significant challenges” on the reservation as inspectors drive long distances, especially in winter.

“EPA regulations should be flexible enough to reduce inspection requirements for those demonstrating adequate emissions reductions through use of alternative technologies,” he said.

MHA Nation seeks to attain a special designation that will allow the tribe greater oversight of methane within the reservation to “balance adequate environmental protections with continued oil and gas development,” Fox said. Tribes face barriers in seeking such a status, and EPA needs to do more to remove those obstacles, he said.

The EPA under President Joe Biden has not yet issued any final methane rules.