NSPE continues to fight efforts to stop an important final rule addressing oil and natural gas emissions; the rule requires a professional engineer to perform key functions to meet performance standards. On November 17, NSPE President Tom Roberts, P.E., F.NSPE, submitted a public comment to the Environmental Protection Agency regarding its reconsideration of the requirements for a professional engineer to certify the closed vent system design and capacity assessment. In the public comment Roberts writes, “NSPE is concerned by the proposed stay and its rationale…[T]he EPA, in its careful consideration and determination of the final 2016 rule, recognized the unique qualifications, expertise, and the legal and ethical duty of professional engineers to hold paramount the public health, safety, and welfare in their designs, construction, and observations….With hundreds of thousands of PEs across the country, NSPE strongly believes that the existing requirements can be met.”
NSPE urges the EPA to enforce the current requirements immediately. In the event that a new rule is finalized, it should retain the provisions for a licensed professional engineer to be in responsible charge of all engineering projects. NSPE and the professional engineers it represents share a common purpose with the EPA in ensuring that the United States exemplifies the best engineering standards in the world.