What's happening
This bill requires electronic flow meters, regular testing, and reporting at natural gas well sites to monitor and verify gas production.
Why it matters
Improved transparency and accuracy in gas production reporting. By mandating electronic flow meters and regular testing, the bill aims to prevent under- or over-reporting of natural gas extraction, which can affect royalties, state revenues, and public trust.
Third-party oversight and independence. The requirement for an approved list of independent contractors for testing and calibration, with the option for well owners/operators to hire their own, provides checks against potential conflicts of interest and enhances measurement integrity.
Alignment with industry standards. Mandating installation and maintenance to American Gas Association (AGA) standards ensures that equipment and procedures meet widely recognized technical benchmarks, potentially reducing disputes and improving comparability across sites.
Broader stakeholder access to production data. The bill requires test reports to be distributed not only to regulatory authorities but also to local weights and measures officials and royalty owners, giving landowners and local agencies more tools to verify fair compensation and regulatory compliance.
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Who cares
Natural gas companies and well operators
DEC rules would require electronic flow meter assemblies on all wells capable of production, with monthly orifice-meter testing and calibration for the first three years after installation and routine testing thereafter.
Department of Environmental Conservation
The department would have to issue metering rules and compile an approved list of third-party testing and calibration contractors.
Third-party meter testing contractors
Gas companies and well operators would have to select contractors from DEC’s approved list for testing and calibration services.
Royalty owners
Those with an interest in the unit served by a well would receive copies of required meter-testing reports and results.
Headline styles
Require Gas Well Flow Meters
Plain English, a few words. Used as the page title.
Sponsors
3 Co-sponsors
History
- Referred to environmental conservation
- Referred to environmental conservation
Full text
2 pagesUnderlined is new[Struck] is removedOfficial text on nysenate.gov ↗
STATE OF NEW YORK
976
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY (Prefiled)
January 8, 2025
Introduced by M. of A. ANGELINO, LEMONDES, McDONOUGH, MORINELLO -- read once and referred to the Committee on Environmental Conservation
AN ACT to amend the environmental conservation law, in relation to requiring the department of environmental conservation to promulgate rules and regulations relating to gas flow meters at natural gas well sites
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:
Section 1. Section 23-0305 of the environmental conservation law is amended by adding a new subdivision 16 to read as follows:
16. With respect to natural gas well sites, the department shall promulgate rules and regulations that:
a. Require that all gas wells capable of production be equipped with an electronic flow meter assembly for the purpose of monitoring such production, the flow meter assembly shall consist of a meter tube containing test ports to be utilized for measurement and testing of extracted gas, shutoff valves to be utilized for the purpose of shutting down portions of the system, and a flow metering assembly, wherein the orifice is capable of being removed without shutting off the system.
b. Shall cause to be compiled a list of third-party contractors, from which the gas companies and well operators shall select for this service, that have been approved by the department to provide for the purpose of testing and/or calibrating of gas flow meter assemblies.
c. Provide that any owner or operator of a natural gas well site may, at such owner's or operator's own cost, engage the services of a third party contractor from the approved list compiled pursuant to paragraph b of this subdivision for the purpose of causing an independent test or calibration to be conducted upon the gas flow meter or meters connected to the natural gas well site.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD02688-01-5
d. Require that orifice meters and piping be installed to comply with American Gas Association Report No. 3, Orifice Metering of Natural Gas and Other Related Hydrocarbon Fluids, Third Edition, Part 2 Specification and Installation Requirements. For purposes of this subdivision, "orifice meter" means a flow measuring device used for calculating the pressure drop, flow rate and behavior of the gas moving through the pipe.
e. Require that testing and calibration of an orifice meter provided by gas companies or well operators shall be conducted on a monthly basis during the initial production stages and on a routine basis thereafter, the frequency of which shall be dependent on the degree of wear of the orifice and/or flow characteristics of the well and compliance with AGA specifications. For purposes of this paragraph "initial production stage" shall mean the initial three years following installation. The orifice shall be replaced if the degree of wear of the orifice is greater than two percent.
f. Require that copies of all reports and results of the tests conducted pursuant to paragraph e of this subdivision shall be provided to the commissioner, the commissioner of agriculture and markets, the chief inspector or director of the local bureau of weights and measures representing the geographic area in which such test was conducted, and the royalty owners who have an interest in the unit served by the well.
§ 2. This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after it shall have become a law. Effective immediately, the addition, amendment and/or repeal of any rule or regulation necessary for the implementation of this act on its effective date are authorized to be made and completed on or before such effective date.
Reflowed for reading: line numbers and page breaks removed. Cite the official text.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.