The Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990

The natural gas liquids industry and specifically the gas processing business has not been rosy the last several years. processors have been faced with low NGL prices, high inventories and more regulations which have forced product margins to all time lows and have resulted in plant closings, mergers and a determined search for those processors that are left for ways to make ends meet until times get better. Whether a barometer for the future or merely a fluke in the economy, things got better in 1990. Last year represented a change for the positive in all the indicators characterizing the gas processing business. An early winter in 1989, propane distribution problems, overall increases in petrochemical demand for NGLs and the fear brought on by events in Kuwait all contributed to changes in the marketplace. For the gas processor, these events combined with relatively low natural gas prices to produce wider processing margins and a degree of prosperity. The biggest regulatory event in 1990 however was without a doubt the Clean Air Act Amendments. These sweeping changes to the 1970 Clean Air Act promise to affect the economy and public health well into the next century. The purpose of this paper is to examine first the major provisions of the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990 and then relate those anticipated changes to the gas processing industry. As will be examined later, the Amendments will create both threats and opportunities for gas processors