On Nov. 8, Americans will head to the ballot boxes to elect the 45th president of the United States of Amer- ica, the entire U.S. House of Representatives (all 435 of them) and one-third of the U.S. Senate. It is also important to note that the balance of the U.S. Supreme Court will be deter- mined by this election.

To say this is a major election year is an understatement. Even if you don’t work or follow politics, it’s a safe bet that you will be impacted by this election.

November’s election will impact the way the midstream industry does business for at least the next four years, if not lon- ger. Changes are happening every day, and candidates’ positions in the polls are in flux. Democratic Presidential Nominee Hillary Clinton’s once seemingly insurmountable lead over Republican Presidential Nominee Donald Trump seemed to be all but gone as September ended.

Democrats are worried about Clin- ton’s playbook and her shrinking poll numbers. They are concerned this is Clinton’s race to lose and she hasn’t learned from her 2008 primary loss to President Barack Obama. More con- cerning for the midstream industry is that Clinton still seems to be moving her energy policies more to the left to try to appease the disenfranchised left wing of the Democratic Party that is still reluc- tant to transition from supporting U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders.

The Republican establishment has had a tough time embrac- ing Donald Trump. In fact, in August, it seemed like a complete meltdown was inevitable. Down-ticket Republicans wanted to distance themselves, if not outright separate themselves, from Trump. This would have had huge financial implications on the ability to raise much-needed campaign dollars. While this melt- down seems to have been avoided for the time being, Trump has wisely and successfully re-staffed his campaign leadership team. Trump and his team have started to weigh in more and define themselves more on energy issues to try to show the difference between the two nominees.

Two of the major regulatory issues that will impact the mid- stream industry for at least the next couple of years are the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rules for existing sources of methane from the oil and gas industry and the U.S. Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) rules for the safety of gas transmission and gathering pipelines (also known as the “Gas Mega” rule).

The next president will get to nominate the leadership and set the policy direction at the federal agencies, meaning EPA and PHMSA will almost certainly be under new leadership and new direction.

The EPA rules for existing sources of methane will more than likely be further developed by new agency leadership even though they are an Obama administration priority. So the ques- tion is not what we think the rule will look like under an Obama administration, but more what they will look like under a Clin- ton or Trump administration.

Under a Clinton administration, it seems the EPA’s rules for existing sources of methane will most likely go further to the left and be even more onerous for the industry to comply with. Taking this direction will help a poten- tial Clinton administration distinguish itself from the Obama administration by being even tougher on the oil and gas industry and endearing itself to environmental activists.

A Trump administration would potentially attempt to roll back, slow walk or repeal the existing source regula- tions for methane that are currently being developed. This is a lot easier said than done, would take years to go through the regulatory process and more than likely would be subject to numerous activist lawsuits. But for the midstream industry, this is what distinguishes Trump from Clinton.

PHMSA’s Gas Mega rule won’t be finalized until sometime next year at the very earliest. This rule will mean a huge increase in regulation and compliance costs for the midstream industry unless PHMSA makes significant changes to the rule before it is finalized. This will be one of the major rules the next administra- tion will need to address. Right now, each nominee’s position on this rule is unclear.

So, regardless of our choice for president, it’s important we vote on Nov. 8 because a lot is at stake for the midstream industry.


Matthew Hite is vice president of government affairs for the GPA Midstream Association.

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