Section 3179.100 - [Effective 6/10/2024] Leak detection and repair program(a) Pursuant to paragraph (b) of this section, the operator must maintain a BLM administrative statewide LDAR program designed to prevent the waste of Federal or Indian gas.(b) Operators must submit a statewide LDAR program to the BLM state office with jurisdiction over the production for review. The LDAR program must cover operations and production equipment located on a Federal or Indian oil and gas lease and not operations and production equipment located on State or private tracts, even though those tracts are committed to a federally approved unit PA or CA. When there is a change of operator, the new operator must update the LDAR program on the annual update and revision timeline. Operators must submit the LDAR program in writing for review until such time as the BLM's electronic filing system is capable of receiving LDAR program submissions. At minimum, the LDAR program must contain the following information, as applicable:(1) Identification of the leases, unit PAs, and CAs by geographic State for all States within BLM's administrative State boundaries to which the LDAR program applies;(2) Identification of the method and frequency of leak detection inspection used at the lease, unit PA, or CA. Acceptable methods, as well as other methods approved by the BLM, and frequency include the following:(i) Well pads with only wellheads and no production equipment or storage must include quarterly AVO inspections for leak detection;(ii) Well pads with any production and processing equipment and oil storage must include AVO inspections every other month and quarterly optical gas imaging for leak detection; and(iii) Other leak detection inspection methods and frequency acceptable to the BLM (e.g., continuous monitoring).(3) Identification of the operator's recordkeeping process for leak detection and repair pursuant to § 3179.102 .(c) The BLM will review the operator's LDAR program and notify the operator if the BLM deems the program to be inadequate. The notification will explain the basis for the BLM's determination, identify the plan's inadequacies, describe any additional measures that could address the inadequacies, and provide a reasonable time frame in which the operator must submit a revised LDAR program to the BLM for review.(d) For leases in effect on June 10, 2024, the operator must submit a statewide LDAR program to the state office no later than December 10, 2025.(e) Operators must review and update submitted LDAR programs on an annual basis in the month in which the operator submitted the first LDAR program to ensure that the identified leases, unit PAs, and CAs, leak detection methods, and frequency of inspections are current. If the operator's LDAR program requires no changes, then the operator must notify the BLM state office that the LDAR program submitted and reviewed by the BLM remains in effect. Any updates to the LDAR program must be submitted in writing to the BLM state office for review until such time as the BLM's electronic system is capable of receiving the annual LDAR updates.