Canada and the U.S. are working together to regulate methane emissions from existing oil and gas sources, and Environment Canada intends to publish an initial phase of its proposed rules by early 2017, sources tell CTV News.
Sources say the Canadian agency will develop its regulations in collaboration with provinces and territories, indigenous peoples and other stakeholders.
Next month, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency "will start a formal process to require companies operating existing methane emissions sources to provide information that is vital to establishing effective standards to decrease methane emissions," according to a memo obtained by CTV News.
The two countries hope to build on the U.S.-Canada Air Quality Agreement, established in 1991 to tackle cross-border air pollution causing acid rain.
The agreement was updated in 2000 to include the Ozone Annex, which monitors emissions of nitrogen oxides in an effort to curb smog.
