The Interior Department proposed rules Friday to cut methane emissions from oil and natural gas operations on federal lands, the latest move in President Barack Obama ’s climate change agenda. The rules are aimed at helping meet an administration goal of cutting the oil and gas industry’s emissions of methane, a potent greenhouse gas, by as much as 45% from 2012 levels over the next decade. The regulations, set to be completed later this year after a public comment period, would include the first-ever federal limits on flaring, a process in which excess gas, whose primary component is methane, is burned off as carbon dioxide. The rules also include a requirement that companies regularly inspect for methane leaks. The rules would be phased in over three years, and are estimated to cost the industry an annual $125 million to $161 million, according to the Interior Department. Oil and gas […]