The governor’s office announced Oct. 27, 2026, that California has added a second methane-detecting satellite, Tanager-2, to its California Methane Satellite Project, known as CalSMP; the release said the project has helped resolve 50 major methane leaks to date.
The release said Tanager-2 will double the program’s coverage and let California spot and recheck large methane plumes more often; the satellites pass over the state four to five times a week, the release said.
The announcement said satellite detections are turned into action by notifying operators and tracking their response; the release gave an example in late August when satellite data led an operator to find and fix a leak at a flange on a storage tank in the Midway-Sunset oil field the same day.
The release said repairs to oil and gas leaks identified by the program prevented pollution equivalent to taking 42,000 gasoline-powered vehicles off the road for a year; the state described the satellites as a more cost-effective, wider-view alternative to aircraft monitoring.
The governor’s office framed the expansion as a counter to federal changes; the release said the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency plans to remove a requirement that operators investigate qualifying third-party reports of major methane releases and to end a federal “super-emitter” program. The release said EPA previously projected that prior standards would prevent 58 million tons of methane, 16 million tons of smog-forming pollution, and 590,000 tons of toxic air pollutants from 2024 through 2038.
California Environmental Protection Agency Secretary was quoted in the release criticizing the federal rollback and saying the state will “continue to take aggressive, science-based action to identify and address methane leaks with cutting-edge technology and policy tools.” CARB Chair was quoted saying, “Our methane regulations remain in place, and we’ll keep using every tool we have to cut pollution and protect communities.”
The release said CalSMP makes its emissions data public and that California is offering the program as a model for other jurisdictions through the Subnational Methane Action Coalition; the release also said additional satellites are expected to launch in 2027 and beyond.
State
Yana Garcia
Secretary for Environmental Protection
Named once in this story.
State
Lauren Sanchez
Chair, California Air Resources Board
Named once in this story.
Sources & methodology
This report was written from the primary materials below. Links open at the original publisher.
Office of the Governor of CaliforniaSee something we should correct? Read our corrections policy.