EPA to drop methane drilling rules

President Donald Trump is set to announce on Tuesday that the administration will loosen the Biden-era rule designed to cut methane emissions from oil and gas drilling. The President will deliver the news while campaigning in Texas, according to an administration official who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not yet authorized to speak on the record.

The move is intended to encourage more domestic drilling as Trump faces criticism over high fuel prices during the U.S. war in Iran. Scientists estimate that methane is responsible for about one third of planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions. Oil and gas operations are the largest industrial source of this gas, which is the main component of natural gas and far more potent to the atmosphere than carbon dioxide in the short term.

The invisible gas often leaks from equipment or is released by drillers. It is also sometimes burned off as a waste byproduct during crude production. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin previewed the changes last month. He said the new rules would eliminate the agency’s Super Emitter Program, which requires companies to investigate and repair major methane releases from oil and natural gas facilities.

The agency will also set less restrictive standards for small oil and gas wells. Zeldin argued that the methane rule would have cost $18 billion and was holding back the U.S. energy industry. He stated that the Trump EPA is committed to fixing the issue so the country can reach its full energy potential. Environmental groups have criticized the latest rollback of climate policies.

Max Lopez, an attorney at the Environmental Law & Policy Center, said the change will impose a heavier pollution burden on front-line communities. He added that it will make the energy sector less efficient. The loosening of the emissions rule comes as Trump and Republicans in Congress dismantle climate policies enacted under former President Joe Biden. Previous actions included revoking a key scientific finding, lowering fuel economy standards, and moving to repeal emission restrictions for coal and natural gas power plants.

The Biden methane rule was announced in 2023 at a U.N. climate conference in the United Arab Emirates. Officials including former Vice President Kamala Harris said it would prevent an estimated 58 million tons of methane emissions by 2038. The rule regulated existing wells, not just new ones. Operators would have needed to plug leaks from smaller wells that produce just 6% of the nation’s oil and gas but account for up to half of all methane emissions from oil and gas fields.

The final rule was published in 2024 but never went into effect. The EPA imposed an 18-month delay last year to give companies time to meet new inspection requirements. The rule was crafted to work with a methane fee approved in the 2022 climate law. That fee program would have levied a charge of up to $1,500 per metric ton of methane on energy producers that exceed a certain level of emissions.

Congress repealed the fee weeks after Trump took office. The fee marked the first time the U.S. government directly imposed a tax on greenhouse gas emissions. The new announcement will formally remove the remaining regulatory hurdles for the industry. The EPA will update its standards to reflect these changes in the coming weeks.