Energy & Environment

EPA takes early step in methane rule rollback

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by Rachel Frazin - 04/06/26 6:06 PM ET

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by Rachel Frazin - 04/06/26 6:06 PM ET

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The Trump administration undertook an early step Monday in what is expected to be a significant rollback of a Biden-era rule restricting methane emissions from oil and gas production.

Last year, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced that it would revisit the methane rule, arguing that it was “throttling the oil and gas industry.”

On Monday, the EPA published a rule that takes aim at a portion of the Biden administration one. The agency said it was also developing another proposal to further amend the rule, which required drillers to take steps to cut emissions of planet-heating methane.

Monday’s step gives oil and gas producers more time to participate in emergency flaring — the practice of burning off natural gas that co-occurs with oil during oil production.

The Biden-era rule sought to phase out flaring at new oil wells, but it gave energy companies 24 hours to flare in certain circumstances. The Trump rule extended the window to 72 hours.

The Trump administration says the changes it is making will save the sector about $208 million annually.

The administration did not calculate the rule’s climate impacts, though it said the rule could lead to at least some increased emissions.

“My predecessors weaponized environmental regulations to regulate the oil and gas industry out of existence,” EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin said in a written statement.

“Making rules workable for owners and operators advances American energy dominance, lowers cost for American families, and ensures the United States is providing better and cleaner energy,” he added.

Jon Goldstein, associate vice president at the Environmental Defense Fund, described Monday’s rule as a “harbinger.”

“In and of itself, it’s relatively small changes, but it’s the … first move on what we consider to be a pretty significant effort to remove and water down regulation” on methane from the oil and gas sector, he said.

Methane is a powerful greenhouse gas that’s about 28 times as potent as carbon dioxide over a 100-year period. It’s responsible for about 20 percent to 30 percent of global warming.

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