EPA proposes sweeping rollback of oil and gas methane rules, projecting $45 billion in industry savings
The US Environmental Protection Agency plans to propose sweeping revisions to federal methane rules for oil and gas producers — changes that EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin previewed October 7 at the New Mexico Oil and Gas Association’s annual meeting in Santa Fe. The agency said it would roll out the proposal within days, estimating it would save the industry $45 billion.
The planned changes would eliminate the super-emitter program, ease restrictions on marginal wells, and revisit rules on gas flaring — marking a second round of revisions to methane regulations finalized under the Biden administration in 2024.
EPA announces second round of methane rule revisions
This isn’t a minor regulatory tweak. The EPA’s planned proposal represents a second round of revisions to the Biden administration’s 2024 methane rules — formally known as OOOOb and OOOOc — and would go significantly further than the first round finalized just months earlier.
EPA plans to propose two alternatives for creating separate well-site categories with different regulatory requirements, giving those operations more flexibility.
Zeldin framed the move as a direct response to industry complaints. At the Santa Fe gathering, he said the agency was responding to producers’ concerns that the 2024 regulations were costly and unworkable. That framing matters: it signals the administration views these rules as burdensome by design, not just in practice.
The $45 billion savings figure is striking — but it comes with a major caveat. EPA hasn’t released the proposed rule itself or the analysis behind that number. Without the regulatory text and supporting cost data, there’s simply no way to independently evaluate how that estimate was calculated, or what assumptions are baked into it.
Key changes: Super-emitter program elimination and well category reforms
The most high-profile element of the proposal is the planned elimination of the super-emitter program. Under current rules, EPA-certified third parties can use satellites, aircraft, and remote-sensing technology to flag large methane releases. When operators receive a notification, they’re required to investigate and take corrective action.
EPA says it has legal concerns about the program and doesn’t believe it’s necessary to meet Clean Air Act requirements. Critics are likely to push back hard — especially given the program’s track record of catching emissions that routine monitoring would miss entirely.
The proposal also targets marginal wells, low-producing operations that have been a flashpoint for smaller producers. EPA plans to propose two alternatives for creating separate well-site categories with different regulatory requirements, giving those operations more flexibility.
The tension in that move is hard to ignore. EPA’s own research found that marginal wells accounted for roughly 7% of US oil and gas output in 2021, yet were responsible for 60% of methane emissions from gas production and 40% from oil production. Easing rules on that category could carry an outsized environmental cost relative to any production benefit.
Flaring restrictions and equipment requirements also targeted
The proposal also takes aim at flaring rules. Biden-era regulations from 2024 required new sources to phase out routine flaring of associated natural gas, subject to certain provisions and exceptions. EPA says it plans to revisit that approach and give producers more flexibility.
Flaring — burning off natural gas that can’t be captured or transported — is a significant source of both methane and carbon dioxide emissions. Loosening those restrictions would represent a meaningful departure from the direction federal policy has been heading for years.
Beyond flaring, the proposal would affect covers, closed-vent systems, and control devices, with additional flexibility proposed for flame-monitoring data and visible emissions testing requirements. These are more technical changes, but they shape how operators detect and report emissions day to day.
Worth noting: EPA had already finalized a narrower set of revisions back in April, extending the time allowed for temporary flaring in certain circumstances and adjusting monitoring requirements. That first round was estimated to save the industry $2.5 billion between 2024 and 2038. The new proposal would go considerably further.
Broader context: Methane fee repeal and legal challenges ahead
The EPA’s planned rollback doesn’t exist in isolation. Congress and the Trump administration separately eliminated the Biden-era methane waste emissions charge — a fee that would have applied to oil and gas infrastructure exceeding specified methane emission thresholds. Taken together, these actions amount to a broad dismantling of the federal methane regulatory framework built over the past several years.
Environmental groups have already criticized the planned rollbacks, and legal challenges are widely expected once the rule is formally proposed. Major regulatory changes in either direction tend to end up in court — that pattern’s unlikely to change here.
The proposed rule hasn’t been formally published yet. Once it is, a public comment period must run before EPA can finalize anything, and legal challenges could stretch that timeline considerably further.
What to know about the EPA’s methane proposal
The core facts: EPA plans to propose eliminating the super-emitter program, easing rules on marginal wells, and relaxing flaring restrictions. All of these would significantly scale back the Biden administration’s 2024 methane regulations — among the most sweeping federal methane rules ever issued for the oil and gas sector.
The agency projects $45 billion in industry savings but hasn’t released the underlying analysis. The proposal will face a public comment period and almost certainly legal scrutiny. Until the regulatory text is published, many key details — including the actual emissions impact — remain unknown.
Kelly is an experienced writer with 15 years of experience exploring the big stories that shape our world, from tech breakthroughs and space exploration to climate, energy, and the fascinating quirks of science. She has a talent for turning complex ideas into sharp, memorable insights that stay with readers long after they’ve finished reading.
