Trump to Alter Methane Rule as EPA Ends Super Emitter Program

President Donald Trump is expected to announce plans Tuesday to loosen a Biden-era rule governing methane emissions from oil and gas drilling. An administration official, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak on the record ahead of the announcement, said the plan would be delivered as Trump campaigns in Texas. The move is intended to encourage domestic drilling while the administration faces criticism over fuel prices amid the U.S. war in Iran.

The proposed changes follow a preview from Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin last month. Zeldin said the agency would eliminate the "Super Emitter Program," which requires companies to investigate and repair major methane releases at oil and natural gas facilities, and set less restrictive standards for smaller wells. Zeldin said the rule would have cost $18 billion and was holding back the U.S. energy industry. "The Trump EPA is committed to fixing this so the U.S. can reach its full energy potential," he said.

The Biden rule was published in 2024 but never went into full effect after the EPA imposed an 18-month delay to give companies time to meet new inspection requirements. Federal officials said it would prevent an estimated 58 million tons of methane emissions by 2038 and reduce other pollutants that cause health problems. The rule was projected to yield $98 billion in benefits by 2034, calculated from the future social costs of greenhouse gas emissions on public health and the environment. The Trump EPA has rejected that calculation method.

Under Biden, the rule applied to existing wells, while previous regulations covered only new wells. Operators would have been required to plug leaking methane from smaller wells that produce 6% of the nation's oil and gas but account for up to half of methane emissions from oil and gas fields. The rule was coordinated with a methane fee approved in the 2022 climate law, which would have charged up to $1,500 per metric ton on producers exceeding certain emission levels. Congress repealed the fee weeks after Trump took office.

Environmental groups criticized the rollback. "It will impose a heavier pollution burden on our front-line communities and make our energy sector less efficient," said Max Lopez, an attorney at the Environmental Law & Policy Center. Oil and gas operations are the largest industrial source of methane, which scientists estimate causes about a third of planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions. The gas leaks from equipment and is released by drillers or burned off during crude production.

The planned changes would also continue a series of steps taken by Trump and congressional Republicans to dismantle climate policies enacted under former President Joe Biden. Those steps have included revoking a scientific finding that was central to U.S. action on greenhouse gas emissions, lowering fuel economy standards for vehicles, and moving to repeal emission restrictions for coal and natural gas power plants. The Biden methane rule was announced by officials including former Vice President Kamala Harris during a 2023 U.N. climate conference in the United Arab Emirates.