On February 27, Congress passed a joint resolution under the Congressional Review Act (CRA) disapproving the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulations implementing methane waste emissions charges (WEC) for petroleum and natural gas systems.
The WEC, a provision of the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, is a federal fee on methane emissions from certain petroleum and natural gas facilities. The WEC begins at $900 per ton for 2024 reported emissions, increasing to $1,500 by 2026. On November 12, 2024, EPA finalized the rule to implement the WEC. Due to the timing of this finalization, the rule was subject to disapproval by Congress via the CRA process.
The House voted 220-206-1 and the Senate voted 52-47 to repeal the rule. President Trump is expected to sign the resolution, which will effectively overturn the rule.
Congress can utilize the CRA to reverse certain federal agency actions. Following the approval of the resolution of disapproval in both houses of Congress, either the President must sign the resolution, or Congress must successfully override a presidential veto. Once the CRA joint resolution of disapproval is signed by the President, the rule at issue cannot go into effect or continue in effect.
Under the CRA, EPA may not issue a new rule that is substantially the same or reissue a rule that is “substantially the same in form,” unless specifically authorized by Congress in a later-enacted law.
In March of 2024, APGA submitted comments in response to the WEC, expressing concerns about the impact of the charge. The rule outlined that the WEC would be calculated based on methane emissions reported by certain segments of the oil and natural gas sector.
APGA members, though not directly subject to the WEC, would have been indirectly impacted by operators' upstream suppliers passing any new costs associated with the WEC to local distribution companies (LDCs). LDCs should not be financially responsible for these costs.