Sponsor
James Lankford
Senator · R-OK
Senator · R-OK
The bill reduces near-term compliance costs and administrative burdens for many small oil/gas producers and clarifies calculation/transparency, but at the cost of weaker enforcement, delayed incentives to cut methane, uneven state-level treatment, and reduced long‑term funding/certainty for mitigation.
Small upstream facility owners/operators (facilities with ≤2,500 employees and <25,000 tCO2e/yr) avoid reporting and the methane charge, lowering compliance costs and immediate financial burdens for many small businesses.
Regulated entities gain a delay in the methane waste emissions charge until grant funds are disbursed and emissions-factor rules are finalized, giving companies more time to adapt and access financial support.
Facilities already complying with EPA subparts OOOOb/OOOOc and located in states meeting SIP requirements are protected from the methane charge, avoiding duplicative regulation and charges for those operators.
Many small upstream producers are exempted from reporting and charges, which reduces oversight and weakens incentives to cut methane emissions from those sources.
Prohibiting EPA from requiring proof that facilities meet exemption criteria limits enforcement tools and may let ineligible facilities claim exemptions, undermining program integrity.
Delaying the methane charge until grants are fully disbursed and rules are finalized postpones financial incentives to reduce methane, slowing near-term emissions reductions.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Creates two exemptions to methane reporting/charge rules and delays the methane waste emissions charge until EPA certifies grant disbursement and finalized emissions-factor rulemaking.
Official title: Amend the Clean Air Act to modify the Methane Emissions Reduction Program, and for other purposes.
Introduced February 11, 2025 by James Lankford · Last progress February 11, 2025
Amends the Clean Air Act methane incentive program by creating two narrow exemptions from reporting and the methane waste emissions charge for (1) certain "small upstream producers" meeting facility emission and employee thresholds as of August 16, 2022, and (2) facilities that already meet specified New Source Performance Standards and are in States with compliant State Implementation Plans. The bill also delays the start of the statutory methane "waste emissions charge" until the EPA certifies in writing that (A) related grants have been fully disbursed for at least one year and (B) revisions to an EPA greenhouse gas reporting subpart have been finalized to require Administrator-validated emissions factors; EPA must notify eligible facilities within 60 days about the small-producer exemption.