Sponsors (10)
The bill reduces regulatory costs, legal exposure, and approval delays for owners of low‑production wells and state agencies, but does so at the likely expense of local air quality, public health, enforcement deterrence, and competitive fairness.
Owners/operators of low‑production (marginal) oil and gas wells (including small independent operators and local utilities) avoid new EPA performance standards and have pending enforcement actions terminated, reducing compliance costs, paperwork, and legal liability for those businesses.
State environmental agencies can use an expedited 180‑day review (with deemed approval) to revise plans to exclude marginal wells, shortening regulatory timelines and reducing administrative delay at the state level.
People living near marginal wells (often rural communities) are likely to face higher exposure to air pollution and related health risks because exempting wells removes requirements for emissions controls and leak detection.
Regional air quality could worsen if many wells are exempted, undermining attainment efforts and increasing public health costs and environmental degradation paid for by residents and taxpayers.
Terminating enforcement actions and creating exemptions shifts cleanup and health costs away from polluters to communities and reduces regulatory deterrence, weakening enforcement incentives statewide.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Exempts low‑production (marginal) oil and gas wells and certain associated equipment from Clean Air Act section 111 standards and requires EPA to issue implementing rules within 180 days.
Creates a permanent exemption for low‑production (“marginal”) oil and gas wells and certain associated equipment from Clean Air Act performance standards and related regulatory requirements. It prevents the EPA and states from applying or requiring New Source Performance Standards (section 111) to those wells, orders EPA to issue conforming rules and guidance within 180 days, and terminates pending enforcement actions against qualifying wells. Defines “marginal well” by specific production thresholds (≤15 barrels oil/day or ≤15 barrels oil-equivalent/day, or ≤90,000 cubic feet natural gas/day), limits the scope of covered equipment and the well site custody-transfer point, and requires expedited state plan review (deemed approved if not acted on within 180 days) when states exclude marginal wells from their plans.
Official title: Amend the Clean Air Act to exclude marginal wells from certain standards of performance and other requirements under that Act, and for other purposes.
Introduced May 21, 2026 by Cynthia M. Lummis · Last progress May 21, 2026