Senators float resolution to overturn Biden methane fee rule

By Valerie Volcovici

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Senate Republicans on Tuesday introduced a resolution to overturn the Biden administration's proposed fee on methane emissions, one of the previous Environmental Protection Agency's final measures to force big oil and gas producers to slash emissions of the powerful greenhouse gas.

The resolution introduced by Republican Senators John Kennedy of Louisiana and John Hoeven of North Dakota under the Congressional Review Act (CRA), which allows Congress to reverse new federal rules with a simple majority, would overturn the escalating charge set by the agency they have called a tax.

"Americans want our country to ‘drill, baby, drill’ to lower their energy costs. To restore American energy dominance, we need to beat back the anti-energy policies and taxes the Biden administration shackled us with,” said Kennedy.

The methane fee was mandated by the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act, which directed the EPA to set a charge on methane emissions for facilities that emit more than 25,000 tons per year of carbon dioxide equivalent.

Methane is the most prevalent greenhouse gas after carbon dioxide that tends to leak into the atmosphere undetected from drill sites, gas pipelines and other oil and gas.

The fee started at $900 per metric ton of methane emitted in 2024, and increased to $1,200 in 2025, and $1,500 for 2026 and beyond.

The EPA last year finalized methane emission and reporting standards for the oil and gas sector, which faced less opposition from oil and gas companies.

President Donald Trump issued a range of executive orders focused on setting an "energy dominance" agenda in his first days in office, which directed agencies to speed up permitting of energy projects and unwind environmental protections that his administration deems burdensome.

The order did not mention a repeal of methane regulations but did order the EPA Administrator to review the so-called endangerment finding for greenhouse gases, a scientific determination that underpins the legal footing of EPA climate rules.

(Reporting by Valerie Volcovici; Editing by Marguerita Choy)

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