Senate votes to reverse Trump rollback of Obama methane rules

    May 10, 2021

    The Senate voted 52-42 to nullify a rule written by the Trump administration that largely rolled back Obama administration regulations on control of methane from oil and gas production, processing plants, storage, and transportation.

    The Senate used the Congressional Review Act to pass a resolution to rescind the Trump rule, published by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rule Sept. 14.

    The House has not yet acted on its companion resolution. Given the political cohesion generally shown by House Democrats on environmental subjects, it is likely that chamber will approve the resolution. President Biden, who has been putting much emphasis on fears of climate change, can be expected to sign the rollback.

    The Congressional Review Act has a somewhat murky time limit for what rules can be nullified under the act. The number will vary from year to year with variations in congressional session schedules. The law firm Steptoe & Johnson LLP has calculated the act could be used to overturn any Trump administration rule finalized after Aug. 21.

    Important or not

    Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) stressed climate change in calling for the vote to roll back. He said the vote was one of the most important in a decade. If oil and gas industry trade associations are right, the rollback is a somewhat expensive nuisance with little importance.

    The industry groups have said requirements for control of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) force oil and gas companies to use equipment that also controls methane, making separate monitoring and reporting of methane redundant. They also point out the progress industry has made in cutting methane emissions over the past 30 years.

    However, oil and gas executives also recognize political forces. Vicki Hollub, president and chief executive officer of Occidental Petroleum Corp., endorsed the rollback plan while she testified Apr. 27 to the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.

    There also is room to question the economic importance of the subject. The Trump EPA estimated its 2020 changes should provide net savings of $750-850 million over the 10 years starting with 2021. That would average about $80 million/year for the industry.

    The Obama EPA put in place rules in 2012 and 2016 for control of methane emissions, under new source performance standards. The Trump administration EPA agreed with the industry view that separate methane regulations were redundant. The Trump EPA also agreed that methane regulations for transportation, storage, and processing were improper because EPA had never studied the matter to determine the regulations were needed and appropriate.

     Independent studies of methane emissions by academic researchers have found that the amount of methane leaking from wells, pipelines, and storage can be surprisingly high and highly variable.