EPA previews rollback of Biden-era methane rule within days

EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin announced at a closed-door oil and gas industry conference in Santa Fe, New Mexico that the agency will roll back the 2024 federal methane standards, with a proposed rule expected in a matter of days, according to the Environmental Defense Fund’s account of the remarks. The rollback targets low-producing “stripper wells” — more than 700,000 wells that supply about 6 percent of US oil and gas but produce roughly half of the sector’s methane pollution — by weakening leak-inspection requirements and rescinding the super-emitter program. EDF called it a loophole for high-polluting, low-output sites; industry groups have pushed for easing, and large operators have historically backed durable standards. The proposal lands as methane cuts are the fastest cheap lever on warming, with methane behind about 30 percent of planetary warming to date.