Washington, D.C. — House Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) and Environment, Manufacturing, and Critical Materials Subcommittee Chair Bill Johnson (R-OH) today sent a letter to U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Michael Regan requesting additional information regarding how new methane regulations will hurt American families and further weaken America’s energy independence. This letter follows up on a previous letter sent to the EPA on June 9, 2023. 

KEY LETTER EXCERPT:

“Within the next year, the EPA is planning to finalize multiple connected regulatory actions that will increase costs and reduce the production of American energy. Energy prices are projected to rise for American families because of new methane regulations, expanded emissions monitoring and reporting requirements, and a new tax on methane […] the EPA’s expanded regulatory burden creates substantial legal and regulatory uncertainty, and the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) determined that a tax on methane emissions will increase operational costs, reduce energy production, and increase the price of natural gas.

“The scope, timeline, and legal durability of the EPA’s regulatory actions are unclear, and several of the questions in our June 2023 letter remain unanswered. What is known is that thousands of American jobs and billions of dollars in local economic development could be impacted by the EPA’s actions. Global supply chains remain disrupted, and record inflation has increased prices for equipment and services across the energy sector. If the EPA’s scope and compliance timelines do not account for these realities, it could force energy producers to shut in existing production and lay off workers. We are concerned that small businesses and independent energy producers, who are significant contributors to local economies, could suffer the most.”  

The Chairs requested Administrator Regan provide the following information by November 22, 2023: 

1. Please provide an update on the status and timeline of the proposed regulations under Section 111 (b) and (d) of the CAA.  
2. Please provide an update on the status and timeline or the EPA’s plans to expand reporting requirements Subpart W of 40 C.F.R. Part 98.  
3. Please provide an update on the status and timeline on the EPA’s enforcement of the methane tax under the Methane Emissions and Waste Productive Incentive Program.  
4. The EPA’s planned methane regulations, reporting requirements, and taxes are integrally connected.  How does the EPA expect energy producers to plan for compliance with the new methane tax on January 1, 2024, given that the EPA has not finalized the methane regulations and reporting requirements?   
5. How does the EPA interpret the statutory exemptions to the methane tax?  
6. Please explain how the EPA has complied with the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act (SBREFA) with respect to these various methane proposals. 
7. How is the EPA accounting for supply chain disruptions and inflationary cost increases?   
8. Does the EPA anticipate that new methane regulations will increase prices and reduce the availability of necessary emissions control equipment, such as pneumatics, monitoring devices, and storage vessels? What types of equipment are most difficult to obtain and what are the causes of the supply chain disruptions? How much of the equipment used for methane emissions control and monitoring is domestically produced, and how much is imported? Which countries does the U.S. rely on for imported methane emissions control and monitoring equipment? 
9. Did the EPA review the operator survey of supply chain delays for equipment needed for the EPA Proposed New Source Performance Standards (NSPS) OOOOb Methane Rule?  Please summarize EPA’s response to the concerns raised in the survey and describe how EPA is incorporating data that indicates backorder times for components necessary for compliance could exceed 24 months.

CLICK HERE to read the full letter to Administrator Regan. 

CLICK HERE to read the previous letter Chairs Rodgers and Johnson sent to Administrator Regan on the EPA’s new methane regulations on June 9, 2023.