How Does the EPA Methane Fee Affect Natural Gas and Oil Companies?

Oil and natural gas industry groups expressed disappointment with a long-anticipated proposal published this month by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to place a fee on excess methane emissions from large oil and gas operations.

The waste emissions charge (WEC) or methane fee is mandated by the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) of 2022, President Biden’s landmark climate legislation.

The proposed rulemaking would only affect facilities that report annual greenhouse gas emissions of 25,000 tons of carbon dioxide equivalent or more. The WEC would only apply to emissions that exceed the levels set by Congress, and that are not exempt from the charge, regulators said.

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