EPA head announces oil and gas emission rules rollbacks during visit to Santa Fe

The head of the Environmental Protection Agency announced plans Wednesday for further cancellations of Biden-era oil and gas regulations aimed at reducing emissions of climate-warming gasses while on a visit to New Mexico, as environmental groups protested the proposals. 

EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin announced a second rollback of rules during the annual meeting of the New Mexico Oil and Gas Association.

“Americans must be able to afford to heat their homes in the winter and fill up their car and drive to work. They can’t do that when the people producing the energy are weighed down by unnecessary burdens,” Zeldin said in a statement. “The Trump EPA is committed to fixing this so the U.S. can reach its full energy potential.” 

The 2024 EPA methane rule created performance standards to reduce methane and smog-forming organic compounds from new, modified and reconstructed oil and gas infrastructure. The rule also created a super emitter program to identify and investigate large leaks or releases of methane located at or near an oil and natural gas facility.

During his speech in Santa Fe, Zeldin announced that the EPA is “days, not weeks” from proposing to eliminate the super emitter program. He added the EPA will propose to revisit the overall approach to regulating associated gas from oil wells. 

Groups protesting Wednesday included the Sierra Club Rio Grande chapter; the Environmental Defense Fund; New Mexico Interfaith Power and Light; and Healthy Climate New Mexico. They said the planned revisions will further harm the environment and set back states that have enacted stricter regulations on methane pollution.

Nini Gu, with the Environmental Defense Fund, told Source NM that satellite images from the Delaware subbasin, which covers areas of New Mexico and Texas, showed that New Mexico had 60% less methane pollution than Texas, where operators face weaker emission standards. With the geography and industry being similar in both states, the disparate results are “mainly due to regulations,” Gu said.

Gu highlighted New Mexico’s attempt to codify elements of the 2024 methane rule into state law. In August, the New Mexico Environment Department proposed the creation of a state super emitter program which would identify large methane leaks through satellite and aircraft imagery.

The New Mexico Environmental Improvement Board will host a hearing on the proposal starting on Dec. 1, which Gu said is “an opportunity for New Mexico to codify its own regulations to reduce methane emissions. 

“That can happen in spite of what the EPA does,” Gu said.

The Environmental Defense Fund noted in a statement Wednesday praised Colorado and New Mexico’s work to implement tougher methane standards. 

 “At a time when Americans are facing high energy costs, EPA should not give oil and gas companies more room to waste a domestic resource, adding to the nearly $7 billion in lost energy value since the Administration stopped enforcing key methane protections,” said Jon Goldstein, with the Defense Fund. “Rolling back these safeguards would mean more wasted energy, more methane pollution and greater health risks for communities living near oil and gas operations.” 

Missi Currier, New Mexico Oil and Gas Association president and CEO, told Source NM the organization will carefully review Zeldin’s announcement. 

“NMOGA and our membership support clean, reliable, affordable energy, and practical policies that reduce emissions, protect public health, and provide certainty for energy producers and consumers,” she said.