EPA proposes revising 2024 oil-and-gas methane rules, projects $45 billion in savings

Created: 2026-10-28T06:43:00-04:00 (America/New_York)
Last updated: 2026-10-28T06:43:00-04:00 (America/New_York)

In Lubbock, Texas, on Oct. 27, President Trump and EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin announced a proposed rule to revise the Biden administration’s 2024 Clean Air Act standards for methane and other emissions from oil and gas operations (known as OOOOb/c). Trump told the crowd, “I’m officially terminating Biden’s expensive and unnecessary methane regulations” (AP). The document itself is a proposal, which opens a public comment period; it does not end the rules. Most mainstream headlines led with “climate-warming” methane and “loosening” for drillers; the specifics of what changes, and both sides’ cost claims, got less room.

What we can learn from primary-oriented reading

• Bottom line: A proposed rule, not a final one. EPA says comments will be open at least 45 days after Federal Register publication, with a public hearing.
• What EPA says it would change: Rescind the Super Emitter Program (third-party reports of large leaks); create options for a separate category for low-producing “marginal” and conventional wells; return to 95% flaring for associated gas; and give more time to repair covers and closed vent systems (EPA fact sheet).
• The numbers: EPA projects $45 billion in cost savings, about 210 million additional barrels of oil, and 1.41 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. These are the agency’s projections; the full regulatory impact analysis will be the place to test them, including forgone emissions reductions.
• Legal backdrop: Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton had sued over the 2024 rule (Politico). The 2024 standards were themselves the product of notice-and-comment rulemaking; reversing them requires the same process.
• Where this sits: EPA; announced Oct. 27, 2026; Federal Register publication pending.

What questions the legacy media missed

• Proposal vs. “ending”: NPR’s “Trump says he’s ending restrictions” and Fox Business’s “end of Biden-era methane rule” both echo Trump’s word. Neither is accurate yet. The comment record — and likely litigation — come first.
• Adjectives in headline voice: “Climate-warming” (AP/NPR) and “leakiest… off the hook” (Grist) are framing choices. Methane is a potent greenhouse gas; the news is what the rule would change and at what cost.
• The marginal-well question: The Hill noted the changes target low-producing wells that can emit a lot relative to output. That tradeoff — small operators’ compliance costs versus leak rates — is the real policy debate, and few pieces quantified it.
• Whose numbers? The $45 billion figure is EPA’s own projection, repeated in favorable headlines (Fox Business, Free Beacon) without independent review.
• Venue and timing: Politico framed the event around the Texas Senate race. The announcement at a campaign stop a week before the midterms is a fair point to note; it does not change what the proposal contains.

Primary sources

• EPA news release, Oct. 27, 2026
• EPA technical fact sheet on the proposed reconsideration (PDF)

How outlets framed it

Outlet headlines from today’s scout — their words, not ours.

• NPR: “Trump says he’s ending restrictions on climate-warming methane from oil drilling”
• ABC News: “Trump plans to loosen restrictions on methane emissions from oil drilling”
• The New York Times: “E.P.A. Loosens Methane Rules for Oil Firms”
• Grist: “Trump’s EPA is letting America’s leakiest oil and gas companies off the hook”
• The Hill: “Trump plans to loosen methane rules for low-producing, high-emitting oil wells”
• Fox Business: “Trump announces end of Biden-era methane rule, citing $45B in savings”
• Washington Times: “Trump to suspend Biden-era methane rule”