EPA weakens methane rule, lets oil companies flare gas 72 hours

EPA Administrator LZLee Zeldin signed the final rule on April 4, 2026, extending the flaring window from 24 to 72 hours. The Biden rule required operators to detect and fix methane leaks within . That financial pain—lost production, lost revenue—forced companies to invest in leak detection and capture equipment. Zeldin's rule removes that pain. Operators can now flare for . And if bad weather, equipment breaks down, or workers call in sick, they can flare indefinitely with . There's no cost to companies anymore. The incentive to invest in pollution controls disappears.

The Trump administration estimates for the oil and gas sector, or . This is the cost companies avoid by not investing in pollution controls. The cost doesn't disappear. It transfers. . . . Zeldin's rule shifts the bill from industry to the people breathing the air.

EPA Administrator MRMichael Regan finalized the original methane rule on . It was the first federal rule to regulate methane emissions from existing oil and gas operations nationwide. The rule's mechanism was simple: detect leaks, repair them within 24 hours, or shut down the well. , equivalent to removing the emissions impact of . EPA also projected .

. Over 100 years, it's . The climate difference matters: methane breaks down in about while CO2 persists for centuries. Cutting methane now produces measurable climate effects in our lifetimes. When companies flare natural gas instead of capturing it, they release volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and benzene, a carcinogen. , with disproportionate burden on low-income communities and communities of color.

Zeldin's rule extends flaring time from 24 to 72 hours. That's three times longer. For an operator processing one million barrels of oil daily, with associated natural gas flaring, into the air instead of capturing it. A per facility. A shutdown costs production revenue. With 72 hours instead of 24, most operators choose flaring. They avoid the capital investment. Fenceline residents breathe more methane and VOCs as a result.

The rule includes an . Operators can flare beyond 72 hours for extreme weather, supply chain disruptions, equipment failures, or staffing shortages. There is no defined time limit. There is no requirement for EPA pre-approval. There is no requirement for advance notification. This effectively creates an unlimited flaring exemption. Environmental Defense Fund senior attorney TCTomás Carbonell said the exception .

A separate EPA interim final rule issued in July 2025 delayed implementation of the Biden rule for 18 months. That delay alone is projected to result in , plus . . The 18-month delay extends the timeline for these health protections, meaning additional years of children experiencing respiratory attacks, wheezing, and emergency room visits.

The April 4 methane rule change is one of between January and April 2026. They include Biden-era vehicle emission standards, power plant carbon limits, and the endangerment finding itself. Zeldin announced in March 2026 that EPA would that established greenhouse gases as a threat to public health. That finding has been under the Clean Air Act since 2009. At least . The April 4 methane rollback gives those same challengers a second legal target.