A measure to repeal a Biden-era methane emissions fee for oil and gas producers cleared its final congressional hurdle on Thursday, with the U.S. Senate voting to overturn one of the previous White House’s signature climate-related regulations.
The Senate’s resolution was passed largely along party lines on Feb. 27, aside from one Republican not voting, after the House passed a similar measure on Wednesday. It now heads to President Donald Trump for his signature.
The House vote was 220–206–1, with six Democrats voting with nearly every Republican in favor of the measure, as one Republican voted against it. One Democrat also voted present.
The methane fee, originally mandated in the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act, was designed to encourage companies to curb emissions of methane, a potent greenhouse gas that traps heat in the atmosphere at a rate significantly higher than carbon dioxide over short timescales.
Under the Environmental Protection Agency plan, which was finalized in November, facilities emitting more than 25,000 tons of carbon dioxide equivalent per year would have been required to pay a charge for their methane leaks. The fee began at $900 per metric ton in 2024, increased to $1,200 in 2025, and was set to reach $1,500 in 2026 and beyond.
The Senate resolution nullifies that plan, drawing praise from some in the oil and gas industry, who have argued that it would act as a punitive tax on producers already under federal oversight.
“The Biden Administration and Democrats in Congress passed the methane tax to single out and punish the oil and natural gas industry despite its already burdensome [Environmental Protection Agency] regulatory framework,” Independent Petroleum Association of America President Jeff Eshelman said in a statement.
“The tax was passed without appropriate understanding of its impact or industry safeguards. IPAA has always opposed the methane tax and believes it is simply a tax designed to hamper American oil and gas production. With the passage of H.J.Res.35 in both the House and Senate, IPAA urges quick action by President Trump to sign this resolution and will work with his Administration to eliminate this unnecessary tax on American oil and natural gas producers as soon as possible.”
Methane is the second-most prevalent greenhouse gas behind carbon dioxide, according to Reuters, and it can leak into the atmosphere undetected from drill sites and infrastructure.
Lawmakers who supported the methane fee maintained that it was necessary to lower America’s climate impact and ensure that oil and gas producers handled their emissions responsibly.
Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), a leading Democrat on the Senate environment committee, said the resolution to repeal the fee would raise energy prices and weaken environmental quality for consumers.
The Environmental Defense Fund condemned the repeal votes in a statement on Thursday.
“This repeal only benefits those oil and gas companies that have failed to meet the industry’s own pollution reduction targets,” the statement said. “Methane leaks from the oil and gas industry are a huge waste of valuable energy resources. The methane polluter fee is a well-designed, practical, cost-effective solution to reduce wasted natural gas. These attacks on the methane polluter fee will create uncertainty for oil and gas producers, waste America’s natural resources, and harm Americans’ health and the economy.”
The House and Senate approved the repeal using the Congressional Review Act (CRA) to scrap the methane charge. The CRA allows Congress to reverse new federal rules with a simple majority, effectively overturning the escalating charge on oil and gas producers set by the agency they have called a tax.
If formally signed by Trump, overturning the methane fee marks the first significant legislative rollback of one of the Biden administration’s environmental initiatives.
Reuters contributed to this report.
