On July 28, 2025, the EPA issued an interim final rule extending compliance deadlines for methane pollution reduction requirements under the Biden-era Clean Air Act rules for oil and natural gas operations (known as OOOOb/c). The original compliance deadline of March 2026 was pushed to January 2027, giving operators an additional 18 months.
Pollution Impact
By the EPA's own calculations in the interim final rule fact sheet, the delay will result in an additional 3.8 million tons of methane emissions from 2028-2038 -- equivalent to the greenhouse gas emissions from nearly 25 million gasoline-powered passenger vehicles driven for one year. The delay will also produce 960,000 additional tons of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and 36,000 tons of toxic air pollutants.
What Was Delayed
The rule extended deadlines for requirements related to control devices, equipment leaks, storage vessels, process controllers, and covers/closed vent systems. It also delayed implementation of a program allowing EPA-approved third parties to report potential large methane leaks and extended the deadline for states to submit methane reduction plans for existing sources.
Industry Capture
Critics noted the irony that many oil and gas operators had already been complying with these requirements for nearly a year, investing in methane reduction technology to meet the original standards. The delay was characterized by environmental groups as fulfilling an explicit oil and gas industry request, with the Sierra Club calling it "indefensible and illegal." A final rule formalizing the delays was published in the Federal Register on December 3, 2025.