July 12, 2021
Rolling Back the Rollbacks: Congressional Resolution Reinstates Methane Regulations for the Oil and Gas Industry
Client Alert
On June 25, 2021, in a significant repudiation of former President Trump’s environmental legacy, the U.S. Congress voted to partially reverse a rollback of regulations on methane from oil and gas operations (the “Resolution”). The Resolution was issued pursuant to the Congressional Review Act, a once-obscure law that allows Congress to reverse rules enacted within the past 60 legislative days with a simple majority vote in each chamber. The Resolution restores key provisions of the Obama-era New Source Performance Standards (“NSPS”) Subparts OOOO and OOOOa, and was signed into law by President Biden on June 30, 2021.