Texas is part of a 23-state coalition suing the Biden administration over a rule that would “unlawfully” tax methane produced by the oil and gas industry.
Attorney General Ken Paxton announced Thursday that he is challenging the Environmental Protection Agency rule—first proposed in January 2024 and officially issued in November of that year. It is now set to take effect on January 17, 2025.
The EPA rule is supposed to correspond with the permittance of a tax on methane—a highly flammable hydrocarbon that is a primary component of natural gas—authorized in the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022.
“Over the past four years[,] I have opposed the Biden Administration more than 100 times to stop its radical attempts to undermine the law. I am positive this last-minute effort to harm the energy industry will be halted as well,” stated Paxton. “In only four days, when President-elect Trump resumes office, America will no longer be burdened by a runaway bureaucracy intent on destroying our liberties.”
The final rule issued by the EPA would force energy producers that exceed 25,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent per year in greenhouse gases to pay the government a “waste emissions charge.”
“Some facilities may have emissions that are below the waste emissions thresholds, and some facilities may have emissions above the thresholds,” acknowledges the final rule, which “allows facilities under common ownership or control to net emissions across those facilities” to reduce or avoid their charges.
Some exemptions also exist. Those include facilities suffering from delays in permitting, facilities in compliance with certain methane emissions requirements, and emissions from wells that are permanently shut in and plugged in.
However, the multi-state coalition argued in its recent petition before the federal court of appeals in Washington, D.C., that the regulations are arbitrary and capricious actions exceeding the EPA’s statutory authority.
Alongside Texas, other state plaintiffs include North Dakota, West Virginia, Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Virginia, and Wyoming.
The petition comes months after Paxton filed a lawsuit in the federal court of appeals in Washington, D.C., over another EPA rule limiting emissions of methane and other compounds by oil and gas facilities.
Small Texas oil producers had expressed concern over how the new rule would affect their operations, causing the Texas Railroad Commission and Commission on Environmental Quality to pursue the challenge.
“The EPA is once again trying to seize regulatory authority that Congress has not granted,” stated Paxton. “I am challenging this blatant overreach by the Biden Administration and will continue to defend vital sectors of the Texas economy.”
