The Senate on Thursday cleared legislation that would repeal a Biden administration regulation charging oil and gas producers a fee on methane emission leaks for President Trump’s signature.
And the House passed legislation to roll back a regulation setting energy efficiency standards for new gas tankless water heaters, sending it to the Senate.
The votes are the latest in a flurry of activity this week from Republicans using the Congressional Review Act to target energy regulations they argue cause a cost rise on producers and manufacturers that are passed onto consumers in the form of inflation.
The Republican-controlled Congress can use the CRA to advance joint resolutions of disapproval repealing Biden administration rules finalized since August — if they move in the next few months.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, Louisiana Republican, said the CRA measures advanced this week “support President Trump in undoing the damage of the Biden administration’s war on American energy.”
The joint resolution to repeal the Environmental Protection Agency’s methane emission fee rule is the first to pass both chambers.
The 52-47 Senate vote fell along party lines, but the 220-206 House vote drew support from six Democrats and opposition from one Republican.
The fee started at $900 per metric ton of reported methane emissions in 2024 and would have cranked up to $1,500 per metric ton in 2026.
“This tax would increase costs for energy producers and limit energy production, leading to higher utility bills for many Americans,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune, South Dakota Republican, said, adding that it also threatened tens of thousands of jobs in natural gas-rich states like Pennsylvania, New Mexico, Texas and North Dakota.
Sen. John Hoeven, the North Dakota Republican who authored the Senate’s version, said the methane fee will be “a dead dog” as long as Mr. Trump is in office, but he still wants to go after the underlying law in the Inflation Reduction Act that created the fee so a future administration can’t resurrect it.
Senate Democrats decried the GOP effort to repeal the fee, saying methane is dangerous, poisonous and explosive and the greenhouse gas poses a climate and public health threat.
Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, Rhode Island Democrat, said methane released into the atmosphere is 80 times more dangerous than carbon dioxide. He said the oil and gas industry disclosed to the EPA that it was leaking 8 million tons of methane, but satellite readings confirmed the amount was four times that.
Instead of showing corporate responsibility, oil and gas companies sought a “hall pass from Republicans in Congress, hall pass from the Trump administration so that they can continue to leak to their hearts’ content,” Mr. Whitehouse said.
The House CRA measure to repeal an Energy Department rule from the Biden administration that requires higher energy efficiency standards for gas-fired hot water heaters passed 221-198, with 11 Democrats joining all but two Republicans in support.
“This is a major step toward prioritizing consumer choice, protecting natural gas appliances, keeping prices affordable and undoing the damage inflicted on the American people by the Biden-Harris administration for the past four years,” said Alabama GOP Rep. Gary Palmer, who authored the legislation.
Reps. Russell Fry of South Carolina and Derrick Van Orden of Wisconsin were the two Republicans who voted no.
House Energy and Commerce Committee Republicans said 40% of customers affected by the rule would see a net cost increase, and for those who would not, the savings are minimal, averaging $5.60 per year.
But outside groups like the Consumer Federation of America and the Appliance Standards Awareness Project pushed back, saying many households will see increased costs if the rule is repealed.
The groups said about 60% of new tankless gas water heaters sold today already meet the new standards, which aren’t set to take effect until 2029. They cited Energy Department data saying the standards will require the tankless heaters to use 13% less energy, saving households an average of $112 versus today’s least efficient models.
“The House put the interests of one manufacturer and a group of gas utilities ahead of American families today,” said Andrew deLaski, executive director of the Appliance Standards Awareness Project.
He was referring to Rinnai, a Japanese multinational company, as the sole manufacturer that has lobbied against the standards alongside gas utility trade associations and tried to block the Energy Department rule. The company has estimated it would have to spend $15 million to retrofit a plant that produces models that don’t meet the standards.
• Lindsey McPherson can be reached at lmcpherson@washingtontimes.com.