Oct 7 (Reuters) – The US Environmental Protection Agency on Wednesday said it is days away from proposing to rescind a Biden-era policy that sought to rein in large leaks of methane, a potent greenhouse gas, from oil and gas operations.
The move is part of a broad Trump administration effort to slash regulations that it says burden US businesses as it seeks to boost domestic fossil fuel production.
“Americans must be able to afford to heat their homes in the winter and fill up their car and drive to work. They can’t do that when the people producing the energy are weighed down by unnecessary burdens,” EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin said in a statement.
EPA said its proposal would save $45 billion a year.
EPA’s “super emitter” program requires companies to react when third parties report suspected methane leaks using remote sensing.
Methane is the second-biggest cause of climate change after carbon dioxide, and the oil and gas industry is a major source of the gas.
(Reporting by Nichola Groom; Editing by Nia Williams and Cynthia Osterman)
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