Congress blocks EPA rule charging oil and gas companies for methane
H.J.Res. 35 — Providing for congressional disapproval under chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code, of the rule submitted by the Environmental Protection Agency relating to "Waste Emissions Charge for Petroleum and Natural Gas Systems: Procedures for Facilitating Compliance, Including Netting and Exemptions". · Filed by August Pfluger (R-TX) · 19 cosponsors · Introduced Feb 4, 2025 · Signed
Your members of Congress
Enter a ZIP to see where your representative and both senators stood on this bill.
Looked up on this device — your ZIP is never stored on our servers.
What it does
Congress stopped an EPA rule using a special law. The rule would have charged oil and gas companies money for methane they release. It also set up ways for companies to comply. Now the rule will not go into effect.
Who it affects
Oil and gas companies no longer have to pay the charge. People who breathe air lose a tool meant to reduce methane pollution.
One thing to notice
Congress blocked the charge and all the procedures for how companies could comply with it.
From the analysis of the bill text, linked under Primary records below.
Where it stands
19 cosponsors: 19 Republicans.
- Feb 4, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
- Feb 4, 2025 — Referred to House Committee on Energy and Commerce · Congress.gov: “Referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce”
- Feb 26, 2025 — Passed the House · Congress.gov: “On passage Passed by the Yeas and Nays: 220 - 206, 1 Present (Roll no. 52). (text: CR H846)”
- Feb 27, 2025 — Passed both chambers · Congress.gov: “Passed/agreed to in Senate: Received in the Senate, read twice, considered, read the third time, and passed…”
- Mar 4, 2025 — Sent to president · Congress.gov: “Presented to President”
- Mar 14, 2025 — Signed into law · Congress.gov: “Became Public Law No: 119-2”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
Money around this bill
5 groups reported lobbying about this bill. They filed 10 reports from Dec 2025 to Jun 2026.
Those reports show $55,900,000 in lobbying spending. Each report lists about 30 bills. So that money was not all for this bill.
More groups named this bill than 78% of bills with any report.
August Pfluger, who sponsored the bill, received $1,092,825 from PACs for the 2026 election.
- Chamber of Commerce of the U.S.A. — $54,660,000 in 3 reports
- Independent Petroleum Association of America — $500,000 in 2 reports
- Oneok Inc. — $460,000 in 2 reports
- Southern Environmental Law Center — $200,000 in 2 reports
- Sierra Club — $80,000 in 1 report
Lobbying is legal. These reports show who lobbied about this bill, not what changed.
Words to know
- methane — A gas released into the air from oil and gas operations.
- comply — To follow a rule or law.
- procedures — The steps and rules for how something must be done.
- lobbying — Trying to influence lawmakers about a bill. Companies and groups pay people to do this.
- PACs — Groups that collect money and give it to candidates for office.
- sponsored — To sponsor a bill is to introduce it in Congress and put your name on it.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (1,321 characters) on Jun 3, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 16,778 analysed bills.
Status and sponsors — Congress.gov's bill record — actions, committee referrals and cosponsors — loaded nightly. The timeline shows status changes, not every procedural action.
Money — Senate Lobbying Disclosure Act filings whose specific-issue field names this bill for quarters ending Dec 2025 to Jun 2026. A filing's amount is reported whole beside the median number of bills a filing names; it is never divided across them. PAC receipts are FEC-reported contributions to the sponsor's candidate committee in the 2026 cycle.
As of — lobbying records through Jul 20, 2026 · page rendered 2026-11-02.
“Congress blocks EPA rule charging oil and gas companies for methane” QuorumCivic. https://share.quorumcivic.app/bill/119/hjres35/simple Report an error
The week in bills
One email, Sunday: what Congress passed, what it changed, and who paid.
One link arrives to confirm the address. It is used for this email and nothing else, and every issue carries an unsubscribe link.