Congress blocks EPA rule charging oil and gas 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
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What it does
Congress stopped an EPA rule about methane charges. The rule would have charged oil and gas companies for methane they released. It also set up ways companies could follow the rule. Now the rule will not happen.
Who it affects
Oil and gas companies no longer have to pay charges for methane emissions. People breathe air affected by methane from these companies.
One thing to notice
The rule is completely blocked. A similar rule cannot come back without Congress approving 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 $1,054,325 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 emissions — Gas released into the air from oil and gas operations.
- 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 14,342 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 2026-09-18.
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