WASHINGTON — Oil and natural gas companies will have to pay federal fees for the first time if they emit dangerous methane above certain levels, under a final rule announced Tuesday by the Biden administration.

The Environmental Protection Agency rule follows a Congressional directive included in the 2022 climate law. The new fee is intended to encourage the industry to adopt best practices that reduce emissions of methane, the main component of natural gas, and thus avoid paying.

Methane is a climate “super pollutant” that is much more potent than carbon dioxide in the short term and is responsible for around a third of greenhouse gas emissions. The oil and natural gas sector is the largest source of industrial methane emissions in the United States, and advocates say reducing methane emissions is a crucial way to slow climate change.

Related Story: Let’s Give Importance to Innovative Partnerships in the Fight against Climate Change: …

Trump Administration Expected to Object to the Rule

The rule, announced at an international climate conference in Azerbaijan, came a day after President-elect Donald Trump appointed former New York congressman Lee Zeldin to head the agency during Trump’s second term. If confirmed by the Senate, Zeldin is expected to reverse or loosen dozens of environmental regulations approved by President Joe Biden at a time when Trump is trying to establish U.S. “energy dominance” around the world.

Trump is likely to target the methane fee amid a series of expected actions in which he promises to deregulate the oil and gas industry.

Related Story: California’s Switch to Carbon Fuels Could Be a Colossal Disaster

Fee Structure and Application Timeline

As stated by the EPA, excess methane produced in 2024 could result in a charge of $900 per ton; wages will rise to $1,200 per tonne in 2025 and $1,500 per tonne by 2026. may impose a retroactive fee.

The rule will not be finalized until early next year, following its publication in the Federal Register.

The rule will work in conjunction with the new EPA rule on methane emissions implemented this year, EPA Administrator Michael Regan said in a statement. The rule targets the U.S. oil and gas industry for its role in global warming as Biden seeks to secure his legacy on combating climate change.

Regan said the fee, formally known as the Waste Emissions Fee, would encourage early implementation of existing technologies to reduce methane emissions and other harmful air pollutants. He said the fee was “the latest in a series of actions under President Biden’s methane strategy to increase efficiency in the oil and gas sector, support American jobs, protect clean air, and strengthen U.S. leadership on the global stage.”

Related Story: Could Biden declare Shaver Lake a National Monument and say ‘Completely…

Legal Challenges and Industry Response

Industry groups and Republican-led states challenged the earlier methane rule in court, but lost a bid to have the Supreme Court block the rule while the case continued before lower judges.

Opponents argue that the EPA has overstepped its authority and set unattainable standards with new regulations. But the EPA said the rules fell squarely within its legal responsibilities and would protect the public.

Regan and other officials said many major oil and gas companies already meet or exceed methane performance levels set by Congress under climate legislation, meaning they are unlikely to be forced to pay the new fee.

Even so, the EPA estimates that the rule would lead to a reduction in cumulative emissions of 1.2 million metric tons of methane (34 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent) by 2035. This figure is similar to the clean air gains from gas intake of approximately 8 million metric tons. The cars have been off the roads for a year, the EPA said. The cumulative climate benefits could total up to $2 billion, the agency said.

Like the previous methane rule, the new fee faces almost certain challenge from industry groups. The American Petroleum Institute, the oil and gas industry’s largest lobbying group, said the fee “impedes our ability to meet the growing energy needs of American families and businesses and fails to advance meaningful emissions reductions.”

Dustin Meyer, API senior vice president, said the group looks forward to working with the Trump administration and the new Congress to repeal the fee and “do this right.”

Environmental groups welcomed the new fee, saying oil and gas companies should be held accountable for pollution that contributes to global warming. They said oil and gas companies routinely calculate that wasting methane through burning and other techniques is cheaper than making the necessary improvements to prevent leaks.

“As we wait for the next administration to recklessly green-light fossil fuel extraction, it is encouraging to see this effort to make polluters pay for leaking climate superpollutor methane,” said Maggie Coulter, an attorney with the Center for Biological Diversity. group.

“Ultimately, we know that curbing the climate emergency requires a rapid transition away from fossil fuel extraction,” Coulter said. “The oil and gas companies that do so much damage to our climate should be forced to pay for the methane leaks they fail to fix.”