Republicans Introduce Bills to Exempt Small Oil and Gas Wells from EPA Emissions Rules

A group of Republican lawmakers plans to introduce identical bills in the House and Senate on Thursday that would exempt small oil and gas producers from certain federal air pollution standards. The legislation, titled the Protect Domestic Oil and Gas Small Business Act of 2026, would amend the Clean Air Act to remove Environmental Protection Agency requirements for monitoring, reporting, detecting, and repairing leaks of greenhouse gases such as methane at qualifying sites.

The exemption would apply only to marginal wells.

An oil well site qualifies if it produces an average of 15 barrels of oil or oil equivalent per day or less. A natural gas site qualifies if it produces an average of 90,000 cubic feet or less per day. If enacted, the bill would prevent the EPA from requiring these small producers to estimate or measure emissions or conduct fugitive emissions surveys.

States would also be barred from applying such standards to these wells in their implementation plans.

Statements from Sponsors Rep.

August Pfluger (R-TX) said the measure would help keep small producers in business and protect American jobs. "America's energy security depends on the strength of our domestic production, and small producers are a critical part of that equation," Pfluger said in a statement.

Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) said the current rules impose blanket federal regulations that were never designed for small operators.

The bills have been endorsed by the Petroleum Association of Wyoming, the Independent Petroleum Association of America, the National Stripper Well Association, and the Texas Alliance of Energy Producers. Data from the Rocky Mountain Institute shows there are roughly 576,249 marginal wells in the United States, representing more than 70 percent of all wells but only about 5 percent of annual production.

The EPA has cited research indicating that low-production well sites account for around 50 percent of methane emissions from oil and gas operations. The legislation follows a recent EPA proposal to repeal greenhouse gas emissions standards for fossil fuel-fired power plants under the same section of the Clean Air Act.