Washington— The Supreme Court on Friday allowed the Biden administration to continue implementing, for now, new rules aimed at curbing emissions of the greenhouse gas methane from new and existing oil and gas facilities.
The high court rejected requests from nearly half of the states and industry groups to put the measure on hold from the Environmental Protection Agency while the legality process continues. No dissents noted.
The measure is one of the initiatives of the Biden administration aimed at tackling climate change. Two other new rules from the EPA also face court challenges, including strict restrictions on greenhouse gas emissions from coal-fired power plants.
EPA’s methane rule
The rule at issue in this case was finalized in December and takes direct aim at the oil and gas industry, which the EPA says is the “largest source of industrial methane pollution” in the country. The measure, which took effect in May, sets emissions standards and guidelines for volatile organic compounds, or VOCs, methane and fumes, from new and existing oil and gas wells.
In addition to performance standards to reduce air pollution from new facilities, the measure provides a procedure for states to submit to the EPA implementation plans for existing wells to reduce methane emissions.
EPA’s methane emissions guidelines include “model rules” that include “presumptive standards for designated facilities.” Each state must create a plan that is “at least as protective as the model rule,” or be subject to separate regulations involving a variance process, according to the EPA.
Known as a “super pollutant,” methane is more potent than carbon dioxide and is responsible for about one-third of the global warming caused by greenhouse gases, according to the EPA. The Biden administration has argued that cutting methane quickly and clearly could create immediate and significant benefits in reducing the rate of global warming.
But soon after the rule was published, 23 states and the Arizona legislature, as well as oil and gas companies and industry groups, challenged the measure in a federal appeals court in Washington, DC, and asked them to stop the enforcement during the trial.
A three-judge panel of the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit unanimously rejected the request to suspend the rule, finding that the challengers failed to satisfy the requirements for a stay during its review.
State and industry associations then sought emergency relief from the Supreme Court, arguing that the rules violated the Clean Air Act.
The gas companies say the rule is an “authoritarian national command” from the EPA that usurps state authority to set performance standards for methane and VOCs for oil and gas facilities. The states, accused the EPA of trying to use provisions of the Clean Air Act to unlawfully attack the oil and gas industry.
The states say that requiring a “presumptive standard,” the rule would reduce oil and gas production, forcing many wells to be shut down.
But the Biden administration told the Supreme Court by filing that the methane emissions guidelines for state regulations on existing wells were valid and consistent with the Clean Air Act. The “presumptive standard” included in the emissions guidelines does not prevent states from using their own approach, but provides a reliable model, administration officials said.
Attorney General Elizabeth Prelogar, who represented the government before the Supreme Court, said the state has misunderstood what is required in the plan, and warned that any postponement of the rules will significantly harm the government and society.
“Climate change is the most important environmental challenge in the country; the main cause of climate change is the accumulation of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere; methane is a very powerful greenhouse gas that causes climate change and also causes ozone at ground level; and the oil and gas industry is the largest emitter of industrial methane in the United States,” the Justice Department said in a Supreme Court filing.
The Biden administration warned that pausing the rule would delay the “substantial” reductions in methane emissions the EPA is seeking, harming public health.
The Supreme Court’s order comes after a series of recent rulings that have limited efforts by the EPA to keep the nation’s air and water clean. In June, the high court split 5-4 in favor block agency the so-called “good neighbor” plan, which aims to prevent air pollution and deal with harmful smog.
Last year, that was curbed the EPA’s authority to manage certain wetlands under the Clean Water Act. In June 2022, the high court found Congress does not provide EPA authority under the Clean Air Act to set emission caps based on the generation shift approach implemented through the Clean Power Plan rule.
