API Statement On House Energy & Commerce Reconciliation Proposal

American Petroleum Institute (API) President and CEO Mike Sommers issued the following statement after the House Energy and Commerce Committee released its proposed markup of the 2025 tax reconciliation bill, which includes a 10-year pause of the EPA’s Waste Emissions Charge (WEC) established under the Inflation Reduction Act as well as innovative permitting solutions:

“We applaud the House Energy and Commerce Committee for taking an important first step toward abolishing the ‘methane fee’ while also advancing important progress on permitting for infrastructure and U.S. LNG. We look forward to working with the EPA and Congress to ensure a smart regulatory framework for continued American energy development, and we hope that the final package includes the permanent repeal of this punitive tax.”

The WEC rule is redundant and penalizes early adopters of methane-cutting technologies. U.S. oil and natural gas producers are already regulated under EPA methane standards. U.S. methane emissions declined by 42 percent from 2015-23 while production increased by 51 percent.

About API
API represents all segments of America’s natural gas and oil industry, which supports nearly 11 million U.S. jobs and is backed by a growing grassroots movement of millions of Americans. Our approximately 600 members produce, process and distribute the majority of the nation’s energy, and participate in API Energy Excellence, which is accelerating environmental and safety progress by fostering new technologies and transparent reporting. API was formed in 1919 as a standards-setting organization and has developed more than 800 standards to enhance operational and environmental safety, efficiency and sustainability.