WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND) joined his colleagues on the Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee in writing a letter to Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Michael Regan, calling for the agency to reconsider its August 1, 2023 proposed rule on methane emissions reporting. This proposed rule, more commonly known as “subpart W” of the Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program (GHGRP), excessively increases the tax burden on North Dakota’s energy producers under the new Methane Emissions Reduction Program (MERP) established in the Inflation Reduction Act.
The letter states EPA’s proposed subpart W revisions “blatantly disregard and overstep even the partisan mandates of the statute as enacted” and will “excessively increase the tax burden on American energy under the new MERP.”
“The proposal would not only radically expand the scope of emissions required to be reported by each facility under the GHGRP, but also unduly expand the number of facilities that are covered by subpart W and thus liable for the methane tax,” the senators wrote. “If finalized as proposed, it is likely that the revisions would artificially overestimate U.S. methane emissions.”
This rule makes it more difficult and expensive to produce, transport, and consume American energy, and inevitably passes these costs on to consumers.
“The EPA must significantly revise the proposal to establish a pathway to allow every facility subject to reporting under subpart W the option of using demonstrated empirical methods to calculate their liability for the methane tax as an alternative to previous emission factors, without undue preference for a particular methodology,” the senators continued.
The letter was led by U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), Ranking Member of the EPW Committee. Additional cosigners include U.S. Senators Markwayne Mullin (R-OK), Pete Ricketts (R-NE), and Dan Sullivan (R-AK).
Click here to read the letter.