EPA Proposes Comprehensive Reform to New Source Performance Standards and Emission Guidelines for the Crude Oil and Natural Gas Sector

The EPA will hold a public hearing on the proposed rule on November 16, 2026, and is accepting public comments until December 16, 2026.

History of Oil and Gas Regulations in OOOOb and OOOOc
The EPA has regulated volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions from the oil and natural gas sector since 1985. In 2016, it began regulating methane emissions as well, known as OOOOa.

In 2024, the EPA issued a rule intended to reduce emissions of methane and VOCs from oil and gas operations. The 2024 Rule includes standards to reduce emissions, including New Source Performance Standards to reduce methane and smog-forming volatile organic compounds, prohibitions on releasing associated gas from oil wells through a control device or flare, and the Super Emitter Program, which allows third parties to monitor oil and gas sites for emissions.

Since promulgating the 2024 Rule, the EPA has taken steps to reduce compliance burdens. In December 2025, the EPA issued a final rule extending compliance deadlines of the 2024 Rule (known as the Delay Rule). Several environmental groups petitioned the DC Circuit for review of the Delay Rule on the grounds that it is arbitrary and capricious and violates the Clean Air Act’s rulemaking requirements. The court heard oral argument on October 14, 2026.

In April 2026, the EPA issued a final rule revising the temporary flaring provisions, and in May 2026, it issued guidance allowing flaring at new oil wells in limited circumstances. The latest proposed rule includes a more substantial overhaul of the 2024 Rule’s compliance requirements.

Components of the EPA’s Proposed Rule
The proposed rule, if finalized, would rescind the Super Emitter Program, create subcategories of well sites, and revise BSER for gas emissions. It would also reduce other operating and reporting requirements.

Rescinding the Super Emitter Program
The Super Emitter Program allows certified third-party entities to monitor oil and gas sites for large emission events and notify the EPA if they occur. Upon receiving a notification of an emission event, the EPA must notify the owner and require the owner to investigate. The program was intended to serve as a backstop for other regulations requiring emissions monitoring and control.

If finalized, the proposed rule would remove provisions related to the Super Emitter Program not only from OOOOb and OOOOc, but also from the earlier OOOO and OOOOa subparts. The EPA made this proposal based on findings that other emission limitation, monitoring and mitigation requirements are sufficient in controlling large emissions, that reports from third-party entities were ineffective, and that the EPA does not have the legal authority to allow third-party monitoring and reporting.

Creating new subcategories for certain well sites
The proposed rule, if finalized, would create subcategories for certain well sites. The EPA proposed two options for categorization and is soliciting comments to select one: marginal and non-marginal sites, and conventional and non-conventional sites. Under the proposed rule, a marginal well site is a site producing less than or equal to 15 barrels of oil equivalents per day. According to the EPA, 78 percent of existing oil and gas wells in the U.S. are marginal wells. Conventional wells refer to the structure of the well—shallow and drilled vertically—but like marginal wells, conventional wells typically produce less than deeper, non-conventional wells.

Because compliance costs are large for marginal and conventional wells, the EPA proposes to relax regulations on either marginal wells or conventional wells to make compliance less expensive. This includes modified compliance requirements for fugitive component emissions, pumps, associated gas and storage vessels.

Revising best system of emission reduction (BSER) for gas emissions to allow flaring
The EPA is proposing to allow operators to route gas associated with an oil well to a control vent or flare that achieves 95 percent reduction in emissions or greater. This would revise the EPA’s 2024 Rule, which requires operators to recover associated gas to a flow line or collection line, or use it as an onsite fuel source. This proposed change responds to industry concerns that requiring sites to rely on a flow line or collection line to recover gas would raise costs and burden isolated well sites without easy access to a collection line. It also addresses concerns that the 2024 Rule forces oil and gas producers, especially smaller operations, to rely on third-party gathering systems to collect and accept associated gas.

Redefining “no identifiable emissions” (NIE) to add leniency for accidental leaks
The 2024 Rule requires covers and closed vent systems (CVSs) to be designed and operated to comply with NIE, meaning no emissions imaged with an OGI camera. Industry petitioners, however, raised concerns that covers and CVSs are subject to wear and tear, which can cause unintended leaks.

The proposed rule would amend the definition of NIE to mean no emissions or defects, or that if emissions or defects occur, the facility repairs them within the applicable timeframe. The EPA proposes a 24-hour timeframe, or, if repair within 24 hours is not possible, a first attempt at repair within five days. If three emission events occur within one year, the facility must complete an investigative analysis to determine the cause of the defect.

Relaxing other operating and reporting requirements of the 2024 Rule
The proposed rule, if finalized, would reduce compliance requirements for a variety of processes. It would reduce reporting requirements for non-venting liquids unloading well sites and allow the routing of vented gas to temporary control devices. It proposes to amend requirements for zero-emissions process controllers in existing facilities. It seeks to revise the 2024 Rule requiring zero emissions from pumps, instead allowing existing pumps to comply by reducing emissions by 95 percent. It also proposes amendments to parts of the rule governing storage vessels, equipment leaks and control devices, including added flexibility for flame monitoring data deviations and control device alerts.

What is not included?
The EPA has regulated greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, in the form of methane, from the oil and gas sector since 2016, when the EPA recognized GHG as contributing to climate change. This proposed rule does not modify this finding. However, the EPA is undertaking separate and ongoing rulemaking to consider how it will regulate GHGs in the oil and natural gas industry going forward.

As EPA did not propose removing GHG requirements, state plans would still be required under the Clean Air Act. Additionally, the EPA did not change the compliance date for states to submit state plans under OOOOc by January 22, 2027. Therefore, the EPA would need to take another action to provide states additional time to take the new rule into account.

Until a final rule takes effect, the 2024 Rule’s requirements, as modified by the Delay Rule, remain in place, so operators should continue planning for current compliance obligations. Any final rule is likely to face judicial review, with potential challenges focusing on EPA’s explanation for departing from its 2024 findings and the technical and economic support for the revised standards. The final administrative record, including EPA’s responses to comments on emissions, costs, feasibility, and alternative approaches, will be important to the rule’s durability. Operators should consider submitting facility-specific information supporting workable standards and compliance options. Members of the public can submit comments on the proposal until December 16.