WASHINGTON – Oil and natural gas companies will for the first time have to pay a federal fee if they emit dangerous methane above certain levels under a rule the Biden administration is making final.

The Environmental Protection Agency rule follows a congressional directive included in the 2022 climate law. The new fee aims to encourage the industry to adopt better practices that reduce emissions of methane (the main component of natural gas) and thus avoid paying.

Methane is a climate “super pollutant” that is much more potent in the short term than carbon dioxide and is responsible for about a third of greenhouse gas emissions. The oil and natural gas sector is the largest industrial source of methane emissions in the United States, and advocates say reducing methane emissions is a crucial way to curb climate change.

The rule, to be announced Tuesday at an international climate conference in Azerbaijan, comes hours after President-elect Donald Trump named former New York congressman Lee Zeldin to lead the agency in Trump’s second term. If confirmed by the Senate, Zeldin is expected to take steps to roll back or relax dozens of environmental regulations passed during Joe Biden’s presidency as Trump seeks to establish US “energy dominance” around the world.

Trump is likely to target the methane tariff amid a series of expected actions he has promised to deregulate the oil and gas industry.

As outlined by the EPA, excess methane produced in 2024 could result in a fee of $900 per ton, with fees rising to $1,200 per ton in 2025 and $1,500 per ton by 2026. Industry groups are likely to challenge the rule, including any effort to impose a retroactive fee.

The rule will not become final until early next year, following its publication in the Federal Register.

EPA Administrator Michael Regan said in a statement that the rule will work in conjunction with a new EPA rule on methane emissions imposed this year. The rule targets the U.S. oil and natural gas industry for its role in global warming as Biden seeks to secure his legacy in the fight against climate change.

The fee, formally known as the Waste Emissions Charge, will encourage early deployment of available technologies to reduce emissions of methane and other harmful air pollutants, Regan said. The tariff “is the latest in a series of actions under President Biden’s methane strategy to improve efficiency in the oil and gas sector, support American jobs, protect clean air, and reinforce U.S. leadership in the global scenario,” he said.

Republican-led states and industry groups have challenged the previous methane rule in court, but lost a bid to have the Supreme Court block the rule while the case continues before lower-level judges.

Opponents argue that the EPA overstepped its authority and set standards unattainable under the new regulations. However, the EPA said the rules are within its legal responsibilities and would protect the public.

Many large oil and gas companies already meet or exceed methane performance levels set by Congress under the climate law, meaning they are unlikely to be forced to pay the new fee, Regan and other officials said. .

Still, the EPA estimates that the rule will result in cumulative emissions reductions of 1.2 million metric tons of methane (34 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent) through 2035. That figure is similar to the gains in air clean by taking almost 8 million tons of gas. -Cars with engines out of circulation for one year, the EPA said. Cumulative climate benefits could total up to $2 billion, the agency said.

Like the previous methane rule, the new tariff faces an almost certain legal challenge from industry groups. The American Petroleum Institute, the oil and gas industry’s largest lobbying group, called the proposed tariff earlier this year a “punitive tax increase” that “undermines America’s energy advantage.”

API said it looks forward to working with Congress to repeal the “misguided new tax on American energy.”

Environmental groups, for their part, have praised the impending methane tariff, saying oil and gas companies should be held accountable for pollution that contributes to global warming. Oil and gas companies routinely calculate that it is cheaper to waste methane through flaring and other techniques than to make the necessary improvements to prevent leaks, they said.

The EPA said it expects that over time, fewer oil and gas companies will be charged for excess methane as they reduce emissions under the rule.