EPA Proposes Changes To OOOOb/c Oil & Gas Industry Methane Reduction Rules To Help Reduce Burdens On Oil & Gas Industry; Over 99% Of PA Conventional Well Owners Failed To Comply With DEP's 2022 Methane Rules

Posted Wednesday, October 28, 2026 7:16 am

David E. Hess (via PA Environmental Digest)

On October 27, the US Environmental Protection Agency announced changes to the OOOOb/c regulations designed to reduce methane emissions from oil and gas operations.

In particular, EPA highlighted the changes designed to benefit marginal well owners-- conventional oil and gas wells.

EPA is proposing two options to create separate categories and standards for well sites to make sure the regulations are workable for different types of wells.

The first option would categorize well sites by production level, marginal or non-marginal (conventional wells). The second option would categorize them by resource type, conventional or unconventional.

Before this proposed change, both conventional and unconventional oil and gas wells had to meet the same reduction requirements.

EPA will hold a 45-day public comment period, including a public hearing on the proposed changes.

Click Here for the EPA announcement.

PA Conventional Well Owners Fail To Comply

DEP adopted methane reduction regulations in 2022 covering both conventional oil and gas and unconventional shale gas facilities.

DEP said 80% of the expected methane reductions and 76% of the volatile organic reductions from the regulations would come from conventional oil and gas wells complying with the new requirements. Read more here.

In November 2025, DEP reported 99.3% of conventional oil and gas facility owners failed to comply with a 2022 DEP regulation to reduce methane and volatile organic compound emissions from their oil and gas facilities, in response to questions from PA Environment Digest.

DEP said 32 [0.65%] of the approximately 4,960 conventional oil and gas well facility owners did submit reports covering approximately 36,400 [36%] out of the 101,000 wells required to report. Read more here.

Conventional Wells Built To Vent Methane

In December 2025, representatives of the conventional oil and gas industry told DEP at the PA Grade Crude [Oil] Development Advisory Council--

“A very large proportion, perhaps as high as 95% of Pennsylvania conventional gas wells and Pennsylvania conventional oil wells and oil/gas wells which are constructed with a production string of casing, are purposely constructed as to allow the release of methane which methane may not be a steady flow and are constructed that way by regulation.

“Further, the Pennsylvania mechanical integrity process contemplates this construction.” Read more here.

Conventional Wells Supply Less Than 1% Of Gas

Conventional gas wells produce around 46,400,000 Mcf of gas annually according to industry reports to DEP, but that’s less than 0.6% of all natural gas production in the state and falling, according to the FracTracker Alliance.

The Independent Fiscal Office does not report on natural gas production from conventional gas wells in its quarterly natural gas reports because it is insignificant compared to shale gas production-- about 7,712,000,000 Mcf.

Conventional oil wells produce roughly 800,000 to 920,000 barrels of oil annually in Pennsylvania, based on industry reports to DEP and the FracTracker Alliance.

Most of the oil is used for high-value lubricants and speciality products.

US production of crude oil is about 14 million barrels per day-- PA production is roughly 2,520 barrels per day (0.018%).

DEP Developing New Regs

In May 2025, DEP proposed a plan for implementing EPA’s original OOOOb/c oil and gas methane emissions reduction rule using general permits. Read more here.

In April 2026, DEP said it received more than 10,000 comments on the proposed plan and that it was reevaluating its plan. Read more here.

Comments from industry and many from environmental groups said DEP should adopt its own regulations, but for different reasons.

Industry suggested a Pennsylvania rule was needed to tailor the emission reduction standards to meet the needs of the conventional oil and gas well owners, versus the unconventional shale gas drillers they said had very different operations.

In July 2026, the Governor’s Office announced in the PA Bulletin DEP would be adopting its own oil and gas methane regulations to meet the EPA OOOOb/c regulation requirements. Read more here.

DEP laid out its plan for developing the regulation at an August 6 Air Quality Technical Advisory Committee meeting. Read more here.

DEP said it would be submitting a plan to comply with OOOOb/c to EPA in January, however with the changes EPA is now proposing it is unclear whether that will happen.

Reactions

Dr. Rev. Jessica Moerman, President and CEO of the Evangelical Environmental Network, issued the following statement in response to the EPA action--

“Families in oil and gas country should not have to wonder what is leaking from the wells and equipment near their homes, churches, and schools.

“Weakening methane pollution protections means this worry remains a reality.

“Leaking methane is not only a wasted product. The same leaks can carry benzene, and other harmful pollutants linked to cancer and birth defects, into the air that children and seniors breathe.

“Just as we expect restaurants to be inspected for proper practices to keep our food safe, we believe the same principle applies to the oil and gas sites in our neighborhoods.

“Leak monitoring and prompt repair are necessary practices to keep our families safe and stop our valuable natural resources from going to waste.

“Pollution safeguards that cut waste and protect health are good for families, good for communities, and good stewardship of God’s bounty.

“American families are justified in asking the EPA why it is wasting our taxpayer dollars on eliminating cost-effective methane pollution protections instead of directing its time and our money toward building upon positive first steps to address new and emerging health toxins, like microplastics in drinking water.”

In response to the EPA announcement, Flora Cardoni from PennEnvironment, issued this statement--

“The PennEnvironment Research & Policy Center is disappointed with the proposed EPA rollback of critical protections for air pollution -- as every Pennsylvanian should be.

"We know that Pennsylvanians from all walks of life want clean air and to reduce the pollution plaguing their communities and putting their families and loved ones at risk.

“Making sure that frackers and the oil and gas industry don't pollute with impunity is good policy and good for our health. It's something Pennsylvanians support and expect.

"This misguided plan will make it all the more difficult to address the threats posed by climate change.

“After a summer of extreme weather events from torrential downpours and suffocating heatwaves to wildfire smoke, it's clear we need to reduce climate pollution.

"While the federal government may be moving backward, we applaud Pennsylvania DEP for picking up the slack and proposing new, stronger standards at the state level to rein in pollution from fracking and the oil and gas industry."

PennEnvironment noted-- "Low-producing wells produce only 1% of Pennsylvania's natural gas but are responsible for around half the industry’s emissions of harmful methane across the state.

"As the nation’s second-largest natural gas-producing state in the country and the fourth-largest climate polluter, Pennsylvania will suffer some of the worst impacts from this rollback."