Trump’s EPA rolls back Biden‑era oil & gas rules, slashes $2.5 billion in costs

April 7, 2026, by Melisa Cavcic

The Trump administration’s U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has estimated that it will enable $2.5 billion in compliance savings over 15 years by cutting the red tape and revising the Biden-Harris administration’s oil and natural gas regulations to curb gasoline and energy costs.

Lee Zeldin, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Administrator, has taken another step to company with the Trump administration’s agenda to unleash domestic energy by revising what it describes as “burdensome, unworkable Biden-era oil and natural gas policies,” through the finalization of revisions to certain aspects of the Biden-Harris Administration’s 2024 Clean Air Act rules for oil and natural gas, commonly known as OOOOb/c.

These changes are expected to help ensure that American energy owners and operators have the flexibility needed to continue producing the energy without having to worry about being punished by “radical climate ideologies,” according to the agency’s final rule, which is part of a series of actions the Trump EPA is taking on Biden-era oil and natural gas regulations.

This move is estimated to save $2.5 billion over 15 years, equivalent to $208 million annually in industry compliance costs, which is expected to help lower gasoline and energy costs across the board and benefit American families. The final rule responds to several petitions for reconsideration, feedback from industry, and additional data EPA received after the 2024 Final Rule was issued.

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Zeldin emphasized: “My predecessors weaponized environmental regulations to regulate the oil and gas industry out of existence. We are taking another step to fix those mistakes while proving we can both protect human health and the environment and grow the economy at the same time.

“Making rules workable for owners and operators advances American energy dominance, lowers cost for American families, and ensures the United States is providing better and cleaner energy.”

As the 2024 Final Rule phases out routine flaring of associated natural gas from new sources, but allows owners and operators to perform temporary flaring for up to 24 hours in maintenance situations, concerns were raised that this limited time frame did not provide enough time for owners and operators to troubleshoot and repair equipment, putting energy reliability and the safety of workers at risk.

Under the Trump EPA’s revisions, owners and operators will now be able to utilize temporary flaring for up to 72 hours. During exigent circumstances when site access is limited due to extreme inclement weather, temporary personnel shortage, or supply chain issues due to circumstances outside the owner or operator’s control, the final rule provides additional time beyond the 72 hours.

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While the Biden EPA’s final rule required continuous monitoring of the net heating value (NHV) of vent gas from flares and enclosed combustion devices (ECD), the revision adjusts the NHV monitoring and testing provisions so that owners and operators do not need to perform NHV sampling from flares or ECD, except where inert gases or other miscellaneous scenarios are present.

In addition, the final rule removes the general exemption from NHV monitoring for associated gas for any control device used at well sites and affected facilities to cut the number of unnecessary tests by up to 141,000 per year, about 1.9 million over 15 years.

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EPA, which does not expect any emissions changes as a result of the final revisions to the NHV compliance demonstration requirements, claims that the final revisions to unleash American energy build upon the actions taken by the agency in 2025 that already delivered $750 million in savings, to provide additional time for sources to comply with certain provisions in the Biden-era regulations.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency emphasized: “This is a stark contrast to the Biden EPA, which estimated its oil and natural gas regulations would cost over $18 billion and raise natural gas prices for Americans.

“EPA is currently developing another proposal to further amend the 2024 Final Rule to address additional issues raised by stakeholders that will further drive down the cost of living for all Americans. The agency will continue to provide relief and bring commonsense back to oil and natural gas rulemaking.”