EDF Joins Concerned Americans to Oppose Trump EPA Delay of Commonsense Protections from Methane Pollution

(September 2, 2025) An expert from Environmental Defense Fund was one of dozens of people testifying today against the Trump EPA's delay of deadlines for oil and gas facilities to meet standards for protection from methane pollution - an action that will mean more climate-damaging methane emissions and more smog-forming and toxic pollution in our air from oil and gas leaks, venting and flaring. Failure to control methane leaks also results in billions of dollars each year in wasted product.

At the end of July, EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin finalized a Delay Rule to postpone required compliance with the 2024 methane standards for oil and gas facilities for as long as 18 months, even though the standards have been in place protecting Americans for more than a year now. Zeldin also finalized the Delay Rule without allowing any prior public comment, in violation of the Clean Air Act and other federal law. EDF and a dozen health, environment and community groups have already filed a lawsuit challenging the Delay Rule and asked the court for summary vacatur, which would overturn it.

Today, people - including residents of communities on the front lines of oil and gas development, representatives of environmental and health organizations, and members of Tribal Nations - joined EPA's after-the fact virtual hearing. EDF Senior Attorney Grace Smith testified for EDF, saying the delay "increases risks posed by climate change and toxic air pollution."

"Oil and gas facilities emit methane, a potent greenhouse gas that is 80-times more powerful than carbon-dioxide in the near-term and responsible for one-third of the climate warming we are experiencing today," said Smith in her testimony. "They also pollute our air with smog-forming volatile organic compounds as well as toxins, which are known to cause respiratory illness, neurological defects, cancer, and premature death … Because EPA's rule became effective immediately after most compliance deadlines for new sources already passed, it puts a pause on pollution controls that the public would otherwise be benefitting from at this very moment."

Smith also pointed out that holding a hearing only after the rule was finalized "leaves the American people without any say over the air they breathe."

"[T]he Delay Rule has already become effective, resulting in immediate harm that a post-promulgation comment period cannot cure," Smith testified. "There is no good cause for EPA to forgo notice and comment procedures for this rule … While our nation and communities have much to lose from a delay of these standards, implementing them on schedule will cost oil and gas operators a fraction of their bottom line … In fact, several of our nation's largest oil and gas companies have been adopting these technologies for years."

Smith called on the EPA to rescind the Delay Rule and continue implementing the 2024 methane standards. Read her full testimony here.