US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has finalized the rollback of oil & gas compliance deadlines imposed by the previous American adminstration led by President Joe Biden, citing energy dominance.
EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin finalized the agency’s July 2025 Interim Final Rule (IFR), extending compliance deadlines for Clean Air Act (CAA) rules governing the oil and gas industry—commonly referred to as OOOOb/c.
The move, aimed at providing “more realistic timelines for owners and operators of new and modified oil and natural gas sources,” is expected to affect hundreds of thousands of oil and gas facilities nationwide and save an estimated $750 million in compliance costs over 11 years.
“The previous administration used oil and gas standards as a weapon to shut down development and manufacturing in the United States,” said Administrator Zeldin.
“By finalizing compliance extensions, EPA is ensuring unrealistic regulations do not prevent America from unleashing energy dominance. We produce energy better and cleaner than so many other countries around the world, yet Americans have been punished by flawed, ideologically driven regulations. Today, the Trump EPA is taking decisive, corrective action.”
The July IFR originally extended deadlines under the 2024 New Source Performance Standards (NSPS) and Emissions Guidelines for OOOOb/c, including key requirements for control devices, equipment leaks, storage vessels, process controllers, and covers/closed vent systems.
States also received 18-month extensions to develop methane reduction plans and implement the 2024 rule’s “super emitter” program, which relies on third-party remote-sensing technology to identify large leaks. These extensions remain unchanged in today’s final rule.
Following public comments and a hearing on the July IFR, the EPA is further extending the November 28, 2025, deadline for net heating value continuous monitoring and alternative performance testing for flares and enclosed combustion devices by 180 days. The previous IFR had allowed 120 days.
The extension addresses supply chain, personnel, and laboratory constraints that made compliance with the 2024 rule unfeasible. Owners and operators will now have 360 days from the final rule’s effective date to submit annual NSPS OOOOb reports originally due before this deadline, with subsequent reports due 90 days after the close of each annual compliance period.
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