Senate Dems Plan To Use Review Act To Reinstate Obama Methane Rule

"Senate Democrats plan to deploy an obscure but powerful legislative weapon in the coming weeks to try to quickly reinstate a major Obama-era climate change rule that the Trump administration had effectively eliminated.

Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, the Democratic leader, is expected next month to invoke the 1996 Congressional Review Act with the goal of undoing a Trump rule finalized in September that lifted controls on the release of methane, a powerful planet-warming gas that is emitted from leaks and flares in oil and gas wells.

Democrats argue that the move, which will be sponsored by Senator Martin Heinrich of New Mexico, will have the legal effect of immediately reinstating the Obama methane rules. That would be a far more rapid timetable than the yearslong regulatory process typically required to undo or reinstate regulations."

Coral Davenport reports for the New York Times March 24, 2021.

Source: NYTimes, 03/25/2021