{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.cramer.senate.gov/news/press-releases/sen-cramer-colleagues-call-on-epa-to-reconsider-flawed-methane-reporting-rule-proposal", "Sen. Cramer, Colleagues Call on EPA to Reconsider Flawed Methane Reporting Rule Proposal", "2023-12-14", "2023", "2023-12", "Republican", "Senate", "ND", "Kevin Cramer", "C001096", "www.cramer.senate.gov", "cramer", "https://www.cramer.senate.gov/news/press-releases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON \u2013 U.S. Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND) joined his colleagues on the Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee in writing a letter to Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Michael Regan, calling for the agency to reconsider its August 1, 2023 proposed rule on methane emissions reporting. This proposed rule, more commonly known as \u201csubpart W\u201d of the Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program (GHGRP), excessively increases the tax burden on North Dakota\u2019s energy producers under the new Methane Emissions Reduction Program (MERP) established in the Inflation Reduction Act.\n\nThe letter states EPA\u2019s proposed subpart W revisions \u201cblatantly disregard and overstep even the partisan mandates of the statute as enacted\u201d and will \u201cexcessively increase the tax burden on American energy under the new MERP.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe proposal would not only radically expand the scope of emissions required to be reported by each facility under the GHGRP, but also unduly expand the number of facilities that are covered by subpart W and thus liable for the methane tax,\u201d the senators wrote. \u201cIf finalized as proposed, it is likely that the revisions would artificially overestimate U.S. methane emissions.\u201d\n\nThis rule makes it more difficult and expensive to produce, transport, and consume American energy, and inevitably passes these costs on to consumers.\n\n\u201cThe EPA must significantly revise the proposal to establish a pathway to allow every facility subject to reporting under subpart W the option of using demonstrated empirical methods to calculate their liability for the methane tax as an alternative to previous emission factors, without undue preference for a particular methodology,\u201d the senators continued.\n\nThe letter was led by U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), Ranking Member of the EPW Committee. Additional cosigners include U.S. Senators Markwayne Mullin (R-OK), Pete Ricketts (R-NE), and Dan Sullivan (R-AK).", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-08T01:14:16Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.cramer.senate.gov/news/press-releases/sen-cramer-colleagues-call-on-epa-to-reconsider-flawed-methane-reporting-rule-proposal"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.8220018353313208, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}