Sec. 4. Fee on methane emissions
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Not later than December 31, 2022, the Secretary, in consultation with the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency and the Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, shall establish and implement a program to estimate, based on empirically determined, peer-reviewed methane emission rates, annual methane emissions, and methane emission rates (expressed in percentage of natural gas production), from each oil and natural gas producing basin. For calendar year 2023 and each calendar year thereafter, the Secretary shall levy a fee on methane emissions on each company that produces, gathers, processes, or transmits oil or natural gas. The fee under paragraph
(1)shall be calculated in accordance with subparagraph
(B)or (C), as applicable. Subject to subparagraph (C), the fee under paragraph
(1)for a basin in which a company produces, gathers, processes, or transmits oil or natural gas for a calendar year shall be the sum obtained by adding— the product obtained by multiplying— the difference between— the percentage of volume lost to the atmosphere in the basin during the calendar year; and 0.2 percent; the total quantity of natural gas produced or released and lost to the atmosphere during oil or natural gas production by the company in the basin during the calendar year; and the methane fee factor for the applicable calendar year; and the product obtained by multiplying— the difference between— the percentage of volume lost to the atmosphere in the basin during the calendar year; and 0.1 percent; the total quantity of natural gas gathered, processed, or transmitted by the company in the basin during the calendar year; and the methane fee factor for the applicable calendar year. The fee calculated under clause
(i)for a company shall be determined on a basin-by-basin basis for each basin in which the company produces, gathers, processes, or transmits oil or natural gas. A company may opt out of the fee calculated under subparagraph
(B)if— the company submits to the Secretary a peer-reviewed protocol for empirically determining, on a basin-by-basin basis for all basins, the total amount of methane emissions that result from oil and natural gas facilities— that the company operates; or in which the company has an ownership interest; and the Secretary validates the protocol in accordance with clause (ii). The Secretary may validate a protocol submitted under clause (i)(I) if— the Secretary determines that the protocol is an accurate and comprehensive empirical method for calculating the methane emissions of the company submitting the protocol; the protocol— is peer-reviewed by independent scientists; is available to the public in its entirety; and requires the regular collection of data; all underlying data collected under the protocol are available to the public; and the Secretary determines that— to the maximum extent practicable, the company has installed state-of-the-art technologies to detect and eliminate methane leaks from all oil and natural gas facilities the company owns or operates; and subject to subclause (III), the company has prohibited the venting and flaring of methane, except in emergency circumstances. A protocol described in clause (i)(I) shall be submitted to the Secretary for validation under subclause
(I)not later than June 30 of the calendar year before the calendar year for which the company is seeking to opt out of the fee calculated under subparagraph (B). An emergency circumstance for which the venting or flaring of methane is authorized under subclause (I)(dd)(BB) does not include— venting or flaring of methane from oil wells because the company has failed to develop the infrastructure necessary to capture, process, and transmit methane associated with oil production; or any claim of economic necessity. For a company that has opted out of the fee calculated under subparagraph
(B)in accordance with clause (i), the fee under paragraph
(1)for a basin in which the company produces, gathers, processes, or transmits oil or natural gas for a calendar year shall be the sum obtained by adding— the product obtained by multiplying— the difference between— the percentage of volume lost to the atmosphere in the basin during the calendar year; and 0.2 percent; the total quantity of natural gas produced or released and lost to the atmosphere during oil or natural gas production by the company in the basin during the calendar year; and the methane fee factor for the applicable calendar year; and the product obtained by multiplying— the difference between— the percentage of volume lost to the atmosphere in the basin during the calendar year; and 0.1 percent; the total quantity of natural gas gathered, processed, or transmitted by the company in the basin during the calendar year; and the methane fee factor for the applicable calendar year. The fee calculated under clause
(iii)for a company that opted out of a fee calculated under subparagraph
(B)shall be determined on a basin-by-basin basis for each basin in which the company produces, gathers, processes, or transmits oil or natural gas. For calendar year 2023, the methane fee factor shall be $1,800 per ton. For each calendar year after 2023, the methane fee factor shall be adjusted to an amount that is equal to the product obtained by multiplying— the methane fee factor for the preceding calendar year; and the percentage obtained by adding— 102 percent; and the percentage by which the Consumer Price Index for the calendar year exceeds the Consumer Price Index for the preceding calendar year. Not later than July 1 of each year, the Secretary shall calculate and levy the fee under paragraph
(1)for the preceding calendar year. Notwithstanding section 10(b)(2) of the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation Establishment Act ( 16 U.S.C. 3709(b)(2) ), the Secretary shall, on an annual basis, transfer an amount equal to the amounts collected under the fee under paragraph
(1)to the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation to provide grants through the National Coastal Resilience Fund of the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (or a successor program).
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Sec. 4
Fee on methane emissions
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