H.R. 8990: Protect Domestic Oil and Gas Small Business Act of 2026

This bill, titled the Protect Domestic Oil and Gas Small Business Act of 2026, aims to amend the Clean Air Act concerning small oil and gas businesses that operate what are known as marginal wells. Here’s a breakdown of its key provisions:

Definition of Marginal Wells

A marginal well is defined as:

• For oil wells: a well that produces an average of 15 barrels of oil per day or less.
• For natural gas wells: a well that produces 90,000 cubic feet of natural gas per day or less.

Exclusions from Clean Air Act Requirements

The bill proposes that:

• No performance standards or guidelines set by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will apply to marginal wells.
• The EPA cannot require any monitoring, reporting, or record-keeping related to emissions or leak detection for these marginal wells.
• States cannot include performance standards for marginal wells in their plans submitted to the EPA.

State Plan Revisions

Should a state wish to revise their submitted plans to exclude performance standards for marginal wells:

• The EPA must act on this revision within 180 days, or the state’s revision will be automatically approved.

Implementation Timeline

The bill mandates that:

• Within 180 days of the bill's enactment, the Administrator of the EPA must update necessary regulations to align with these new exclusions.
• Any ongoing enforcement actions concerning marginal wells, related to performance standards that are now rendered inapplicable by this legislation, must be terminated.

Associated Equipment

The bill clarifies that the term "associated equipment" relating to these wells includes various types of machinery and infrastructure used at oil or gas well sites, such as:

• Separators
• Pumps
• Storage tanks
• Pipelines
• Compressors
• Various related components

End of Enforcement Actions

Finally, any current actions to enforce performance standards against marginal wells will end following the enactment of this bill.

Relevant Companies

• CDEV (Centennial Resource Development): A company that may operate marginal wells and could be impacted by the relaxation of performance standards.
• CLR (Chesapeake Energy Corporation): Involvement in natural gas production may lead this company to benefit from lower compliance costs under the new regulations.
• CNQ (Canadian Natural Resources Limited): Their operations could include marginal wells, which would be relieved from certain regulatory requirements.