Methane is a potent greenhouse gas and the main ingredient in natural gas. Senate passage of the resolution, enabled by a law allowing Congress to overturn rules issued by federal agencies, follows a long battle over the EPA’s authority to monitor the pollutant. The EPA under President Obama in 2012 and 2016 finalized methane monitoring at oil and gas production sites and transmission infrastructure. The Trump administration officially repealed the rules in 2020. The EPA cited “redundant” regulations as reason for the rollback, and estimated industry compliance cost savings of up to $19 million a year. Resolution co-sponsor Sen. Ben Ray Luján, D-N.M., said it would reinstate “commonsense” rules that had been “gutted.”