Orphaned Well Cleanup and Jobs Act of 2021

IB Union Calendar No. 464 117TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 2415 [Report No. 117–645] To amend the Energy Policy Act of 2005 to require the Secretary of the Interior to establish a program to permanently plug, remediate, and reclaim orphaned wells and the surrounding lands and to provide funds to States and Tribal Governments to permanently plug, remediate, and reclaim orphaned wells and the surrounding lands, and for other pur- poses. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES APRIL 8, 2021 Ms. LEGER FERNANDEZ (for herself, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. LOWENTHAL, Ms. CASTOR of Florida, and Mr. MICHAEL F. DOYLE of Pennsylvania) intro- duced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources DECEMBER 15, 2022 Additional sponsors: Mr. CARTWRIGHT, Ms. DEGETTE, Mr. COHEN, Ms. BARRAGA´N, Ms. VELA´ZQUEZ, Ms. NORTON, Ms. TLAIB, Mr. ESPAILLAT, Mr. SOTO, Mr. HUFFMAN, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Mr. WELCH, Mr. LEVIN of California, Ms. ROSS, Mr. GARCI´A of Illinois, Ms. PORTER, Mr. POCAN, Mr. SIRES, Mr. JONES, Mr. YARMUTH, Ms. NEW- MAN, Ms. DEAN, Mr. SCOTT of Virginia, Mr. CARBAJAL, Mr. MCNERNEY, Mr. CARSON, Ms. STANSBURY, Mr. CARTER of Louisiana, and Mr. LEVIN of Michigan DECEMBER 15, 2022 Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed [Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] [For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on April 8, 2021] VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:45 Dec 15, 2022 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6652 E:\BILLS\H2415.RH H2415 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 2415 RH A BILL To amend the Energy Policy Act of 2005 to require the Secretary of the Interior to establish a program to per- manently plug, remediate, and reclaim orphaned wells and the surrounding lands and to provide funds to States and Tribal Governments to permanently plug, remediate, and reclaim orphaned wells and the surrounding lands, and for other purposes. VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:45 Dec 15, 2022 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6652 E:\BILLS\H2415.RH H2415 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 2415 RH Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Orphaned Well Cleanup 4 and Jobs Act of 2021’’. 5 SEC. 2. ORPHANED WELL SITE PLUGGING, REMEDIATION, 6 AND RESTORATION. 7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 349 of the Energy Policy 8 Act of 2005 (Public Law 109–58; 42 U.S.C. 15907) is 9 amended to read as follows: 10 ‘‘SEC. 349. ORPHANED WELL SITE PLUGGING, REMEDI- 11 ATION, AND RESTORATION. 12 ‘‘(a) FEDERAL PROGRAM.— 13 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary, in co- 14 operation with the Secretary of Agriculture and af- 15 fected Indian Tribes, shall establish a program not 16 later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this 17 section to permanently plug orphaned wells and reme- 18 diate and reclaim orphaned wells located on land ad- 19 ministered by the land management agencies within 20 the Department of the Interior and the Department of 21 Agriculture. 22 ‘‘(2) ACTIVITIES.—The program under para- 23 graph (1) shall— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:45 Dec 15, 2022 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H2415.RH H2415 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 2415 RH ‘‘(A) include a means of identifying, char- 1 acterizing, and inventorying orphaned wells on 2 Federal lands and ranking orphaned wells for 3 priority in permanent plugging, remediation, 4 and reclamation, based on public health and 5 safety, potential environmental harm, and other 6 land use priorities; 7 ‘‘(B) distribute funding according to the 8 priorities identified under subparagraph (A) 9 for— 10 ‘‘(i) permanently plugging orphaned 11 wells; 12 ‘‘(ii) remediating and reclaiming well 13 pads and access roads associated with or- 14 phaned wells; 15 ‘‘(iii) remediating soil and restoring 16 native species habitat that has been de- 17 graded due to the presence of orphaned 18 wells; and 19 ‘‘(iv) remediating lands, including ac- 20 cess roads, adjacent to orphaned wells and 21 decommissioning or removing pipelines, fa- 22 cilities, and infrastructure associated with 23 the orphaned well; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:45 Dec 15, 2022 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H2415.RH H2415 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 2415 RH ‘‘(C) provide a public accounting of the 1 costs of permanently plugging, remediating, and 2 reclaiming each orphaned well; 3 ‘‘(D) seek to determine the identities of po- 4 tentially responsible parties associated with the 5 orphaned well, or their sureties or guarantors, to 6 the extent such information can be ascertained, 7 and make efforts to obtain reimbursement for ex- 8 penditures to the extent practicable; 9 ‘‘(E) to the maximum extent possible, sup- 10 port research and development efforts aimed at 11 investigating, measuring, and tracking emissions 12 of methane and other gases associated with or- 13 phaned wells; 14 ‘‘(F) measure and track contamination of 15 groundwater or surface water associated with or- 16 phaned wells; and 17 ‘‘(G) reduce the negative effects of orphaned 18 wells on environmental justice communities. 19 ‘‘(3) DEFINE ORPHANED WELL.—Not later than 20 180 days after the date of enactment of this section, 21 the Secretary shall issue a final rule defining the 22 term ‘orphaned well’ as such term applies to Federal 23 and Tribal land for the purposes of this section. 24 ‘‘(4) IDLED WELLS.— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:45 Dec 15, 2022 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H2415.RH H2415 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 2415 RH ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, acting 1 through the Director of the Bureau of Land 2 Management, shall annually review all idled 3 wells on Federal lands and take such measures 4 as such Director determines appropriate to re- 5 duce such Director’s idled well inventory. 6 ‘‘(B) DEFINITION OF IDLED WELL.—Not 7 later than 6 months after the date of enactment 8 of this section, the Secretary, acting through the 9 Director of the Bureau of Land Management, 10 shall establish a definition for the term ‘idled 11 well’ for the purposes of this section. 12 ‘‘(5) COOPERATION AND CONSULTATIONS.—In 13 carrying out the program under paragraph (1), the 14 Secretary shall— 15 ‘‘(A) work cooperatively with the Secretary 16 of Agriculture and the States within which Fed- 17 eral land is located; and 18 ‘‘(B) consult with affected Indian Tribes, 19 the Secretary of Energy, and the Interstate Oil 20 and Gas Compact Commission. 21 ‘‘(b) STATE ORPHANED WELL SITE PLUGGING, REME- 22 DIATION, AND RESTORATION.— 23 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:45 Dec 15, 2022 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H2415.RH H2415 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 2415 RH ‘‘(A) ACTIVITIES.—The Secretary shall pro- 1 vide funding to States as described in this sec- 2 tion for any of the following purposes: 3 ‘‘(i) To permanently plug, remediate, 4 and reclaim orphaned wells located on 5 State- and privately-owned land. 6 ‘‘(ii) To identify and characterize un- 7 documented orphaned wells on State and 8 private lands. 9 ‘‘(iii) To rank orphaned wells on State 10 and private lands based on factors includ- 11 ing public health and safety, potential envi- 12 ronmental harm, and other land use prior- 13 ities. 14 ‘‘(iv) To make information regarding 15 the use of funds received under this sub- 16 section available on a public website. 17 ‘‘(v) To measure and track emissions of 18 methane and other gases associated with or- 19 phaned wells. 20 ‘‘(vi) To measure and track contami- 21 nation of groundwater or surface water as- 22 sociated with orphaned wells. 23 ‘‘(vii) To remediate soil and restore 24 native species habitat that have been de- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:45 Dec 15, 2022 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H2415.RH H2415 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 2415 RH graded due to the presence of orphaned 1 wells. 2 ‘‘(viii) To remediate lands, including 3 access roads, adjacent to orphaned wells and 4 decommission or remove pipelines, facilities, 5 and infrastructure associated with the or- 6 phaned well. 7 ‘‘(ix) To take such measures as such 8 State determines necessary to reduce the 9 negative effects of orphaned wells on envi- 10 ronmental justice communities. 11 ‘‘(x) To administer a program to carry 12 out activities described in clauses (i) 13 through (ix). 14 ‘‘(B) LIMITATION.—Except for funds re- 15 ceived by a State under paragraph (2)(A)(ii), a 16 State may not use more than 10 percent of the 17 funds received under this section in any fiscal 18 year for the purpose described in paragraph 19 (1)(A)(x). 20 ‘‘(2) INITIAL GRANTS.— 21 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall dis- 22 tribute— 23 ‘‘(i) not more than $25,000,000 to each 24 State that— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:45 Dec 15, 2022 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H2415.RH H2415 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 2415 RH ‘‘(I) is a Member State or Asso- 1 ciate Member State of the Interstate 2 Oil and Gas Compact Commission; 3 ‘‘(II) requests funding under this 4 clause not later than 6 months after 5 the date of enactment of this section; 6 ‘‘(III) has at least one documented 7 orphaned well; 8 ‘‘(IV) certifies to the Secretary 9 that such State can use at least 90 per- 10 cent of the requested funding to issue 11 new contracts, amend existing con- 12 tracts, or issue grants for permanent 13 plugging, remediation, and reclama- 14 tion work within 180 days of receipt of 15 funds; and 16 ‘‘(V) describes to the Secretary 17 how funds received under this clause 18 will employ individuals who have lost 19 employment during the period begin- 20 ning on March 1, 2020, and ending on 21 the date on which such State requests 22 funding under subclause (II); and 23 ‘‘(ii) not more than $5,000,000 to each 24 State that— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:45 Dec 15, 2022 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H2415.RH H2415 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 2415 RH ‘‘(I) requests funding under this 1 clause; 2 ‘‘(II) does not receive a grant 3 under clause (i); and 4 ‘‘(III) certifies to the Secretary 5 that— 6 ‘‘(aa) such State has a per- 7 manent plugging, remediation, 8 and reclamation program for or- 9 phaned wells or the capacity to 10 start such a program; or 11 ‘‘(bb) such funds will be used 12 to conduct the administrative 13 work necessary to put together an 14 application to receive funds under 15 paragraph (3). 16 ‘‘(B) DISTRIBUTION.—The Secretary shall 17 disburse funds to a State under this subpara- 18 graph not later than 30 days after such State 19 makes a certification to the Secretary that such 20 State is eligible to receive such funds. 21 ‘‘(C) 2 YEARS TO EXPEND FUNDS.— 22 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—A State that re- 23 ceives funds under this paragraph shall re- 24 imburse the Secretary in an amount equal 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:45 Dec 15, 2022 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H2415.RH H2415 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 2415 RH to the amount of any unobligated funds that 1 remain 2 years after the date on which such 2 State receives funds under this paragraph. 3 ‘‘(ii) USE OF REIMBURSED FUNDS.— 4 The Secretary may use funds reimbursed 5 under this subparagraph to carry out any 6 activity under subsection (a)(2). 7 ‘‘(D) REPORT.— 8 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 15 9 months after the date on which a State re- 10 ceives funds under this paragraph, such 11 State shall submit a report to the Secretary 12 detailing how the State adhered to the cer- 13 tifications required by subparagraph (A). 14 ‘‘(ii) PUBLIC ACCESS.—The Secretary 15 shall make available on a publicly accessible 16 website each report submitted under clause 17 (i). 18 ‘‘(3) FORMULA GRANTS.— 19 ‘‘(A) FORMULA.— 20 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall 21 establish a formula for the distribution of 22 funds under this paragraph to the States 23 described in clause (ii). Such formula, with 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:45 Dec 15, 2022 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H2415.RH H2415 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 12 •HR 2415 RH respect to an applicant State, shall account 1 for the following factors: 2 ‘‘(I) The job losses in the oil and 3 gas industry between March 1, 2020, 4 and the date of enactment of this sec- 5 tion. 6 ‘‘(II) The number of documented 7 orphaned wells and associated facilities 8 and the projected cost to permanently 9 plug and reclaim such wells. 10 ‘‘(ii) NOTIFICATION.—A State is de- 11 scribed in this clause if, not later than 45 12 days after the date of enactment of this sec- 13 tion, such State submits a notice to the Sec- 14 retary that such State intends to submit an 15 application under subparagraph (B) and 16 includes in such notification the informa- 17 tion described in subclauses (I) through (II) 18 of clause (i) with respect to such State. 19 ‘‘(iii) PUBLICATION.—The Secretary 20 shall, not later than 30 days after the date 21 described in clause (ii), publish on a public 22 website the amount that each State de- 23 scribed in clause (ii) is eligible to receive 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:45 Dec 15, 2022 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H2415.RH H2415 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 13 •HR 2415 RH under the formula established under clause 1 (i). 2 ‘‘(B) APPLICATION.—A State may apply to 3 receive funds under this paragraph by submit- 4 ting an application including— 5 ‘‘(i) a description of— 6 ‘‘(I) the State program for or- 7 phaned well permanent plugging, re- 8 mediation, and restoration, including 9 legal authorities, processes used to 10 identify and prioritize orphaned wells, 11 procurement mechanisms, and other 12 program elements demonstrating the 13 readiness of the State program to carry 14 out the proposed activities; 15 ‘‘(II) the activities to be carried 16 out with the grant, including an iden- 17 tification of the estimated health, safe- 18 ty, habitat, and environmental benefits 19 of permanent plugging, remediating, or 20 reclaiming the orphaned wells; and 21 ‘‘(III) how the information re- 22 garding the State’s activities under 23 this subsection will be made available 24 on a public website; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:45 Dec 15, 2022 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00013 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H2415.RH H2415 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 14 •HR 2415 RH ‘‘(ii) an estimate of— 1 ‘‘(I) the number of orphaned wells 2 [Text truncated for display. 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