POWER Act of 2020

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 8332 To amend the Energy Policy Act of 2005 to reauthorize a program to address orphaned, abandoned, or idled wells on Federal land, to establish a program to provide grants to States and Tribes to address orphaned wells, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES SEPTEMBER 21, 2020 Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania (for himself and Mr. RESCHENTHALER) intro- duced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources A BILL To amend the Energy Policy Act of 2005 to reauthorize a program to address orphaned, abandoned, or idled wells on Federal land, to establish a program to provide grants to States and Tribes to address orphaned wells, and for other purposes. 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 ‘‘Plugging Orphan Wells 4 and Environmental Restoration Act of 2020’’ or the 5 ‘‘POWER Act of 2020’’. 6 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:11 Oct 04, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8332.IH H8332 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 8332 IH SEC. 2. FEDERAL LANDS. 1 Section 349(h)(1) of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 2 (42 U.S.C. 15907(h)(1)) is amended by striking 3 ‘‘$25,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2006 through 2010’’ 4 and inserting ‘‘$50,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2021 5 through 2025’’. 6 SEC. 3. STATE AND TRIBAL LANDS. 7 (a) STATE AND TRIBAL ORPHANED WELLS.— 8 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days after 9 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary 10 of the Interior shall establish a program to provide 11 grants to States and Indian Tribes to remediate, re- 12 claim, and close orphaned oil and gas wells located 13 on State, Tribal, or private lands. 14 (2) ACTIVITIES.—Funds distributed under this 15 subsection may be used by States and Indian Tribes 16 for— 17 (A) reclaiming, remediating, and closing 18 orphaned wells; 19 (B) reclaiming and remediating well pads 20 and access roads associated with orphaned 21 wells; 22 (C) restoring native species habitat that 23 has been degraded due to the presence of or- 24 phaned wells; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:11 Oct 04, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8332.IH H8332 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 8332 IH (D) seeking to determine the identities of 1 potentially responsible parties associated with 2 the orphaned well sites, or their sureties or 3 guarantors, to the extent such information can 4 be ascertained, and make efforts to obtain reim- 5 bursement for expenditures to the extent prac- 6 ticable; 7 (E) identification and characterization of 8 undocumented orphaned wells on State, Tribal, 9 and private lands; 10 (F) ranking orphaned or abandoned well 11 sites based on factors such as public health and 12 safety, potential environmental harm, and other 13 land use priorities; 14 (G) administration of a State or Tribal or- 15 phaned well closure program, provided that no 16 more than 10 percent of the funds received by 17 a State or Indian Tribe under this subsection 18 may be used for this purpose; and 19 (H) making information regarding the use 20 of funds under this subsection available to the 21 public. 22 (3) PRIORITY.—In providing grants under this 23 subsection, the Secretary shall give priority to States 24 and Indian Tribes that have an established State or 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:11 Oct 04, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8332.IH H8332 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 8332 IH Tribal program for the remediation, reclamation, or 1 closure of abandoned, idled, or orphaned oil and gas 2 wells. 3 (4) APPLICATION.—States and Indian Tribes 4 shall be eligible for grants under this subsection 5 upon application to the Secretary of the Interior. 6 Such application shall include— 7 (A) a prioritized list of the wells, well sites, 8 and affected areas that will be remediated, re- 9 claimed, or closed; 10 (B) a description of the activities to be car- 11 ried out with the grant, including an identifica- 12 tion of the estimated health, safety, habitat, 13 and environmental benefits of remediating, re- 14 claiming, or closing each well, well site, or af- 15 fected area; 16 (C) an estimate of the cost of each pro- 17 posed project; 18 (D) an estimate of the number of jobs that 19 will be created or saved through the projects to 20 be funded under this subsection; 21 (E) an estimate of the funds to be spent 22 on administrative costs; and 23 (F) a description of how the information 24 regarding the State’s or Indian Tribe’s activi- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:11 Oct 04, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8332.IH H8332 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 8332 IH ties under this subsection will be made available 1 to the public. 2 (5) ALLOCATION.—The Secretary shall, in con- 3 sultation with States, affected Indian Tribes, and 4 the Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission, de- 5 velop a formula for the amount of grant funding 6 each State or Indian Tribe is eligible for under this 7 subsection, taking into account— 8 (A) the number of documented orphaned 9 wells within the State or on each Indian Tribe’s 10 lands; 11 (B) the amount of oil and gas activity 12 within the State or on Tribal lands in the pre- 13 vious 10 years; and 14 (C) the number of jobs lost in the oil and 15 gas sector since March 1, 2020. 16 (b) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.— 17 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Energy, in 18 cooperation with the Secretary, shall establish a pro- 19 gram to provide technical assistance to oil and gas 20 producing States and Indian Tribes to ensure prac- 21 tical and economical remedies for environmental 22 problems caused by orphaned or abandoned oil and 23 gas well sites on State, Tribal, or private land. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:11 Oct 04, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8332.IH H8332 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 8332 IH (2) ASSISTANCE.—The Secretary of Energy 1 shall work with the States, through the Interstate 2 Oil and Gas Compact Commission, to assist the 3 States in quantifying and mitigating environmental 4 risks of onshore orphaned or abandoned oil or gas 5 wells on State, Tribal, and private land. 6 (3) ACTIVITIES.—The program under para- 7 graph (1) shall include— 8 (A) mechanisms to facilitate identification, 9 if feasible, of the persons currently providing a 10 bond or other form of financial assurance re- 11 quired under State or Federal law for an oil or 12 gas well that is orphaned or abandoned; 13 (B) criteria for ranking orphaned or aban- 14 doned well sites based on factors such as public 15 health and safety, potential environmental 16 harm, and other land use priorities; 17 (C) information and training programs on 18 best practices for remediation of different types 19 of sites; and 20 (D) funding of State mitigation efforts on 21 a cost-shared basis. 22 (c) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 1 year 23 after the date of enactment of this section, and every year 24 thereafter, the Secretary shall submit to Congress a report 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:11 Oct 04, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8332.IH H8332 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 8332 IH on the programs established under this section, including 1 the number of jobs created and the number of orphaned 2 wells reclaimed. 3 (d) LIABILITY PROTECTION.—A person who provides 4 equipment, materials, or services to plug, or attempt to 5 plug, an orphaned well pursuant to a grant awarded to 6 a State or Indian Tribe under this Act shall be immune 7 from civil liability in any legal proceeding brought to en- 8 force an environmental law or otherwise impose liability 9 for such conduct. 10 (e) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 11 (1) ORPHANED WELL.—The term ‘‘orphaned 12 well’’ means any well not in operation for which 13 there is no responsible party known to the Secretary 14 to reclaim and remediate or close the well site. 15 (2) RESPONSIBLE PARTY.—The term ‘‘respon- 16 sible party’’ has the meaning given to it by the rel- 17 evant State, or if the relevant state does not provide 18 a definition, means any person, association, corpora- 19 tion, subsidiary, or affiliate that directly or indi- 20 rectly, controls, manages, directs, or undertakes the 21 activities with respect to an oil and gas lease or any 22 person or entity controlled by, or under common 23 control with, such person or entity. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:11 Oct 04, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8332.IH H8332 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 8332 IH (f) APPROPRIATIONS.—There are authorized to be 1 appropriated to the Secretary of the Interior 2 $400,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2021 through 2025 3 to carry out this section. 4 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:11 Oct 04, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H8332.IH H8332 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS