PlainBillCongress, translated.Legislation. Context. Public interest.Placed on the Union Calendar, Calendar No. 464.
Congressional Research Service
Version 07 · Reported to House · Dec 15, 2022
Orphaned Well Cleanup and Jobs Act of 2021
This bill establishes incentives and requirements to permanently plug orphaned (i.e., abandoned) oil and gas wells and clean up pollution leaking from such wells.
Specifically, the bill directs the Department of the Interior to establish grant programs to plug and clean up orphaned wells located on federal, state, tribal, and private land.
Interior must also issue regulations that require each operator of an idled well on federal land to pay an annual, nonrefundable fee for each well. If the operator fails to pay the fee, then Interior may assess a civil penalty. Revenues generated from such fees must be used for activities related to cleaning up orphaned wells.
Additionally, the bill requires the review of the adequacy of bonds or other financial arrangements for oil and gas development on public land leased from the federal government. Such bonds or financial arrangements are currently required to ensure developers have adequate financial resources to remediate and reclaim public land, water, or other resources after wells are abandoned or oil and gas development ceases.
People & committees
Rep. Leger Fernandez, Teresa [D-NM-3] · D–NM
Legislative record
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Placed on the Union Calendar, Calendar No. 464.
Reported (Amended) by the Committee on Natural Resources. H. Rept. 117-645.
Reported (Amended) by the Committee on Natural Resources. H. Rept. 117-645.
Ordered to be Reported (Amended) by the Yeas and Nays: 22 - 17.
Committee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held.
Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources Discharged.
Subcommittee Hearings Held.
Referred to the Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources.
Referred to the House Committee on Natural Resources.
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Primary sources
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No related bills are listed in this snapshot. This does not establish whether the proposal has appeared in earlier Congresses.
Source last updated: Apr 7, 2025. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.
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