American Oil and Gas Reporter - July 2021 - 23

Congress Looking At
Orphan Well Legislation
With Broad Support
Orphan wells-a taboo topic for producers, or an issue with a
solution that is gaining bipartisan traction at a time in which
few things achieve consensus?
Across the country, there are more than 56,000 documented
abandoned oil and gas wells with no party responsible for
cleanup. Found mostly on state and private land, but also
federal and tribal lands, these orphaned wells can leak methane,
contaminate groundwater and create safety risks. Even before
the economic repercussions of the COVID-19 pandemic
squeezed their budgets, federal agencies and states responsible
for plugging and reclaiming these wells were working with
limited cleanup funding.
In the first half of 2020, global energy oversupply combined
with slumping pandemic-associated demand to take a significant
bite out of energy sector employment. It was at this time that
the Independent Petroleum Association of America began
working on the legislative concept for addressing orphan wells.
Discussions with allied trade groups throughout the country
brought to light a clear need to both maintain industry employment
amid the challenging time, and to plug and remediate
abandoned wells. IPAA worked on this concept with Interstate
Oil and Gas Compact Commission Executive Director Lori
Wrotenbery, staff at the Environmental Defense Fund, and
Senators Ben Ray Lujan, D-N.M., and Kevin Cramer, R-N.D.,
and in April the senators introduced the bipartisan Revive
Economic Growth and Reclaim Orphaned Wells (REGROW)
Act of 2021.
The REGROW Act would direct more than $4.6 billion
toward putting skilled energy professionals to work at cleaning
up these well sites, with the goal of plugging every one of the
country's documented orphan wells. This reclamation and restoration
work will create or retain tens of thousands of jobs, help
stimulate oil field community economies and reduce emissions.
The REGROW Act would provide:
· $4.275 billion for orphan well cleanup on state and private
lands;
· $400 million for orphan well cleanup on public and tribal
lands; and
· $32 million for related research, development and implementation
States
have been acting to plug these wells for decades. The
REGROW Act would provide these state programs with additional
funds to aid their initiatives and the workers who undertake
these efforts during times in which the industry continues to
climb back from the challenges caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The country's oil and natural gas producing states have
the skills and know-how to run these programs.
Moreover, those states support this legislation. The IOGCC,
whose membership includes producing state governors from
both political parties, wrote to Senate Energy and Commerce
Committee Chairman Joe Manchin, D-W.V., and Ranking
Member John Barrasso, R-Wy., to endorse the REGROW Act
and urge its swift passage through the committee. The Western
JENNIFER PETT MARSTELLER
is senior director of public affairs
and communications for the Independent
Petroleum Association of
America, and works closely with
IPAA's team to craft material on
issues affecting oil and gas producers.
Prior to joining IPAA,
Pett served on the staff of Congressman
Lamar Smith, R-Tx.
JULY 2021 23
" The REGROW Act would direct more
than $4.6 billion toward putting skilled
energy professionals to work at cleaning
up these well sites, with the goal of
plugging every one of the country's
documented orphan wells.
"
Governors Association, representing 22 states and territories,
also has endorsed the bill.
In early June, representatives Lizzie Fletcher, D-Tx., and
Kelly Armstrong, R-N.D., introduced a bipartisan House companion
bill to the REGROW Act. In mid-June, the REGROW
Act was one of the bills considered at a Senate Energy Committee
hearing. At the hearing, Bureau of Land Management Deputy
Director of Policy and Programs Nada Culver testified that the
Biden Administration's Department of Interior " strongly supports
the bill's goal to remediate the thousands of orphaned oil and
gas wells on federal and nonfederal lands. "
In describing the REGROW Act, Senator Cramer said, " I
have been in Congress long enough to recognize how rare it is
for a proposal to be balanced enough to garner the support of
the regulatory, industrial and environmental communities. But
that is exactly what the REGROW Act has done. That should
not go unnoticed as we seek to build consensus and deliver
results for the American people. "
Many tenets of the REGROW Act have been included in a
423-page draft infrastructure bill from Senate Energy Chairman
Joe Manchin, the hub around which most infrastructure talk has
spun. That energy-specific portion of the infrastructure bill is to
receive a hearing in the committee. Whether in this bill or a
future package, it seems likely that if the REGROW Act is to
pass, it must be incorporated into a larger package.
The IPAA team is proud that this bipartisan legislation
continues to gain support in Congress and around the country,
and we are optimistic for its success.
r
American Oil and Gas Reporter - July 2021

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