American Oil and Gas Reporter - February 2022 - 74

DOI Offers Funds For Orphaned Wells
WASHINGTON-The U.S. Department
of the Interior is making $1.15 billion in
funding available to states from HR 3684-
the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs
Act that President Biden signed in November-to
clean up orphaned oil and gas
wells across the country. The administration
notes that the new law allocates a
total of $4.7 billion toward a new federal
orphan well program.
According to DOI, addressing orphaned
wells will create good-paying union jobs,
catalyze economic growth and revitalization,
and reduce methane leaks.
" President Biden's bipartisan infrastructure
law is enabling us to confront
the legacy pollution and long-standing
environmental injustices that for too long
TABLE 1
Federal Orphan Well Plugging Funding Eligibility for States That Filed Notices of Intent
Estimated
State
Alabama
Alaska
Arizona
Arkansas
California
Colorado
Illinois
Indiana
Kansas
Kentucky
Louisiana
Michigan
Mississippi
Missouri
Montana
Nebraska
New Mexico
New York
North Dakota
Ohio
Oklahoma
Pennsylvania
Texas
Utah
West Virginia
Wyoming
TOTAL:
Initial Grant
Eligibility
$25,000,000
$25,000,000
$25,000,000
$25,000,000
$25,000,000
$25,000,000
$25,000,000
$25,000,000
$25,000,000
$25,000,000
$25,000,000
$25,000,000
$25,000,000
$25,000,000
$25,000,000
$25,000,000
$25,000,000
$25,000,000
$25,000,000
$25,000,000
$25,000,000
$25,000,000
$25,000,000
$25,000,000
$25,000,000
$25,000,000
$650,000,000
74 THE AMERICAN OIL & GAS REPORTER
Phase One Formula
Eligibility
$436,000
$7,341,000
$1,262,000
$1,448,000
$36,495,000
$14,006,000
$9,553,000
$3,647,000
$8,722,000
$20,461,000
$22,396,000
$1,522,000
$1,770,000
$6,975,000
$1,331,000
$1,075,000
$18,720,000
$11,573,000
$14,318,000
$59,852,000
$53,168,000
$79,178,000
$82,563,000
$1,355,000
$30,293,000
$10,539,000
$500,000,000
Total Phase One
Eligibility
$25,436,000
$32,341,000
$26,262,000
$26,448,000
$61,495,000
$39,006,000
$34,553,000
$28,647,000
$33,722,000
$45,461,000
$47,396,000
$26,522,000
$26,770,000
$31,975,000
$26,331,000
$26,075,000
$43,720,000
$36,573,000
$39,318,000
$84,852,000
$78,168,000
$104,178,000
$107,563,000
$26,355,000
$55,293,000
$35,539,000
$1,150,000,000
Total Formula Funding +
Initial Grant Eligibility*
$26,681,000
$53,336,000
$29,872,000
$30,590,000
$165,871,000
$79,065,000
$61,875,000
$39,077,000
$58,667,000
$103,981,000
$111,450,000
$30,873,000
$31,830,000
$51,925,000
$30,139,000
$29,151,000
$97,260,000
$69,672,000
$80,266,000
$256,028,000
$230,227,000
$330,626,000
$343,695,000
$30,229,000
$141,932,000
$65,681,000
$2,580,000,000
* The projected amount of total funding that states may be eligible to receive through the life of the Formula Grant program, in
addition to the Initial Grant. Values will change as additional data becomes available.
have plagued underrepresented communities, "
asserts Interior Secretary Deb
Haaland. " We must act with urgency to
address the more than 100,000 documented
orphaned wells across the country and
leave no community behind. This is good
for our climate, for the health of our
communities and for American workers. "
The administration adds that plugging
orphaned wells will help advance the
goals of the U.S. Methane Emissions
Reduction Action Plan, which Biden unveiled
in early November at the U.N.
Climate Conference in Glasgow. That
plan also contains the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency's latest proposed rule
to govern methane emissions from oil
and gas production facilities (AOGR,
December 2021, pg. 33).
The administration says the federal
well plugging program will contribute to
the work of the Interagency Working
Group on Coal and Power Plant Communities
and Economic Revitalization, which
focuses on spurring economic revitalization
in hard-hit energy communities.
Nearly every state with documented
orphaned wells has submitted a notice of
intent to express interest in applying for
a formula grant to fund remediation of
orphaned wells and well sites, DOI reports.
The department in late January released
the amount of funding for which states
are eligible to apply in the program's
first phase, which includes as much as
$25 million in initial grant funding and a
American Oil and Gas Reporter - February 2022

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