Orphaned Well Cryptocurrency Mining Partnership Program; create.
Impact
The bill mandates that the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality will oversee the program, develop certain definitions, and maintain a special fund to finance the partnership program. This fund will be populated with federal money, donations, and other sources. Importantly, costs associated with the remediation of these wells are capped, ensuring fiscal responsibility and limiting financial liabilities for participants to three times the initial estimates unless certain conditions regarding cost overruns are met.
Summary
House Bill 1290 establishes the Orphaned Well Cryptocurrency Mining Partnership Program, which permits cryptocurrency miners to take responsibility for the cleanup and reclamation of orphaned oil and gas wells in exchange for temporary control of the energy produced from these wells. This bill aims to address the environmental issue posed by uncapped orphaned wells, which can emit harmful gases, while also providing a potential economic benefit through the use of cryptocurrency mining—a process that secures the integrity of the cryptocurrency network using energy resources.
Contention
Noteworthy points of contention include concerns regarding the environmental responsibility of cryptocurrency miners and whether they can ensure the effective and safe remediation of orphaned wells. The bill requires miners to update their progress annually, but critics may argue about the feasibility and reliability of such private enterprises in environmental cleanup efforts. The capacity of the bill to generate both economic activity through cryptocurrency and tackle environmental remediation simultaneously presents a complex intersection of business interests and state regulatory responsibilities.
Urges and requests the commissioner of conservation to develop and implement a pilot program to reduce the cost of plugging orphaned wells and decrease the number of wells on the orphan wells list
Relating to the establishment and administration of the Texas Strategic Bitcoin Reserve for the purpose of investing in cryptocurrency and the investment authority of the comptroller of public accounts over the reserve and certain other state funds.