II
119THCONGRESS
1
STSESSION S. 818
To amend the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act to require the Sec-
retary of Energy to establish an abandoned wells research, development,
and demonstration program, and for other purposes.
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
MARCH3, 2025
Mr. L
UJA´N(for himself and Mr. CRAMER) introduced the following bill; which
was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural
Resources
A BILL
To amend the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act to
require the Secretary of Energy to establish an aban-
doned wells research, development, and demonstration
program, 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 ‘‘Abandoned Well Reme-4
diation Research and Development Act’’. 5
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SEC. 2. ABANDONED WELL REMEDIATION RESEARCH AND 1
DEVELOPMENT. 2
(a) I
NGENERAL.—Title VI of division D of the In-3
frastructure Investment and Jobs Act (Public Law 117– 4
58; 135 Stat. 1080) is amended by adding at the end the 5
following: 6
‘‘SEC. 40602. ABANDONED WELLS RESEARCH, DEVELOP-7
MENT, AND DEMONSTRATION PROGRAM. 8
‘‘(a) D
EFINITION OFABANDONEDWELL.—In this 9
section, the term ‘abandoned well’ means a well originally 10
drilled in connection with oil and gas operations that— 11
‘‘(1) is not being used; 12
‘‘(2) has not been plugged; and 13
‘‘(3) has no anticipated use in oil and gas oper-14
ations. 15
‘‘(b) E
STABLISHMENT.—Not later than 120 days 16
after the date of enactment of the Abandoned Well Reme-17
diation Research and Development Act, the Secretary, in 18
coordination with relevant Federal and State agencies and 19
entities, shall establish a research, development, and dem-20
onstration program to improve— 21
‘‘(1) data collection on the location of aban-22
doned wells; 23
‘‘(2) the plugging, remediation, reclamation, 24
and repurposing of abandoned wells; and 25
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‘‘(3) strategies to mitigate potential environ-1
mental impacts of documented and undocumented 2
abandoned wells. 3
‘‘(c) A
CTIVITIES.—Research, development, and dem-4
onstration activities carried out under the program estab-5
lished under subsection (b) shall include activities to im-6
prove— 7
‘‘(1) remote sensor capabilities, light detection 8
and ranging (referred to in this section as ‘LiDAR’) 9
capabilities, optical gas imaging, magnetic survey 10
technology, and any other technologies relevant to 11
the efficient identification of abandoned wells; 12
‘‘(2) understanding of how certain parameters 13
of abandoned wells affect methane emission rates of 14
the wells, including parameters such as well age, well 15
depth, geology, construction, case material, and geo-16
graphic region; 17
‘‘(3) the efficiency and cost-efficacy of processes 18
for plugging, remediating, reclaiming, and 19
repurposing abandoned wells, including— 20
‘‘(A) improvement of processes and tech-21
nologies for the unique challenges associated 22
with plugging remote abandoned wells; 23
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‘‘(B) use of low carbon, lightweight cement 1
or use of alternative materials and additives for 2
plugging purposes; and 3
‘‘(C) repurposing of abandoned wells for 4
alternative uses, including geothermal power 5
production or carbon capture, utilization, and 6
storage; and 7
‘‘(4) understanding of the impacts of aban-8
doned wells on groundwater quality and contamina-9
tion. 10
‘‘(d) C
OORDINATION.—In carrying out the program 11
established under subsection (b), the Secretary shall en-12
sure coordination of activities carried out under the pro-13
gram with— 14
‘‘(1) institutions of higher education; 15
‘‘(2) the National Laboratories; and 16
‘‘(3) the private sector. 17
‘‘(e) A
UTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 18
are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this sec-19
tion— 20
‘‘(1) $30,000,000 for fiscal year 2026; 21
‘‘(2) $31,250,000 for fiscal year 2027; 22
‘‘(3) $32,500,000 for fiscal year 2028; 23
‘‘(4) $33,750,000 for fiscal year 2029; and 24
‘‘(5) $35,000,000 for fiscal year 2030.’’. 25
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(b) CLERICALAMENDMENT.—The table of contents 1
for the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (Public 2
Law 117–58; 135 Stat. 437) is amended by inserting after 3
the item relating to section 40601 the following: 4
‘‘Sec. 40602. Abandoned wells research, development, and demonstration pro-
gram.’’.
Æ
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