Us Congress 2025-2026 Regular Session

Us Congress Senate Bill SB818 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	II
2	2	119THCONGRESS
3	3	1
4	4	STSESSION S. 818
5	5	To amend the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act to require the Sec-
6	6	retary of Energy to establish an abandoned wells research, development,
7	7	and demonstration program, and for other purposes.
8	8	IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
9	9	MARCH3, 2025
10	10	Mr. L
11	11	UJA´N(for himself and Mr. CRAMER) introduced the following bill; which
12	12	was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural
13	13	Resources
14	14	A BILL
15	15	To amend the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act to
16	16	require the Secretary of Energy to establish an aban-
17	17	doned wells research, development, and demonstration
18	18	program, and for other purposes.
19	19	Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
20	20	tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
21	21	SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3
22	22	This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Abandoned Well Reme-4
23	23	diation Research and Development Act’’. 5
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26	26	•S 818 IS
27	27	SEC. 2. ABANDONED WELL REMEDIATION RESEARCH AND 1
28	28	DEVELOPMENT. 2
29	29	(a) I
30	30	NGENERAL.—Title VI of division D of the In-3
31	31	frastructure Investment and Jobs Act (Public Law 117– 4
32	32	58; 135 Stat. 1080) is amended by adding at the end the 5
33	33	following: 6
34	34	‘‘SEC. 40602. ABANDONED WELLS RESEARCH, DEVELOP-7
35	35	MENT, AND DEMONSTRATION PROGRAM. 8
36	36	‘‘(a) D
37	37	EFINITION OFABANDONEDWELL.—In this 9
38	38	section, the term ‘abandoned well’ means a well originally 10
39	39	drilled in connection with oil and gas operations that— 11
40	40	‘‘(1) is not being used; 12
41	41	‘‘(2) has not been plugged; and 13
42	42	‘‘(3) has no anticipated use in oil and gas oper-14
43	43	ations. 15
44	44	‘‘(b) E
45	45	STABLISHMENT.—Not later than 120 days 16
46	46	after the date of enactment of the Abandoned Well Reme-17
47	47	diation Research and Development Act, the Secretary, in 18
48	48	coordination with relevant Federal and State agencies and 19
49	49	entities, shall establish a research, development, and dem-20
50	50	onstration program to improve— 21
51	51	‘‘(1) data collection on the location of aban-22
52	52	doned wells; 23
53	53	‘‘(2) the plugging, remediation, reclamation, 24
54	54	and repurposing of abandoned wells; and 25
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58	58	‘‘(3) strategies to mitigate potential environ-1
59	59	mental impacts of documented and undocumented 2
60	60	abandoned wells. 3
61	61	‘‘(c) A
62	62	CTIVITIES.—Research, development, and dem-4
63	63	onstration activities carried out under the program estab-5
64	64	lished under subsection (b) shall include activities to im-6
65	65	prove— 7
66	66	‘‘(1) remote sensor capabilities, light detection 8
67	67	and ranging (referred to in this section as ‘LiDAR’) 9
68	68	capabilities, optical gas imaging, magnetic survey 10
69	69	technology, and any other technologies relevant to 11
70	70	the efficient identification of abandoned wells; 12
71	71	‘‘(2) understanding of how certain parameters 13
72	72	of abandoned wells affect methane emission rates of 14
73	73	the wells, including parameters such as well age, well 15
74	74	depth, geology, construction, case material, and geo-16
75	75	graphic region; 17
76	76	‘‘(3) the efficiency and cost-efficacy of processes 18
77	77	for plugging, remediating, reclaiming, and 19
78	78	repurposing abandoned wells, including— 20
79	79	‘‘(A) improvement of processes and tech-21
80	80	nologies for the unique challenges associated 22
81	81	with plugging remote abandoned wells; 23
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85	85	‘‘(B) use of low carbon, lightweight cement 1
86	86	or use of alternative materials and additives for 2
87	87	plugging purposes; and 3
88	88	‘‘(C) repurposing of abandoned wells for 4
89	89	alternative uses, including geothermal power 5
90	90	production or carbon capture, utilization, and 6
91	91	storage; and 7
92	92	‘‘(4) understanding of the impacts of aban-8
93	93	doned wells on groundwater quality and contamina-9
94	94	tion. 10
95	95	‘‘(d) C
96	96	OORDINATION.—In carrying out the program 11
97	97	established under subsection (b), the Secretary shall en-12
98	98	sure coordination of activities carried out under the pro-13
99	99	gram with— 14
100	100	‘‘(1) institutions of higher education; 15
101	101	‘‘(2) the National Laboratories; and 16
102	102	‘‘(3) the private sector. 17
103	103	‘‘(e) A
104	104	UTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 18
105	105	are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this sec-19
106	106	tion— 20
107	107	‘‘(1) $30,000,000 for fiscal year 2026; 21
108	108	‘‘(2) $31,250,000 for fiscal year 2027; 22
109	109	‘‘(3) $32,500,000 for fiscal year 2028; 23
110	110	‘‘(4) $33,750,000 for fiscal year 2029; and 24
111	111	‘‘(5) $35,000,000 for fiscal year 2030.’’. 25
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115	115	(b) CLERICALAMENDMENT.—The table of contents 1
116	116	for the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (Public 2
117	117	Law 117–58; 135 Stat. 437) is amended by inserting after 3
118	118	the item relating to section 40601 the following: 4
119	119	‘‘Sec. 40602. Abandoned wells research, development, and demonstration pro-
120	120	gram.’’.
121	121	Æ
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