PA Environment Digest Blog: DEP: US Interior Dept. Withdraws Orphan Oil & Gas Well Regulatory Improvement Grant Program To Help Prevent Future Well Abandonments, A Severe Problem In PA

Thursday, March 27, 2025

DEP: US Interior Dept. Withdraws Orphan Oil & Gas Well Regulatory Improvement Grant Program To Help Prevent Future Well Abandonments, A Severe Problem In PA

On March 20, the Department of Environmental Protection told the Oil and Gas Technical Advisory Board the US Department of the Interior has "withdrawn" the Orphan Oil and Gas Well Regulatory Improvement Act Grant Program designed to help states strengthen their programs, in particular to prevent future oil and gas well abandonments.

Under the program, states were eligible for two types of Regulatory Improvement Grants-- 

-- Plugging Standards Grants: Intended to incentivize states to implement standards and procedures designed to ensure that wells located in the state are plugged in an effective manner that protects groundwater and other natural resources, public health and safety, and the environment.  

-- Program Improvement Grants: Intended to incentivize states to implement other improvements to state programs designed to reduce future orphaned well burdens, such as financial assurance reform, alternative funding mechanisms for orphaned well programs, and reforms to programs relating to well transfer or temporary abandonment. 

Final guidance on the federal program was just issued on January 15, 2025.

Kris Shiffer, Director of DEP’s Bureau of Oil and Gas Planning, Program Management, said, "We did get word, I think within the last month, currently, right now DOI has withdrawn Regulatory Improvement Grant guidance and is not accepting Regulatory Improvement Grant applications pending further review of that program."

He said the Regulatory Improvement Grant Program "deals with two $20 million grant opportunities where we strengthen our plugging program as well as our oversight from a regulatory perspective, whether it be policy changes, SOP [operating procedure] changes, rulemaking changes, legislative changes that we help to improve the program."

"So we'll wait to see if that opens up or if there's any changes to be made associated with that one," added Shiffer.

“So regardless of the money on the table so to speak, as part of that grant opportunity, there's always improvements that we're trying to make and look at in terms of doing, whether it be, speaking with the legislators, whether it'd be speaking with the Governor's Office, whether it be speaking with the industry members, whether it be with the different work groups that we have going on,” said Shiffer.

“There's always improvements that we always want to make as a program. I'm a big believer in trying to say, Pennsylvania has the number one program across the nation. We're leading the way in terms of other states looking for us for opportunities and ideas, and I firmly believe that,” said Shiffer.

Kurt Klapkowski, DEP Deputy Secretary for Oil and Gas Management, added, “I think we've got a lot of room to make administrative changes, things that wouldn't necessarily require regulations or statutory changes, although we would certainly be interested in those types of changes if it seemed like that was the best approach to get to those places.

“But the idea of cutting off the future abandonment, improper abandonment of wells so that we're not ever sort of handing this off to the taxpayer as now it's your problem kind of a thing.

“And that can take a lot of different forms. That can be how we look at permit transfers.

“That could be how we do enforcement and oversight of abandonment, how do we do oversight and enforcement of our reporting requirements?

“And in Kris's bureau, we've created a new compliance section in our data management and compliance division that's really taking a hard look at those issues across the state.”

Continuing Conventional Well Abandonment Problem

In 2024, DEP issued 860 new or continued violations to conventional oil and gas well owners for abandoning and not plugging their wells.

In 2023, DEP issued 512 violations to conventional well owners for abandonment.

So far in 2025, DEP issued 96 violations to 36 conventional oil and gas well owners for abandoning their wells. Read more here.

Growing Shale Gas Well Abandonments

In 2024, 47 violations were issued or continued to 12 shale gas well owners for abandoning and not plugging their wells.

In 2023, DEP issued or continued 20 violations to 10 shale gas well owners for abandoning and not plugging their wells. Read more here.

So far in 2025, DEP issued 39 violations to 10 shale gas drilling companies for abandoning and not plugging their well, most drilled in the early days of shale gas development in Pennsylvania-- 2009 to 2013. Read more here.

Industry Has No Interest In Changes

In September 2021, environmental groups submitted rulemaking petitions to the Environmental Quality Board to increase well plugging bonding amounts for conventional and unconventional shale gas wells to what it costs taxpayers to plug oil and gas wells abandoned by their owners. Read more here.

In response, the General Assembly passed and Gov. Wolf signed into law legislation in July 2022 that took away the EQB’s authority to increase bond amounts for conventional oil and gas wells for 10 years. Read more here.

DEP has yet to report to the Environmental Quality Board on whether it recommends the Board accept the rulemaking petition increasing bonding amounts for shale gas wells.

DEP has been trying to get the conventional oil and gas industry interested in other concepts to handle their well plugging financial responsibilities.

In October 2023, DEP and One Nexus presented the concept of a “life insurance” policy for covering well plugging liability to conventional well owners at DCED’s PA Grade Crude [Oil] Development Advisory Council, but the industry would have none of it. Read more here.

In November 2021, the Post-Gazette reported DEP records show the agency has less than $15 per well available to plug the over 100,500 active conventional oil and gas wells that now have permits because of woefully inadequate well plugging bonding requirements. Read more here.

Conventional oil and gas wells drilled before April 18, 1985, which is most of them, cannot be required to have any well plugging bond by law.

NewsClip:

-- High Country News: President Halts Historic Orphaned Oil & Gas Well Plugging Program

PA Oil & Gas Industry Public Notice Dashboards:

-- PA Oil & Gas Weekly Compliance Dashboard - March 22 to 28 - Failed To Comply With Well Plugging Order For 63 Months; Abandoned Conventional Well Violations Hit 113; Another Conventional Well Explosion, Same Owner [PaEN]

-- PA Oil & Gas Industrial Facilities: Permit Notices/Opportunities To Comment - March 29 [PaEN]

-- DEP To Hold May 7 Hearing On Proposed Title V Air Quality Permit For Tennessee Gas Pipeline Compressor Station 219 In Jefferson Twp., Mercer County [PaEN]

-- DEP Invites Comments On 401 Water Quality Certification For Rover Pipeline Rover-Bulger Compressor Station, Harmon Creek Meter Station Expansion In Smith Twp., Washington County [PaEN]

-- DEP Invites Comments On Chapter 105 Permit For A MarkWest Liberty 4.5 Mile, 20-Inch Natural Gas Pipeline In Allegheny, Washington Counties Impacting Montour Trail Property [PaEN]

-- DEP Invites Comments On Air Permit For Kratos Cryptocurrency Mining Facility Powered By Natural Gas In Clinton County [PaEN]

-- Susquehanna River Basin Commission Approved 50 Shale Gas Well Pad Water Use General Permits In February [PaEN]

-- DEP Posted 103 Pages Of Permit-Related Notices In March 29 PA Bulletin [PaEN]