The Interior Department is removing some requirements for states applying for federal orphaned well cleanup grants to speed up processing.
The department has updated guidance for two grant programs by removing “non-statutory” requirements, according to a Thursday press release.
The nixed rules include one that required states to conduct before- and after-plugging methane measurements and another that required environmental reviews and approvals after well cleanups. Interior also said its guidance would recognize the “discretion states have in identifying and plugging orphaned wells.”
There are tens of thousands of abandoned oil or gas wells that in many cases spew methane, a potent greenhouse gas, into the atmosphere. There are more than 123,000 documented orphaned wells, according to a 2022 study.
