Abandoned Well Remediation Research and Development Act

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of legislation that I am proud to see passed on behalf of the people of Pennsylvania and Oklahoma, the bipartisan Abandoned Well Remediation Research and Development Act. Across the country, there are around 3 million abandoned oil and gas wells in urgent need of remediation or plugging.

In Pennsylvania, there are well over 350,000 abandoned wells, but only 27,000 of these have been identified and documented in order to be plugged.

These abandoned wells not only contribute to the climate crisis by leaking methane, but they also expose our families to cancer-causing toxins like benzene, leave our homes vulnerable to explosive gases, and lower property values making it tougher for families to maintain and sell their homes.

Our region's health and economy suffer while we allow these wells to pollute our communities without accountability or plans to plug them.

Last month, I visited the home of Pamela and Ivan Schrank, a couple in Murrysville, who recently discovered a leaky, abandoned well on their property in Westmoreland County.

During my visit, Pamela described how she got dizzy and almost fainted while gardening in her backyard after being exposed to the pungent odor she recognized as gas. Fortunately, she and her husband, Ivan, caught the leakage in time to reach out to the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection to begin the process of plugging the well and preventing permanent harm to their family's health and the value of their property. However, until Congress takes action to invest in the identification and remediation of abandoned wells starting with the passage of this bill, tens of thousands of people in my district and across Pennsylvania will continue to suffer the consequences.

Pennsylvania has more abandoned wells than any other State except Texas. Many of these wells that pollute our communities were drilled in the mid-1800s, decades before regulations existed to properly track and document them.

My district already suffers from some of the worst air quality in the Nation and serious rates of exposure to toxins in our water. These communities also suffer from high rates of asthma or COPD and exposure to lead in our water.

We can't leave leaky oil and gas wells from the 1800s to continue poisoning and endangering our communities. We also can't afford inaction. We must invest significant resources to research and develop solutions to this crisis by passing our bipartisan bill because, until we do, it will remain nearly impossible to track every orphaned and abandoned well and too expensive to plug or remediate them.

This bipartisan bill we have introduced builds on the $23 million worth of Federal investments to plug abandoned wells we have already delivered to western Pennsylvania from the infrastructure act by authorizing a new research, development, and demonstration program at the Department of Energy to locate, identify, and address the problems associated with abandoned oil and gas wells.

This program will enhance our ability to locate these wells and direct research toward improving remediation, plugging, and understanding what causes some of these wells to become super emitters, posing the most harm to our health and our climate. It will also fuel the development of new uses for these wells, such as evaluating whether they are suitable for conversion to geothermal power production.

Mr. Speaker, I thank Chairman Lucas and Ranking Member Lofgren for supporting this legislation, as well as Representative Bice for joining me in championing this issue for bringing this important bipartisan bill to the floor.

Today, the Science Committee has now twice unanimously approved this bill, and I encourage my colleagues to do the same.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to vote ``yes'' on H.R. 4877, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 4877) to amend the Energy Policy Act of 2005 to direct the Secretary of Energy to carry out a research, development, and demonstration program with respect to abandoned wells, and for other purposes, as amended.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on H.R. 4877.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 4877, the Abandoned Well Remediation Research and Development Act.

This bill was introduced by two of my Science Committee colleagues, the gentlewoman from Pennsylvania (Ms. Lee) and the gentlewoman from Oklahoma (Mrs. Bice).

The bill directs the Department of Energy to support research, development, and demonstration activities that accelerate the remediation of abandoned or orphaned oil and gas wells across the country.

Currently, there are an estimated 700,000 to maybe 3 million abandoned wells in the United States. These wells cost between $30,000 to potentially as much as $1 million per well to plug, meaning a remarkable amount of money will be needed just to cover past developments.

Wells in remote locations, like Tribal land in Oklahoma, are more difficult and costly to locate and plug, thus increasing the likelihood they will remain unmitigated.

Improving the technologies and methods associated with plugging and remediation processes for abandoned wells would lower the overall cost, improve efficiency, reduce the environmental harm, and potentially result in new and improved purposes.

Mr. Speaker, that is why I support H.R. 4877. This bill will capitalize on the Department of Energy's existing research and infrastructure within the Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management to improve the processes and lower the costs associated with abandoned wells.

The research, development, and demonstration activities conducted by DOE have the potential to validate innovative processes, such as the use of low-carbon cement for plugging or repurposing abandoned wells for geothermal power production and carbon capture utilization and storage.

Additionally, this bill directs DOE to improve technology to pinpoint and map the location of abandoned wells. Before we can plug or repurpose a well, we need to know exactly where they are located.

Efforts for States to plug abandoned wells are already underway and funded by Federal investment. This bill ensures that those efforts efficiently use taxpayer dollars and remain effective in the long term.

Mr. Speaker, I thank Representative Lee and Representative Bice for leading this bill. I urge all of my colleagues to support its passage, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as she may consume to the gentlewoman from Oklahoma (Mrs. Bice).

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, we all share concern about the tens of thousands of known abandoned oil and gas wells across the country that have the potential to leak methane, pose health and safety risks, and pollute local ground water. This is a major step in addressing that.

I urge my colleagues to vote for H.R. 4877. I thank Congresswoman Lee and Congresswoman Bice for their effort, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mr. Speaker, I thank Chairman Lucas for yielding.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 4877, the Abandoned Well Remediation Research and Development Act. In Oklahoma, there are over half a million oil and gas wells, which allow our State to rank eight in oil and gas production in the country. While active wells support hundreds of thousands of jobs, legacy sites and abandoned wells can present environmental and economic problems.

Across the country, some abandoned or orphaned wells are slowly leaking harmful gases and chemicals into the ecosystem. This is partly due to some wells being left unaddressed after their use. However, most leaks are the result of plugging procedures or materials that have not withstood the test of time.

To remedy this issue, different States have implemented plugging and cleanup programs with varying levels of success. For example, the Oklahoma Energy Resources Board has invested $132 million to successfully clean up over 18,000 sites across our State.

Additionally, the Federal plugging and remediation program established last Congress provided $25 million in

initial grants to Oklahoma. This was a great first step, but unless we want to continue to spend on temporary solutions, we must have innovation.

H.R. 4877 will address this innovation gap and potentially save billions of dollars in future efforts. Through the research, development, and demonstration activities authorized by this bill, the Department of Energy will improve the data on the location of abandoned wells, the process for plugging, reclaiming, and repurposing wells, and the ability to mitigate potential environmental impacts of leaking wells.

In the future, we won't need another $4 billion in Federal plugging programs. The innovation spurred by this bill could cut those costs in half and save billions in taxpayer funds.

H.R. 4877 directs the type of forward-looking research and development that will solve our legacy challenges, while allowing responsible environmental stewardship to continue into the next generation.

Mr. Speaker, I am proud to lead this bill with my colleague from Pennsylvania (Ms. Lee). I thank her for working alongside me in a bipartisan fashion to get this bill to the floor, which is a great example of innovating to solve a real-world issue.

Mr. Speaker, I urge a ``yes'' vote from my colleagues.

Mr. Speaker, I was unable to vote during the week of April 29th through May 1st, as I was in the district recovering from a medical procedure.

Had I been present, I would have voted: YEA on H.R. 4866, Roll Call No. 153;

YEA on H.R. 4755, Roll Call No. 154;

YEA on H. Res. Roll Call No. 1173, Roll Call No. 163;

YEA on H.R 529, Roll Call No. 155;

YEA on H.R. 4824, Roll Call No. 156;

YEA on H.R. 4877, Roll Call No. 157;

YEA on H.R. 6093, Roll Call No. 158;

YEA ON H.R. 3738, Roll Call No. 159,

YEA on H.R. 4016, Roll Call No. 160;

YEA on H.R. 1767, Roll Call 161;

YEA on H.R. 3195, Roll Call No. 171;

YEA on H.R. 764, Roll Call No. 169;

YEA on H.R. 615, Roll Call No. 167;

YEA on H.R. 3397, Roll Call No, 165;

YEA on H. Res. 1112, Roll Call No. 176;

YEA on H.R. 6090, Roll Call No. 172; and

YEA on H.R. 6285, Roll Call No. 174.