Plug Offshore Wells Act

This bill would require the Secretary of the Interior to send Congress a yearly report on the decommissioning (shutting down and plugging or removing) of offshore oil and gas wells, platforms, and pipelines. The first report would be due within 2 years after the bill becomes law, and the report would also be posted on the Department of the Interior website. Each report would cover the prior calendar year, including how many decommissioning applications were required and received, how many wells, platforms, and pipelines were not decommissioned by their deadlines, and how many were approved to be left in place. It would also report the length of pipelines left in place or removed, and the status of enforcement actions such as citations and civil penalties.

Full text and official record on Congress.gov

Sponsors

• Peter Welch Democrat sponsor
• 3 cosponsors