Plugging and Abandonment

Orphaned Well Program

The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) (Public Law 117-58), signed into law on November 15, 2021 is a once-in-a-generation investment in our Nation’s infrastructure and competitiveness. Section 40601 of IIJA establishes the Orphaned Well Program to address legacy pollution, including methane emissions and water contamination. To achieve this, IIJA directs the Secretary of the Interior to establish programs to inventory and properly close orphaned wells on Federal, Tribal, State, and private lands. In August 2022, $25 million Initial State Grant was awarded by the Department of the Interior (DOI) to augment existing well plugging activities and to build capacity for State orphaned well plugging programs in Florida.

Program Documents

To publicly access the resulting grant application, DOI award, contracts related to the grant, reports, and other program documents, go to the DEP OCULUS (Electronic Document Management) website and click the "PUBLIC OCULUS LOGIN" button. There you can search the "Oil & Gas" catalog in the "OG File Cabinet" profile (make sure you are searching by "Profile" not by "Property" in the "Search By" drop-down menu). For help navigating the DEP OCULUS, please contact a program representative. 

Program Status (as of date of website)

• Federal Grant Funds Committed = $25,000,000
• Federal Grant Funds Spent = $85,392
• Wells Plugged and Abandoned = 0
• Sites Remediated/Restored = 0