SB 84 RECLAMATION OF ABANDONED SITES

Sen Jeff Steinborn

Actions: [1] SCC/SCONC/SFC-SCC [2]germane-SCONC- DP-SFC

Scheduled: Not Scheduled

 Senate Bill 84 (SB 84) appropriates five million dollars ($5,000,000) to the Department of Environment (NMED) for the assessment, remediation or reclamation of orphaned or abandoned sites.
 

 Senate Bill 84 (SB 84) appropriates five million dollars ($5,000,000) from the General Fund (GF) to the Department of Environment (NMED) for expenditure in Fiscal Year (FY) 2025 and subsequent FYs for the assessment, remediation or reclamation of orphaned or abandoned sites

Any unexpended or unencumbered balance remaining at the end of a FY will not revert to the GF. 

 There are programs to cap orphaned or abandoned wells including those that the State Land Office (SLO) and the Oil Conservation Division (OCD) of the Energy, Minerals, Natural Resources Department (EMNRD) administer. The latter received funding, effective 1 October 2022, for an Orphan Wells Initial Grant of $25 million to clean up abandoned oil and gas wells on state and private lands through the federal Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
In 2018, the state updated bonding requirements so that more funding would be available for remediation when a company goes bankrupt. Based on 2021 data, there are 1,700 orphaned or abandoned wells in the state.