II 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4523 

To regulate large-scale emissions of methane and natural gas, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

AUGUST 12, 2020 

Mr. MARKEY introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To regulate large-scale emissions of methane and natural 

gas, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Natural Gas Blowout 

5 Prevention, Oversight, and Liability Act of 2020’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds that— 

8 (1) past oil and gas well blowouts, as well as 

9 leaks that have released natural gas, have had dam10 aging consequences, including— 


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1 (A) the California Aliso Canyon gas leak in 

2 2015, which— 

3 (i) released 97,000 tons of methane 

4 (the primary component of natural gas); 

5 and 

6 (ii) was the largest leak of 

7 uncombusted natural gas in the history of 

8 the United States, with a carbon footprint 

9 larger than the Deepwater Horizon spill in 

10 the Gulf of Mexico; 

11 (B) the Ohio Schnegg C–7H gas blowout 

12 in 2018, which released 60,000 tons of meth13 ane; and 

14 (C) the Oklahoma Pryor Trust gas blowout 

15 in 2018, which killed 5 workers; 

16 (2) an estimated 40 well blowouts occur each 

17 year in the United States, causing— 

18 (A) environmental pollution; 

19 (B) damaging releases of methane, an ex20 tremely potent greenhouse gas that contributes 

21 to the warming climate; and 

22 (C) occasional worker deaths and injuries; 

23 (3) permitting and safety rules exist to prevent 

24 blowouts and most blowouts are preventable, yet 


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1 there are still major incidents of natural gas well 

2 blowouts; 

3 (4) taxpayer money goes to paying for emer4 gency responses to natural gas well blowouts; 

5 (5) there is no Federal record of oil and gas 

6 well blowouts or of the causes of those blowouts, 

7 which inhibits measures to prevent future blowouts; 

8 and 

9 (6) there is no mechanism at the Federal level 

10 to deter well blowouts or to ensure that companies 

11 are held responsible for those blowouts. 

12 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

13 In this Act: 

14 (1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis15 trator’’ means the Administrator of the Environ16 mental Protection Agency. 

17 (2) BLOWOUT.—The term ‘‘blowout’’ means the 

18 loss of control of any well that leads to the release 

19 of combusted or uncombusted natural gas into the 

20 atmosphere. 

21 (3) NATURAL GAS.— 

22 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘natural 

23 gas’’ means a naturally occurring mixture of 

24 hydrocarbon and nonhydrocarbon gases found 

25 in geologic formations beneath the surface of 


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1 the Earth, of which the principal constituent is 

2 methane. 

3 (B) INCLUSIONS.—The term ‘‘natural gas’’ 

4 includes— 

5 (i) field natural gas and pipeline qual6 ity natural gas; and 

7 (ii) similarly constituted fuels, such as 

8 field gas, refinery gas, and syngas. 

9 (4) OPERATOR.— 

10 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘operator’’ 

11 means— 

12 (i) if a permit is issued for the well or 

13 the well is registered for the purpose of the 

14 extraction of oil or gas, the person or enti15 ty designated as the well owner or oper16 ator, as applicable, on the application for 

17 the permit or the registration, as applica18 ble; and 

19 (ii) if no permit is issued for the well 

20 or the well is not registered, the person or 

21 entity that— 

22 (I) locates, drills, operates, alters, 

23 or plugs the well; or 


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1 (II) reconditions a well with the 

2 purpose of production of oil or gas 

3 from that well. 

4 (B) INCLUSION.—The term ‘‘operator’’ in5 cludes a storage operator for a well, if the well 

6 is used in connection with the underground 

7 storage of gas. 

8 (5) WELL.—The term ‘‘well’’ means any pro9 duction well, storage well, or injection well that is 

10 used in the oil and gas industry. 

11 SEC. 4. BLOWOUT REPORTING AND FINES. 

12 (a) REPORTING.— 

13 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2), 

14 not later than 72 hours after a blowout occurs, the 

15 operator of the well that undergoes the blowout shall 

16 submit to the Administrator a report describing the 

17 blowout, including the source of the blowout. 

18 (2) ADDITIONAL REPORTING.— 

19 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator may 

20 require a follow-up report after the conclusion 

21 of a blowout for which a report is required to 

22 be submitted under paragraph (1). 

23 (B) INCLUSIONS.—In requiring a follow-up 

24 report under subparagraph (A), the AdminisVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:40 Aug 28, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4523.IS S4523

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1 trator may require the inclusion of information 

2 in that report, including— 

3 (i) the cause of the blowout; and 

4 (ii) methods by which the blowout 

5 may have been prevented. 

6 (3) DATABASE.— 

7 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator 

8 shall establish and maintain a publicly acces9 sible database of— 

10 (i) each blowout reported under para11 graph (1); and 

12 (ii) any follow-up reports submitted to 

13 the Administrator under paragraph (2). 

14 (B) UPDATES.—The Administrator shall 

15 update the database under subparagraph (A) 

16 not less frequently than once every 180 days. 

17 (b) FINES.— 

18 (1) BLOWOUT.— 

19 (A) BASE FINE AMOUNTS.— 

20 (i) UNCOMBUSTED NATURAL GAS.— 

21 Subject to subparagraphs (B)(i), (C), and 

22 (D), in the case of a blowout consisting of 

23 uncombusted natural gas, the Adminis24 trator shall fine the operator of the well 

25 that undergoes the blowout $5,900 for 


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1 each 100,000 standard cubic feet of 

2 uncombusted natural gas that was released 

3 as a result of the blowout. 

4 (ii) COMBUSTED NATURAL GAS.—Sub5 ject to subparagraphs (B)(ii), (C), and 

6 (D), in the case of a blowout of combusted 

7 natural gas during which the natural gas 

8 was flared, the Administrator shall fine the 

9 operator of the well that undergoes the 

10 blowout $450 for each 100,000 standard 

11 cubic feet of natural gas that was flared as 

12 a result of the blowout. 

13 (B) ADJUSTMENT.— 

14 (i) UNCOMBUSTED NATURAL GAS.— 

15 The Administrator may increase the 

16 amount described in subparagraph (A)(i) 

17 to not more than $59,000 for each 

18 100,000 standard cubic feet of 

19 uncombusted natural gas that was released 

20 as a result of the blowout. 

21 (ii) COMBUSTED NATURAL GAS.—The 

22 Administrator may increase the amount 

23 described in subparagraph (A)(ii) to not 

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1 ard cubic feet of natural gas that was 

2 flared as a result of the blowout. 

3 (C) GROSS NEGLIGENCE AND WILLFUL

4 MISCONDUCT.—If the Administrator determines 

5 that a blowout of a well was a result of gross 

6 negligence or willful misconduct on the part of 

7 the operator of the well, the Administrator 

8 shall, as applicable— 

9 (i) increase the amount described in 

10 subparagraph (A)(i) to not less than 

11 $59,000 for each 100,000 standard cubic 

12 feet of uncombusted natural gas that was 

13 released as a result of the blowout; and 

14 (ii) increase the amount described in 

15 subparagraph (A)(ii) to not less than 

16 $4,500 for each 100,000 standard cubic 

17 feet of natural gas that was flared as a re18 sult of the blowout. 

19 (D) DETERMINATION OF VOLUME.— 

20 (i) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of as21 sessing a fine under subparagraph (A), the 

22 Administrator shall obtain an estimate of 

23 the volume of uncombusted natural gas 

24 that was released or the volume of comVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:40 Aug 28, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4523.IS S4523

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1 busted natural gas that was flared, as ap2 plicable, as a result of a blowout. 

3 (ii) SOURCE OF ESTIMATES.—The Ad4 ministrator may obtain an estimate de5 scribed in clause (i) from a relevant State 

6 regulatory agency or the operator of the 

7 well for which the fine is being assessed 

8 under subparagraph (A). 

9 (2) FAILURE TO FILE REPORT.—If an operator 

10 fails to submit a report required under subsection 

11 (a), in addition to the fine required under paragraph 

12 (1), the Administrator shall fine the operator 

13 $100,000. 

14 SEC. 5. BLOWOUT PREVENTION AND RESPONSE PREPARA15 TION GRANT PROGRAM. 

16 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator shall establish 

17 a grant program for the purpose of providing grants to 

18 eligible entities (which may include States, Indian Tribes, 

19 and units of local government) for— 

20 (1) reducing the scale and regularity of blow21 outs; and 

22 (2) reducing the burden to States and units of 

23 local government with respect to emergency re24 sponses to blowouts. 


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1 (b) USE OF FUNDS.—A grant received under sub2 section (a) may be used for— 

3 (1) emergency response planning with respect 

4 to blowouts; 

5 (2) enforcement of well permitting require6 ments, requirements for well licenses, and other well 

7 regulations; 

8 (3) inspection of wells; and 

9 (4) carrying out other activities to reduce the 

10 regularity of blowouts. 

11 (c) FUNDING.— 

12 (1) IN GENERAL.—On October 1, 2021, and on 

13 each October 1 thereafter, out of any funds in the 

14 Treasury not otherwise appropriated, the Secretary 

15 of the Treasury shall transfer to the Administrator 

16 to carry out this section an amount equal to the sum 

17 of all fines collected under section 4(b) during the 

18 prior fiscal year. 

19 (2) RECEIPT AND ACCEPTANCE.—The Adminis20 trator shall be entitled to receive, shall accept, and 

21 shall use to carry out this section the funds trans22 ferred under paragraph (1), without further appro23 priation. 


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1 SEC. 6. REPORT. 

2 Not later than 2 years after the date of enactment 

3 of this Act, the Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation 

4 Board shall submit to the Committee on Environment and 

5 Public Works of the Senate and the Committee on Energy 

6 and Commerce of the House of Representatives a report— 

7 (1) describing each blowout during the 10-year 

8 period ending on the date of enactment of this Act; 

9 and 

10 (2) that includes recommendations for the re11 duction in the number of blowouts, including rec12 ommendations for protective well control practices. 

Æ 


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