SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Revive Economic 
Growth and Reclaim Orphaned Wells Act of 2021’’ or the 
‘‘REGROW Act of 2021’’. 
SEC. 2. ORPHANED WELL SITE PLUGGING, REMEDIATION, 
AND RESTORATION. 
Section 349 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (42 
U.S.C. 15907) is amended to read as follows: 
‘‘SEC. 349. ORPHANED WELL SITE PLUGGING, REMEDI-
ATION, AND RESTORATION. 
‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
‘‘(1) FEDERAL LAND.—The term ‘Federal land’ 
means land administered by a land management 
agency within— 
‘‘(A) the Department of Agriculture; or 
‘‘(B) the Department of the Interior. 
‘‘(2) IDLED
WELL.—The term ‘idled well’ 
means a well— 
‘‘(A) that has been nonoperational for not 
fewer than 4 years; and 
‘‘(B) for which there is no anticipated ben-
eficial future use. 
‘‘(3) INDIAN TRIBE.—The term ‘Indian Tribe’ 
has the meaning given the term in section 4 of the 
Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance 
Act (25 U.S.C. 5304). 
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‘‘(4) OPERATOR.—The term ‘operator’, with re-
spect to an oil or gas operation, means any entity, 
including a lessee or operating rights owner, that 
has provided to a relevant authority a written state-
ment that the entity is responsible for the oil or gas 
operation, or any portion of the operation. 
‘‘(5) ORPHANED WELL.—The term ‘orphaned 
well’— 
‘‘(A) with respect to Federal land or Tribal 
land, means a well— 
‘‘(i) that is not used for an authorized 
purpose, such as production, injection, or 
monitoring; and 
‘‘(ii)(I) for which no operator can be 
located; or 
‘‘(II) the operator of which is un-
able— 
‘‘(aa) to plug the well; and 
‘‘(bb) to remediate and reclaim 
the well site; and 
‘‘(B) with respect to State or private 
land— 
‘‘(i) has the meaning given the term 
by the applicable State; or 
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‘‘(ii) if that State uses different termi-
nology, has the meaning given another 
term used by the State to describe a well 
eligible for plugging, remediation, and rec-
lamation by the State. 
‘‘(6) TRIBAL
LAND.—The term ‘Tribal land’ 
means any land or interest in land owned by an In-
dian Tribe, the title to which is— 
‘‘(A) held in trust by the United States; or 
‘‘(B) subject to a restriction against alien-
ation under Federal law. 
‘‘(b) FEDERAL PROGRAM.— 
‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 60 days 
after the date of enactment of the Revive Economic 
Growth and Reclaim Orphaned Wells Act of 2021, 
the Secretary shall establish a program to plug, re-
mediate, and reclaim orphaned wells located on Fed-
eral land. 
‘‘(2) INCLUDED
ACTIVITIES.—The program 
under this subsection shall— 
‘‘(A) include a method of— 
‘‘(i) identifying, characterizing, and 
inventorying orphaned wells and associated 
pipelines, facilities, and infrastructure on 
Federal land; and 
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‘‘(ii) ranking those orphaned wells for 
priority in plugging, remediation, and rec-
lamation, based on— 
‘‘(I) public health and safety; 
‘‘(II) 
potential 
environmental 
harm; and 
‘‘(III) other subsurface impacts 
or land use priorities; 
‘‘(B) distribute funding in accordance with 
the priorities established under subparagraph 
(A)(ii) for— 
‘‘(i) plugging orphaned wells; 
‘‘(ii) remediating and reclaiming well 
pads and facilities associated with or-
phaned wells; 
‘‘(iii) remediating soil and restoring 
native species habitat that has been de-
graded due to the presence of orphaned 
wells and associated pipelines, facilities, 
and infrastructure; and 
‘‘(iv) remediating land adjacent to or-
phaned wells and decommissioning or re-
moving associated pipelines, facilities, and 
infrastructure; 
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‘‘(C) provide a public accounting of the 
costs of plugging, remediation, and reclamation 
for each orphaned well; 
‘‘(D) seek to determine the identities of po-
tentially responsible parties associated with the 
orphaned well (or a surety or guarantor of such 
a party), to the extent such information can be 
ascertained, and make efforts to obtain reim-
bursement for expenditures to the extent prac-
ticable; 
‘‘(E) measure and track— 
‘‘(i) emissions of methane and other 
gases associated with orphaned wells; and 
‘‘(ii) contamination of groundwater or 
surface water associated with orphaned 
wells; and 
‘‘(F) identify and address any dispropor-
tionate burden of adverse human health or envi-
ronmental effects of orphaned wells on commu-
nities of color, low-income communities, and 
Tribal and indigenous communities. 
‘‘(3) IDLED
WELLS.—The Secretary, acting 
through the Director of the Bureau of Land Man-
agement, shall— 
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‘‘(A) periodically review all idled wells on 
Federal land; and 
‘‘(B) reduce the inventory of idled wells on 
Federal land. 
‘‘(4) COOPERATION
AND
CONSULTATION.—In 
carrying out the program under this subsection, the 
Secretary shall— 
‘‘(A) work cooperatively with— 
‘‘(i) the Secretary of Agriculture; 
‘‘(ii) affected Indian Tribes; and 
‘‘(iii) each State within which Federal 
land is located; and 
‘‘(B) consult with— 
‘‘(i) the Secretary of Energy; and 
‘‘(ii) the Interstate Oil and Gas Com-
pact Commission. 
‘‘(c) FUNDING FOR STATE PROGRAMS.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall provide 
to States, in accordance with this subsection— 
‘‘(A) initial grants under paragraph (3); 
‘‘(B) formula grants under paragraph (4); 
and 
‘‘(C) performance grants under paragraph 
(5). 
‘‘(2) ACTIVITIES.— 
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‘‘(A) IN
GENERAL.—A State may use 
funding provided under this subsection for any 
of the following purposes: 
‘‘(i) To plug, remediate, and reclaim 
orphaned wells located on State-owned or 
privately owned land. 
‘‘(ii) To identify and characterize un-
documented orphaned wells on State and 
private land. 
‘‘(iii) To rank orphaned wells based 
on factors including— 
‘‘(I) public health and safety; 
‘‘(II) 
potential 
environmental 
harm; and 
‘‘(III) other land use priorities. 
‘‘(iv) To make information regarding 
the use of funds received under this sub-
section available on a public website. 
‘‘(v) To measure and track— 
‘‘(I) emissions of methane and 
other gases associated with orphaned 
wells; and 
‘‘(II) contamination of ground-
water or surface water associated with 
orphaned wells. 
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‘‘(vi) To remediate soil and restore 
native species habitat that has been de-
graded due to the presence of orphaned 
wells and associated pipelines, facilities, 
and infrastructure. 
‘‘(vii) To remediate land adjacent to 
orphaned wells and decommission or re-
move associated pipelines, facilities, and in-
frastructure. 
‘‘(viii) To identify and address any 
disproportionate burden of adverse human 
health or environmental effects of or-
phaned wells on communities of color, low- 
income communities, and Tribal and indig-
enous communities. 
‘‘(ix) Subject to subparagraph (B), to 
administer a program to carry out any ac-
tivities described in clauses (i) through 
(viii). 
‘‘(B) 
ADMINISTRATIVE
COST
LIMITA-
TION.— 
‘‘(i) IN
GENERAL.—Except as pro-
vided in clause (ii), a State shall not use 
more than 10 percent of the funds received 
under this subsection during a fiscal year 
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for administrative costs under subpara-
graph (A)(ix). 
‘‘(ii) 
EXCEPTION.—The 
limitation 
under clause (i) shall not apply to funds 
used by a State as described in paragraph 
(3)(A)(ii). 
‘‘(3) INITIAL GRANTS.— 
‘‘(A) IN
GENERAL.—The Secretary shall 
distribute— 
‘‘(i) not more than $25,000,000 to 
each State that submits to the Secretary, 
by not later than 180 days after the date 
of enactment of the Revive Economic 
Growth and Reclaim Orphaned Wells Act 
of 2021, a request for funding under this 
clause, including— 
‘‘(I) an estimate of the number 
of jobs that will be created or saved 
through the activities proposed to be 
funded; and 
‘‘(II) a certification that— 
‘‘(aa) the State is a Member 
State or Associate Member State 
of the Interstate Oil and Gas 
Compact Commission; 
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‘‘(bb) there are 1 or more 
documented orphaned wells lo-
cated in the State; and 
‘‘(cc) the State will use not 
less than 90 percent of the fund-
ing requested under this sub-
section to issue new contracts, 
amend 
existing 
contracts, 
or 
issue grants for plugging, remedi-
ation, and reclamation work by 
not later than 90 days after the 
date of receipt of the funds; and 
‘‘(ii) not more than $5,000,000 to 
each State that— 
‘‘(I) requests funding under this 
clause; 
‘‘(II) does not receive a grant 
under clause (i); and 
‘‘(III) certifies to the Secretary 
that— 
‘‘(aa) the State— 
‘‘(AA) has in effect a 
plugging, remediation, and 
reclamation program for or-
phaned wells; or 
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‘‘(BB) the capacity to 
initiate such a program; or 
‘‘(bb) the funds provided 
under this paragraph will be used 
to carry out any administrative 
actions necessary to develop an 
application for a formula grant 
under paragraph (4) or a per-
formance grant under paragraph 
(5). 
‘‘(B) DISTRIBUTION.—The Secretary shall 
distribute funds to a State under this para-
graph by not later than the date that is 30 days 
after the date on which the State submits to 
the Secretary the certification required under 
clause (i)(II) or (ii)(III) of subparagraph (A), 
as applicable. 
‘‘(C) DEADLINE
FOR
EXPENDITURE.—A 
State that receives funds under this paragraph 
shall reimburse the Secretary in an amount 
equal to the amount of the funds that remain 
unobligated on the date that is 1 year after the 
date of receipt of the funds. 
‘‘(D) REPORT.—Not later than 15 months 
after the date on which a State receives funds 
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under this paragraph, the State shall submit to 
the Secretary a report that describes the means 
by which the State used the funds in accord-
ance with the certification submitted by the 
State under subparagraph (A). 
‘‘(4) FORMULA GRANTS.— 
‘‘(A) ESTABLISHMENT.— 
‘‘(i) IN
GENERAL.—The Secretary 
shall establish a formula for the distribu-
tion to each State described in clause (ii) 
of funds under this paragraph. 
‘‘(ii) DESCRIPTION
OF
STATES.—A 
State referred to in clause (i) is a State 
that, by not later than 45 days after the 
date of enactment of the Revive Economic 
Growth and Reclaim Orphaned Wells Act 
of 2021, submits to the Secretary a notice 
of the intent of the State to submit an ap-
plication under subparagraph (B), includ-
ing a description of the factors described in 
clause (iii) with respect to the State. 
‘‘(iii) FACTORS.—The formula estab-
lished under clause (i) shall account for, 
with respect to an applicant State, the fol-
lowing factors: 
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