Congresswoman Lizzie Fletcher (TX-07) led 30 of her Democratic colleagues in a letter to U.S. Department of Interior Secretary Doug Burgum urging him to resume cleaning up orphaned wells across the country as authorized and funded in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA).

In June 2021, Congresswoman Fletcher introduced the bipartisan Revive Economic Growth and Reclaim Orphaned Wells (REGROW) Act, H.R. 3585, to clean up orphaned oil and gas wells.  In November 2021, she voted for the IIJA, which included the REGROW Act.  President Biden signed the bill into law later that month.  And in February 2022, she announced that the State of Texas would receive $343,695,029 in federal funds to clean up abandoned oil and gas wells as a direct result of her legislation.

There are more than 157,000 documented orphaned oil and gas wells across the country.  The REGROW Act aims to plug every documented orphaned well in the country by investing $4.6 billion toward cleaning up these sites, creating tens of thousands of energy jobs for skilled oil and gas workers.

“On January 20, 2025, President Trump issued an executive order titled “Unleashing American Energy that directed agencies to pause distribution of IIJA funding,” the members wrote.  “Your Order 3418 on February 3, 2025, directs your Assistant Secretary for Policy, Management, and Budget to determine how to issue IIJA funding in accordance with President Trump’s priorities.  To date, we have seen no clear, public guidance from DOI regarding the implementation of paused IIJA funding.

“As of September 2024, $3.4 billion in IIJA funding remained available for orphaned well remediation,” the members continued.  “This funding represents thousands of jobs for people who work in the oil and gas industry.  In fiscal year 2024 alone, DOI’s IIJA orphaned well obligations supported more than 6,000 jobs and contributed $861 million to the economy (an approximate 140% return on investment rate).  This program has also led to many workforce development initiatives and partnerships, creating new opportunities in high-paying careers.  Communities where well remediation service providers are based also benefit from increased demand for supporting industries like contract materials, food services, and lodging.  Pausing this funding with no clear guidance for impacted parties will harm our economies and the skilled energy workers whose jobs depend on DOI maintaining a dependable and transparent process.  We have already begun to hear from IIJA funding recipients impacted by this pause who now face an uncertain future after DOI issued a stop work order on their orphaned well remediation projects.

“We urge you to resume distribution of this Congressionally directed funding immediately,” the members concluded.  “It protects our communities, cleans up our environment, and builds our economy.  Should you have any questions or wish to discuss this issue, we would welcome the opportunity to do so.”

Congressmembers Yassamin Ansari (AZ-03); Nanette Barragán (CA-44); Julia Brownley (CA-26); Troy Carter (LA-02); Sean Casten (IL-06); Joaquin Castro (TX-20); Emanuel Cleaver (MO-05); Jim Costa (CA-21); Sharice Davids (KS-03); Diana DeGette (CO-01); Christopher Deluzio (PA-17); Lloyd Doggett (TX-37); Veronica Escobar (TX-16); Cleo Fields (LA-04); John Garamendi (CA-08); Sylvia Garcia (TX-29); Vicente Gonzalez (TX-34); Jared Huffman (CA-02); Sara Jacobs (CA-51); Julie Johnson (TX-32); Ro Khanna (CA-17); Teresa Leger Fernandez (NM-03); Mike Levin (CA-49); Kevin Mullin (CA-15); Joe Neguse (CO-02); Scott Peters (CA-50); Brittany Pettersen (CO-07); Ritchie Torres (NY-15); Gabe Vasquez (NM-02); and Marc Veasey (TX-33) joined Congresswoman Fletcher in this letter request.

To read the full text of the letter, click here.