Congress·In Committee·H.R. 8099

Plug Offshore Wells Act

Offshore Oil Well Cleanup Reporting

Mar 26·View on Congress.gov·Read full text

This bill is one vehicle in a longer effort. See the full story across every version.View effort →

Next up: A house committee

This bill was recently introduced and is currently being reviewed by the House Committee on Natural Resources. It is in the early stages of the legislative process and is considered active. There are no upcoming votes scheduled at this time.

Companion bill: Offshore Oil: Tracking Abandoned Wells and Pipelines →

Legislative Progress

House

Senate

President

Law

Unlikely to pass

This bill was introduced by a group of Democrats and faces a tough path in a divided Congress where new reporting requirements on the energy industry are often debated.

How we got here

This bill’s path across every version that has carried it.

Reintroduced
Reintroduced from H.R. 9168 (118th), which died when its Congress ended.
H.R. 9168 (118th) →

Key Points

This bill requires the Interior Department to create a yearly public report about cleaning up old oil and gas equipment in the ocean. It focuses on wells, platforms, and pipelines that are no longer being used and need to be safely closed or removed.
The report must show how many companies are following the rules for plugging old wells and removing platforms. It will also list which companies missed their deadlines for cleaning up their equipment and what fines or penalties they faced.
The public will be able to see how many miles of pipeline were left on the ocean floor versus how many were actually removed. This information will be posted on a public website so anyone can track the progress of these environmental cleanups.
This policy aims to hold oil and gas companies accountable for their equipment. By making this data public, it helps ensure that abandoned rigs do not sit in the ocean indefinitely where they could cause leaks or other environmental problems.

Impact Analysis

Govbase has not yet run an impact analysis on this legislation.

Milestones

2 milestones2 actions

Mar 26, 2026House

Referred to the House Committee on Natural Resources.

Mar 26, 2026

Introduced in House

The bill was officially filed and given a number. It now enters the legislative queue.

No votes or news coverage recorded for this bill yet.

Source Information

Document Type

Congressional Bill

Official Title

Plug Offshore Wells Act

Bill NumberHR 8099

Congress119th Congress

ChamberHouse of Representatives

Latest ActionReferred to the House Committee on Natural Resources.

Data Sources

Congress.gov

Official legislative information

Read Full Bill Text

Sponsor

Cosponsors

(9)

D: 9

Analysis generated by AI. Always verify with official sources.