Congress·In Committee·S. 4239

Plug Offshore Wells Act

Offshore Oil: Tracking Abandoned Wells and Pipelines

3 months ago·View on Congress.gov·Read full text

This bill is currently in the early stages of the legislative process after being sent to the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources for review. It is actively moving forward, but no future hearings or votes have been scheduled yet. There is no companion bill listed for this legislation at this time.

Part of: story →Companion bill: Offshore Oil Well Cleanup Reporting →

Legislative Progress

Senate

House

President

Law

Unlikely to pass

This bill only has support from one party and focuses on increasing oversight of the oil industry, which usually faces strong opposition. Most bills of this type do not move past the committee stage.

Key Points

This bill requires the Department of the Interior to create a yearly public report about cleaning up old offshore oil and gas equipment. It focuses on wells, platforms, and pipelines that are no longer being used in the ocean.
The report would show how many companies are following the rules for removing old equipment. It would also list how many wells or pipelines were left in the ocean instead of being taken out completely.
The public would be able to see which companies missed their deadlines for cleaning up. It also tracks if the government is punishing these companies with fines or bans from future drilling.
This policy aims to increase transparency about the environmental risks of abandoned oil equipment. By making this information public, people can see if the government is holding oil companies accountable for their messes.

Impact Analysis

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

Milestones

2 milestones2 actions

Mar 26, 2026Senate

Read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.

Sent to a congressional committee for expert review. The committee decides whether this bill moves forward.

Mar 26, 2026

Introduced in Senate

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

Votes

No votes have been recorded for this legislation yet.

News

No related news coverage found for this legislation yet.

Source Information

Document Type

Congressional Bill

Official Title

Plug Offshore Wells Act

Bill NumberS 4239

Congress119th Congress

ChamberSenate

Latest ActionRead twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.

Data Sources

Congress.gov

Official legislative information

Read Full Bill Text

Sponsor

Cosponsors

(3)

D: 3

Analysis generated by AI. Always verify with official sources.