Denver — Colorado U.S. Senator Michael Bennet and U.S. Representative Yassamin Ansari (D-Ariz.) led U.S. Senators Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.), Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), and Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.) to introduce the Stop Orphaned Wells Act, legislation that would prevent oil and gas companies from abandoning oil wells on public lands, a practice that shifts well cleanup costs from oil and gas companies to the American taxpayer.
“For too long, taxpayers have footed the bill to clean up abandoned wells after companies walk away from their responsibilities,” said Bennet. “As the Trump administration moves to weaken the safeguards that hold companies accountable, Congress must protect taxpayers and the public lands that power Colorado’s outdoor economy, while making sure oil and gas companies pay the cost of cleanup, rather than Colorado’s future generations.”
“Trump asked oil and gas executives to bankroll his campaign with a $1 billion contribution in exchange for a big payback. Meanwhile, Americans are left footing the bill for the damage they leave behind,” said Ansari. “Orphaned wells threaten our water, wildlife, and air. I’m proud to lead the effort alongside Senator Bennet to make the oil and gas industry clean up its own mess. Our bill would ensure oil and gas companies pay to clean up the wells they abandon.”
“Across California, there are over 5,000 orphaned oil wells that pose a threat to the health and safety of our communities and the environment,” said Padilla. “When wells are left abandoned, drinking water is polluted, greenhouse gases are emitted, and the climate crisis is accelerated. This bill will help ensure orphaned oil and gas wells are plugged so Californians and communities across the country are protected from toxic emissions and contaminated air and water.”
“Abandoned wells put Colorado communities in danger,” said Hickenlooper. “As Governor, we capped as many of these wells as we could, and that work continues here in the Senate, where we’re protecting taxpayers from getting stuck with the bill. Capping wells creates jobs and lowers pollution. It’s a win-win.”
“Oil companies can’t just walk away from abandoned oil and gas wells and leave taxpayers to bear the cleanup costs,” said Schiff. “I’m joining Senator Bennet and other colleagues to make sure that Big Oil is responsible for cleaning up their messes. Americans should not have to deal with the consequences of an oil company’s negligence.”
“In New Mexico and across the country, abandoned wells pose serious environmental harm and threaten the health of our communities,” said Luján. “We must ensure that oil and gas companies are held accountable and that taxpayers are not on the hook for the cost of cleanup. I’ve long fought to address abandoned wells, including championing the REGROW Act that was passed into law, and continue to work to ensure we identify and plug the thousands of abandoned wells nationwide. That’s why I’m cosponsoring this legislation to prevent companies from abandoning their wells and help reduce the number of abandoned wells in New Mexico and across the country.”
“When an oil and gas company goes bankrupt, New Mexicans shouldn’t be the ones left to pick up the tab for cleanup costs,” said Heinrich. “Right now, the Trump administration is making it easier for these companies to walk away without enough money set aside to clean up their wells. The Stop Orphaned Wells Act ensures that companies set aside money to meet their cleanup responsibilities, so taxpayers aren’t left paying the bill.”
Until 2024 when the Biden administration added agency rules, oil and gas fiscal assurance requirements were minimal, leading companies to abandon wells instead of remediating the land after drilling. The Trump administration is now rolling back these essential protections for public lands and American taxpayers. Nationwide, there are currently over 140,000 documented orphaned wells, including more than 15,000 on federal lands, and hundreds of thousands more that may be orphaned. Additionally, the number of documented orphaned wells in the United States has more than doubled since 2020. These sites are not only a significant liability for taxpayers and a growing threat to water resources, air quality, wildlife habitat, and private lands, but also jeopardize public health, ecosystems, grazing lands, outdoor recreation sites, and cultural resources that are at high risk from contamination.
In Colorado alone, there are nearly 1,400 orphaned wells, with almost a third of these wells on federal or Tribal lands. Estimates from Colorado’s Energy & Carbon Management Commission predict that it could cost over $36 million to clean up all of the existing orphaned wells on federal and Tribal lands in Colorado. Moreover, there are currently 245 idled federal wells in Colorado that have the potential to eventually become orphaned, which could cost taxpayers approximately $23 million to remediate. Due to new leasing policies enacted by Congress in 2025, executive orders to increase federal oil and gas drilling, and the financial assurance rollback, industry is likely to drill as many as 3.8 million wells on national public lands in the coming years, and to then pass as much as $753 billion in potential financial liabilities back onto local communities and taxpayers.
The Stop Orphaned Wells Act builds on Bennet’s Oil and Gas Bonding Reform and Orphaned Well Remediation Act and recent state-level reforms in Colorado, New Mexico, Texas, and Utah to fix this broken system and close long-standing industry loopholes around orphaned wells. This legislation would ensure operators, not taxpayers, pay for cleanups and aligns directly with the interests of Western voters, nearly 9 in 10 of whom believe oil and gas companies should cover reclamation costs once drilling ends.
“In La Plata County, orphaned wells are a nuisance for property owners and a danger for people and animals alike. This bill builds on Colorado’s innovative work to ensure that federal regulation protects our communities, livestock, and wildlife – and prevents this public health issue from happening in the first place,” said Marsha Porter-Norton, La Plata County Commissioner.
“The Board of County Commissioners strongly supports Senator Bennet’s Stop Orphaned Wells Act. When a well is abandoned, local communities must shoulder the risks to their health, environment, and taxpayer dollars. This legislation provides the accountability needed to ensure oil and gas companies, not our community, pay to restore the lands they use,” said Jody Shadduck-McNally, Larimer County Commissioner and Chair of the Board of County Commissioners.
“Adams County is glad to see Senator Bennet leading the charge on this significant bipartisan issue, as it is of critical importance to our communities. Our county has the second highest number of orphaned wells in the state; taking action to preserve the health and safety of both our residents and our environment is a top priority for our Board. We look forward to working with the Senator in honing this legislation to be as helpful and effective as possible,” said Commissioner Julie Duran Mullica, Chair of the Adams County Board of Commissioners.
“Like countless places across the country, San Miguel County has been forced to clean up after reckless operators. Orphaned wells are not only an unfair burden on our taxpayers but also a dangerous polluter of our beloved natural resources and public lands. Senator Bennet’s bill takes long-overdue actions to strengthen regulations and hold irresponsible companies accountable,” said Galena Gleason, San Miguel County Commissioner.
“The Stop Orphaned Wells Act is urgently needed in Western Colorado, where orphaned, non-producing wells irresponsibly emit harmful methane gas and harm our health, air and water quality, and critical wildlife habitat. This Act will finally make producers responsible for properly closing, remediating, and reclaiming lands after they stop producing oil and gas,” said Lynn Padgett, Ouray County Commissioner.
“The practice of stripping the land of its resources and allowing bad actors to walk away from drill sites must stop. Our hardworking families should not pay for one dollar to restore the land due to irresponsible bad actors in the industry,” said Lynn Baca, Commissioner of Adams County.
“As a grass roots organization that has been working on improving Oil and Gas regulations for 40 years, we support the proposed legislation that will hold the extraction industry to the same standards as other businesses – clean up your own mess. Our community has been on the front line of oil and gas extraction for decades, many of us with wells in our backyards and ranches. We have experienced first-hand the impacts to our health and water sources when the industry is not held to reasonable bonding or basic plugging and remediation standards. Senator Bennet’s proposed legislation will help protect communities and make long-overdue reforms to stop the orphan well crisis from growing,” said Ryan Huggins, Executive Director, San Juan Citizens Alliance.
“Communities shouldn’t have to clean up a mess left by oil and gas companies on public lands. Senator Bennet’s bill would not only work to clean up the nation’s toxic orphan well crisis but also ensure that oil and gas companies, not taxpayers, are responsible for future clean-ups. Thank you, Senator Bennet, for prioritizing cleaner, safer public lands that communities across the nation, as well as future generations, will enjoy and inherit,” said Jim Ramey, Colorado State Director at The Wilderness Society.
“There are hundreds of orphaned wells across western Colorado, left by a legacy of oil and gas extraction and boom and bust economic cycles. The taxpayers of Colorado should not be left with the clean up costs for industry that made a quick profit off of public resources. Like any responsible business, the oil and gas industry should be held responsible for the cost of doing business on our public lands. We thank Sen. Bennet for his continued leadership on this issue and ensuring the responsible management of public lands and taxpayer dollars,” said Barbara Vasques, Board member of Western Colorado Alliance.
“Wilderness Workshop commends Senator Bennet for introducing legislation that targets the staggering number of abandoned wells impacting Colorado’s public lands and communities. These common-sense measures will make sure that those who profit from oil and gas extraction can no longer walk away from the responsibility to clean up and reclaim their production sites. By shutting down inactive wells, blocking non-compliant lease transfers, and forcing operators to provide honest financial assurances upfront, this bill finally closes loopholes that have been abused for decades. These measures will protect Colorado’s public lands, secure vital funding, and safeguard our water and wildlife,” said Will Roush, Executive Director, Wilderness Workshop.
“Taxpayers should not be forced to pick up the tab when oil and gas companies walk away from their cleanup responsibilities. We appreciate Senator Bennet’s leadership on legislation to hold operators financially accountable for cleaning up the wells they leave behind. By closing loopholes and updating bonding requirements, the Stop Orphaned Wells Act would take commonsense steps to protect American taxpayers,” said Autumn Hanna, vice president of Taxpayers for Common Sense.
“With more than 20 documented orphaned wells in Routt and Moffat Counties and nearly 1,000 across Colorado, these wells pose clear threats to public safety, wildlife, livestock, groundwater, and air quality. Restoring orphaned wells and modernizing federal oil and gas leasing requirements are critical to protecting our communities. The persistent lack of funding to properly plug and reclaim these wells has created unacceptable risks to public health, the environment, and local economies. Senator Bennet’s legislation would bring much-needed accountability and transparency to federal oil and gas development on public lands. Taxpayers should not be left to clean up an operator’s mess, nor should local governments be excluded from decisions affecting the public lands their communities rely on for economic opportunity and recreation,” said Michelle Stewart, Western Resilience Center’s Executive Director.
“All public lands users have a responsibility to leave the land better than they found it, including oil and gas developers. Sufficient bonding is an insurance policy for the public to know that regardless of the financial status of an operator, our public lands and resources will be reclaimed after oil and gas procurement, even if the well is orphaned. We thank Senator Bennet for his leadership introducing the Stop Orphan Wells Act and working to help modernize the financial assurance system for oil and gas development on public lands,” said Kaden McArthur, Trout Unlimited’s Congressional Affairs Director.
“For too long the oil and gas industry has abandoned low-producing or inactive wells to leak methane and health-harming chemicals into our air and water. As these companies leave the wells orphaned, they also shirk their responsibilities, leaving the cost and consequences of dealing with the leaking wells to the taxpayers. We are grateful for the leadership of Senator Bennet to ensure that the polluters profiting on fossil fuel extraction are cleaning up their mess,” said Mahyar Sorour, Sierra Club Beyond Fossil Fuels Policy Director.
“Coloradans deserve economic policies that serve the public. Yet for too long, the federal oil and gas leasing program has prioritized industry interests, allowing a trillion-dollar industry to profit from publicly owned resources while passing cleanup costs on to taxpayers. Senator Bennet’s bill addresses this growing problem by updating bonding requirements to reflect the full cost of reclaiming wells and protecting Coloradans from having to pay to clean up after oil and gas companies. It’s a common-sense step toward managing our public lands in a fiscally responsible way,” said Chris Stiffler, Senior Economist of Colorado Fiscal Institute.
“Oil and gas operators – not taxpayers – should pay to clean up the messes they leave behind after maximizing profits. This legislation would help end the practice of forcing Americans to foot the bill for abandoned wells that threaten public health and safety. We will continue to work with Sen. Bennet to raise the bar for corporate accountability,” said Laura Esquivel, Senior Legislative Representative, Earthjustice Action.
“Companies that drill on public lands have a legal duty to clean up after themselves when they’re done. The Stop Orphaned Wells Act would strengthen bonding and cleanup requirements and prevent companies from using the sale of aging wells to avoid their cleanup obligations. Taxpayers shouldn’t be left paying for someone else’s mess, and our public lands and waters shouldn’t be left bearing the damage,” said Josh Axelrod, Senior Program Advocate at NRDC.
Healthy public lands support thriving populations of wildlife, clean water, and clean air. These lands are the inheritance of all Americans. Irresponsible developers leave behind equipment that pollutes the air and water. Delayed cleanup impacts the health of animals, humans, and the land. Senator Bennet’s bill is an important step to restore our lands and ensure their benefits for future generations,” said Alison Gallensky, Conservation Geographer, Rocky Mountain Wild.
“Our public lands are an irreplaceable asset; a resource that demands careful, responsible management. Yet for too long, we’ve allowed bad actors in the oil and gas industry to drill on these lands and walk away, leaving behind thousands of orphaned wells that threaten our air and water. This outdated system lets companies off the hook for their pollution and cleanup costs while the public bears the risk. Senator Bennet is working to fix this crisis by making common-sense updates to the requirements for operating on our public lands, ensuring these places stay safe for people and wildlife. It’s time we finally bring this system into the 21st century by passing Senator Bennet’s bills,” said Russell Kuhlman, Executive Director of Nevada Wildlife Federation.
“Across the West, public lands are central to our way of life. They provide vital wildlife habitat and the places where we hunt, fish, and spend time outdoors. But these treasured landscapes are being put at risk by policies riddled with loopholes and handouts that allow irresponsible oil and gas companies to abandon their wells and offload cleanup costs onto taxpayers. Oil and gas production has its place — but we have a responsibility to do it right. Senator Bennet’s bill will begin to fix this broken system by holding companies accountable and ensuring our public lands can serve multiple uses for generations to come,” said Jesse Deubel, Executive Director, New Mexico Wildlife Federation.
“Communities across the West are utilizing access to healthy public lands to attract both visitors and business investment. Yet sadly abandoned oil and gas wells that have not been properly plugged or remediated are a growing threat to other public land uses. Senator Bennet’s bill will update regulations to update bonding rates— ensuring that funds are in place to properly clean up wells at the end of their productive lives. Without Senator Bennet’s bill the cost of clean up is passed on to taxpayers. This bill will help regions who depend on oil and gas get the most from their public lands and help create resilient economies for future generations,” said Ashley Korenblat, Managing Director, Public Land Solutions.
“Montana has a deep and complex history of extractive industries privatizing profits and sociahe losses. They get rich while Montanans are stuck to clean up and pay for the messes. Enough is enough. If oil and gas developers are going to benefit from our shared, public resources – especially the public lands that hunters and anglers rely on – then they need to cover the full costs of doing business here. It’s as simple as that, and we thank Senator Bennet for bringing forward a common-sense and fair solution,” said Frank Szollosi, Executive Director of Montana Wildlife Federation.
Bennet has consistently worked to deliver funding to clean up abandoned orphaned wells to keep communities safe and to strengthen bonding requirements to hold companies accountable for future cleanup. The Stop Orphaned Wells Act builds on Bennet’s previous legislation introduced in July, 2021, the Oil and Gas Bonding Reform and Orphaned Well Remediation Act, which would restore the public’s vital role in shaping oil and gas leasing decisions on public lands. In August 2026, Bennet and U.S. Representative Jared Huffman (D-Calif.) led their Democratic colleagues to oppose the recent rescission of two key Bureau of Land Management oil and gas rules on leasing and waste prevention. In November 2025, Bennet joined Senators Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), Hickenlooper, and Luján to urge U.S. Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum and Bureau of Land Management Acting Director Bill Groffy to maintain the federal oil and gas bonding requirements in the 2024 Onshore Oil and Gas Leasing Rule to hold developers accountable for the costs of site cleanup on federal lands. In July 2023, Bennet issued a statement after the U.S. Department of Interior released a proposed rule that includes oil and gas bonding reform for wells drilled on public lands. In July 2023 and December 2022, Bennet sent letters to the Biden administration urging them to finish the work envisioned in his bill by reforming our antiquated oil and gas bonding system. In August 2022, Bennet and Hickenlooper welcomed $25 million in grant funds from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to create jobs cleaning up orphaned oil and gas wells across Colorado.
This legislation is supported by 20 organizations, including Earthjustice Action, Colorado Fiscal Institute, Conservatives for Responsible Stewardship, Conservation Colorado, Montana Wildlife Federation, National Parks Conservation Association, Natural Resources Defense Council, Nevada Wildlife Federation, New Mexico Wildlife Federation, Public Land Solutions, Rocky Mountain Wild, San Juan Citizen’s Alliance, Sierra Club, Taxpayers for Common Sense, Trout Unlimited, Western Colorado Alliance, Western Organization of Resource Councils, Western Resilience Center, Wild Montana, Wilderness Workshop, and The Wilderness Society. In addition, this legislation was endorsed by U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), Ranking Member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.
The text of the bill is available HERE. A summary of the bill is available HERE.
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