SACRAMENTO, Calif.— The California Senate passed a bill today to significantly increase the minimum number of idle oil and gas wells companies must plug each year or require them to pay increased fees. The bill now goes to the Assembly for a concurrence vote and if passed goes to the governor’s desk.

Assembly Bill 1866, sponsored by the Center for Biological Diversity, increases the minimum number of idle wells that must be plugged under an operator’s management plan. For operators that choose to pay fees rather than plug wells, the fees will increase substantially.

“California can take a big step toward addressing dangerous idle wells by getting this bill across the finish line,” said Hollin Kretzmann, an attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity’s Climate Law Institute. “It’s the oil industry’s responsibility to clean up its mess. This bill would stop oil companies from dragging their feet at the expense of California’s public health and financial wellbeing.”

Operators are legally obligated to plug idle wells and restore the surface, but existing law has allowed operators to delay doing so. As a result, California has tens of thousands of idle wells across the state that pollute the air and pose grave safety and financial risks.

Under current law, operators can opt to pay a nominal fee to avoid plugging any wells. Even if they choose to submit a plugging plan, operators need only plug 4-6% of their oldest idle wells to meet the current requirements. Other states like North Dakota and West Virginia require operators to plug idle wells within one year.

A.B. 1866 would make the largest operators plug 15% of their idle wells in the first year, increasing to 20% per year by 2030. Small and medium operators would have to meet lower requirements, which would increase over a six-year period. Unlike current law, the bill would apply plugging minimums to all idle wells, not just older ones.

Recent amendments retain the option for oil companies to pay fees instead of plugging wells. But the bill increases the cost substantially, with fees up to $22,500 per year for the oldest idle wells. Current annual fees are as low as $150 for each idle well.

Oil production in California has declined more than 70% since 1985 and continues to decrease. As a result, the state is in a race against time to compel this dying industry to clean up its mess.

“While this bill does a lot, it’s concerning that oil companies could still put off their cleanup responsibilities by paying fees that are a fraction of well-remediation costs,” said Kretzmann. “Lawmakers have more work to do to hold industry accountable for this enormous problem.”

Plugging idle wells will not only reduce health and environmental threats, but also create thousands of oil industry jobs in communities transitioning away from fossil fuels. A map from the Make Polluters Pay coalition shows more than 24,000 jobs can be created through idle well remediation operations in California.

According to a 2023 report from Sierra Club California, plugging all of California’s onshore oil and gas wells would cost about $23 billion. Yet the oil industry has set aside only $106 million in bonds, according to an analysis by Carbon Tracker. Oil companies that have declared bankruptcy have walked away from their legal cleanup obligations and left taxpayers on the hook for millions of dollars. As the oil industry declines, the threat that companies will weaponize the bankruptcy process to escape cleanup responsibilities increases.

Idle wells threaten public health, the environment and the climate. Dozens of idle wells in Kern County were discovered to be leaking methane in residential neighborhoods — some at concentrations high enough to be explosive.

By one estimate, about two-thirds of unplugged oil and gas wells in California are leaking methane — a climate super-pollutant over 80 times more climate-heating than carbon dioxide over the short term. Wells that leak methane likely also leak other dangerous air pollutants like benzene and other volatile organic compounds. Idle wells can also act as pathways for contaminants to move into groundwater, especially as wells get older.