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PA Bulletin, Doc. No. 24-1428

NOTICES

DEPARTMENT OF
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION

Orphan Well Plugging Grant Program; Opening of Grant Application Period

[54 Pa.B. 6343]
[Saturday, October 5, 2024]

 The Department of Environmental Protection (Department) announces an opportunity to apply for up to $16.8 million in grant funding through the Orphan Well Plugging Grant Program (Grant Program), established under 58 Pa.C.S. Chapter 28 (relating to oil and gas well plugging oversight), offered to qualified applicants in the amounts prescribed by this law. This funding represents more than 20% of the total ''Formula Grant Phase One'' award received by the Department from the United States Department of the Interior under section 40601 of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (P.L. No. 117-58, Part Title VI), effective September 1, 2024.

 Subawards under this Grant Program are available on a first come, first served basis to qualified well pluggers, as defined in 58 Pa.C.S. Chapter 28. Grant subrecipients must comply with all terms and conditions of the Federal award, including applicable State law, as will be detailed in the grant agreement.

 Applicants can apply to plug up to five orphan wells per application. The maximum subaward per applicant cannot exceed in aggregate the total eligible funds based on the type of orphan well by depth classification, in accordance with the act as follows:

 • The maximum subaward cannot exceed $40,000 for every eligible well plugged that is an orphan well of a depth of 3,000 feet or less or the actual cost of the qualified well plugger to plug the well, whichever is less.

 • The maximum subaward cannot exceed $70,000 for every eligible well plugged that is an orphan well of a depth of greater than 3,000 feet or the actual cost of the qualified well plugger to plug the well, whichever is less.

 An applicant may apply to plug additional orphan wells (up to five per application) once the last well is adequately plugged, a plugging certificate is issued by the Department, and all terms and conditions of the grant agreement have been satisfied.

 Grant applications must be submitted online through the Commonwealth's Electronic Single Application web site, eGrants, at https://grants.pa.gov. Applications will be reviewed on a first come, first served basis. The Grant Program will remain open dependent on fund availability. The Department may stop accepting applications once all available funding is committed to approved projects and recommence accepting applications if additional money is made available thereafter.

 The Grantee shall comply with all Federal and State audit requirements including: the Single Audit Act Amendments of 1996; Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards, 2 CFR Part 200 (relating to uniform administrative requirements, cost principles, and audit requirements for Federal awards); and any other applicable law or regulation and any amendment to any other applicable law or regulation that may be enacted or promulgated by the Federal government.

 More detailed information about the grant requirements can be found on the Department's web site at https:// www.dep.pa.gov/Business/Energy/OilandGasPrograms/ OilandGasMgmt/LegacyWells/Pages/default.aspx.

Language Access

 For applicants who are deaf, hard of hearing, deaf-blind or have a speech disorder, the Pennsylvania Hamilton Relay Service is available by calling (800) 654-5984 (TTD users) or (800) 654-5988 (voice users), and request that the call be relayed to Neil Bakshi at (717) 787-0880.

 ATTENTION: If you speak another language other than English, language assistance services can be made available to you. Call (717) 787-0880.

 ATENCIóN: Si habla otro idioma que no sea el inglés, los servicios de asistencia lingüística pueden estar disponibles para usted. Llame al (717) 787-0880.

 ACHTUNG: Wenn Sie eine andere Sprache als Englisch sprechen, können Ihnen Sprachunterstützungsdienste zur Verfügung gestellt werden. Rufen Sie (717) 772-5719 an.

 Inquiries concerning this notice and requests for more information about this Grant Program should be directed to Amy McMullen, Environmental Group Manager, Department of Environmental Protection, Rachel Carson State Office Building, Bureau of Oil and Gas Planning and Program Management, P.O. Box 8765, Harrisburg, PA 17101-8765, at ammcmullen@pa.gov or (717) 783-9165.

JESSICA SHIRLEY, 
Acting Secretary

[Pa.B. Doc. No. 24-1428. Filed for public inspection October 4, 2024, 9:00 a.m.]


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