Methane Emissions Reduction Program

Methane Emissions Reduction Grant

The federal Department of Energy awarded the Commission a nearly $22 million grant in December 2023 to mitigate methane emissions from certain oil and gas wells as part of the Methane Emissions Reduction Program. This program focuses on the abandonment of marginal conventional wells, which are idle or producing onshore vertical or slightly deviated wells with a known owner or operator that produce less than or equal to 15 barrels of oil a day. Marginal conventional wells account for only six percent of oil and gas production in the U.S. but over half of well site methane emissions.

The grant requires the Commission to use a minimum of 40 percent of the funding in low income and disadvantaged communities in compliance with the federal government’s Justice 40 initiative. Staff selected the West Wilmington oil field in Los Angeles County as the primary location to implement the program because of its proximity to disadvantaged communities and the presence of marginal conventional wells. Staff is working with the City of Long Beach and California Resources Corporation to prioritize wells by proximity to disadvantaged communities and to develop the necessary processes to measure methane emission, plug and abandon wells, and restore well sites.

Staff attended the Department of Energy grant kick-off meeting in June 2024, in Pennsylvania with other state awardees. Our engineering staff is coordinating with the city of Long Beach and California Resources Corporation to identify wells that are a priority to plug and abandon.  Staff expect to plug and abandon about 70 wells over the next five years with the grant funding, and as part of that, reduce the state’s abandonment liability for oil and gas operations in the City of Long Beach and potentially other areas of southern California.

Staff intends to convene community engagement meetings as we approach well plug and abandonment implementation.

Latest Program News

Well Map

Map of West Wilmington with Idle and Active Marginal Conventional Wells

Community Benefits Plan

The Commission's Environmental Justice Policy reaffirms its commitment to an informed and transparent process and that all people are treated equitably and with dignity. Among other goals, the policy commits to “Strive to minimize additional burdens on and increase benefits to marginalized and disadvantaged communities resulting from a proposed project or lease.” As required by the federal Justice40 Initiative, which mandates that at least 40 percent of investment benefit disadvantaged communities, staff will use the Climate and Economic Justice Screening Tool (a tool developed as part of the Justice40 Initiative) and CalEnviroScreen 4.0 to identify impacted communities and engage with community members to garner their input as we implement the program.

Staff will identify the wells that will be plugged and abandoned and work with community advocates to plan meetings that are accessible to the community. Meetings will be scheduled to accommodate the maximum attendance. We will provide language access services and strive to ensure that written information is accessible in the languages most commonly spoken by the community.