Assistance to Oil and Gas State Agencies and Industry through Continuation of Environmental and Production Data Management and a Water Regulatory Initiative

This grant project was a major step toward completion of the Risk Based Data Management System (RBDMS) project. Additionally the project addresses the needs identified during the projects initial phases. By implementing this project, the following outcomes were sought: (1) State regulatory agencies implemented more formalized environmental risk management practices as they pertain to the production of oil and gas, and injection via Class II wells. (2) Enhancement of oil and gas production by implementing a management system supporting the saving of abandoned or idle wells located in areas with a relatively low environmental risk of endangering underground sources of drinking water (USDWs) in a particular state. (3) Verification that protection of USDWs is adequate and additional restrictions of requirements are not necessary in areas with a relatively low environmental risk. (4) Standardization of data and information maintained by state regulatory agencies and decrease the regulatory cost burden on producers operating in multiple states, and (5) Development of a system for electronic data transfer among operators and state regulatory agencies and reduction of overall operator reporting burdens.