Performance Grant – Matching Grant
Forecasted
Performance Grant – Matching Grant supports Pennsylvania’s work to plug abandoned and orphan oil and gas wells, remediate affected land, and reduce environmental and public-safety threats.
Funder: Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection
Due Dates (Anticipated): September 2027 (Annual application) | September 2030 (Final grant awards)
Funding Amounts: Up to $30 million total for Pennsylvania over ten years; federal funds must be obligated within five years
Summary: Supports Pennsylvania’s plugging and remediation of abandoned and orphan oil and gas wells through federal matching funds.
Key Information: Pennsylvania is the prospective applicant; only states that received an IIJA Initial Grant qualify for Matching Grants.
Description
The Performance Grant – Matching Grant supports Pennsylvania’s abandoned and orphan oil and gas well work under the federal Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA). Pennsylvania DEP’s Office of Oil and Gas Management administers the state’s effort, while the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Orphaned Wells Program Office administers federal Matching Grants. Funding rewards increased state spending on well plugging and related remediation above a historical spending baseline.
Pennsylvania’s effort targets approximately 27,000 documented abandoned and orphan wells statewide. DEP aims to address environmental and public-safety threats, maximize contract efficiencies, and plug as many wells as possible. It also seeks to invest in traditionally underserved, low-income, communities of color, and other vulnerable-population areas where priority wells exist, using environmental justice mapping to guide projects and track investments.
