In July 2023, the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) entered into an interagency agreement (amended in June 2024) with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to provide technical and management support for $1.36 billion through both grant awards to state-based regulatory organizations for voluntary and permanent plugging and abandonment of marginal conventional wells (MCWs), and a competitive solicitation related to the deployment of methane measurement, monitoring, quantification, and mitigation technologies, tools, and processes.

Under the interagency agreement, this funding opportunity announcement (FOA) is making funds available to a variety of stakeholders for the purpose of mitigating methane emissions from MCWs and other oil and natural gas assets; accelerating the commercialization, scale-up, and application of innovative methane emissions reduction technologies; and advancing the characterization and reduction of methane emissions through multi-scale, measurement-informed data collection and analysis.

This FOA seeks applications for mitigating methane emissions from MCWs and other oil and natural gas assets; accelerating the commercialization, scale-up and application of innovative methane emissions reduction technologies; and advancing the characterization and reduction of methane emissions through multi-scale, measurement-informed data collection and analysis to monitor and mitigate methane emissions from the oil and natural gas production sector.

Specifically, the overall objectives of this FOA are to:

1. Reduce methane emissions to near-zero levels from oil and natural gas operations using commercially available technology solutions for methane emissions mitigation, monitoring, measurement, and quantification. In all Areas of Interest (AOIs), quantification of methane emissions using direct methane measurements is desired. In instances where direct quantification of an emission rate is not feasible, measured data from various sources combined with an established emission rate estimation methodology is an acceptable option. Where remote sensing is used, methane emissions quantification from measured concentration data must be transparent, with documentation of inputs, models applied, and assumptions.
2. Accelerate the repair of methane leaks from low-producing wells and deployment of early-commercial technology solutions to reduce methane emissions from new and existing equipment such as natural gas compressors, gas-fueled engines, associated gas flares, liquids unloading operations, handling of produced water and other equipment leakage.
3. Accelerate community participation in monitoring and access to data, and enhance local and regional characterization of methane emissions through the continued implementation of multi-scale methane monitoring and quantification technologies and approaches across the oil and natural gas producing regions of the U.S. to provide public-facing datasets available to operators, regulators, and other key entities, in addition to informing emissions estimates such as those in the GHGI and leading to broad emissions mitigation.

Within the context of each of the above objectives, this FOA is expected to achieve measurable positive impacts with respect to skilled workforce training and development, and environmental justice through community involvement.

Areas of Interest (AOI):

Area of Interest 1 – Methane Emissions Reduction from Existing Wells and Infrastructure:

• Reducing Methane Emissions from Marginal Conventional Wells;
• Reducing Methane Emissions from Small Operators’ Wells and Other Oil and Natural Gas Assets;
• Reducing Methane Emissions from Marginal Conventional Wells and Oil and Gas Assets on Tribal Lands

Area of Interest 2 – Accelerating Deployment of Methane Emissions Reduction:

• Field Deployment of Engine and Compressor Methane Reduction Technologies;
• Field Deployment of Gas Flaring Reduction Technologies;
• Field Deployment of Emissions Reduction Technologies at Oil and Gas Production Facilities

Area of Interest 3 – Accelerating Deployment of Methane Emissions Monitoring Solutions;

• Improving Access to Monitoring Data for Impacted Communities;
• Regional Methane Emissions Characterization

Only AOI 2 has a cost share, which must be at least 20% of the total project costs.