The anticipated technical objectives of this funding opportunity announcement (FOA) are to make funds available to a variety of applicants for the purpose of monitoring and mitigating methane emissions, and legacy air pollution from oil and gas assets, including but not limited to marginal conventional wells (MCWs). These efforts are anticipated to accelerate cost reductions and commercial deployment of innovative methane emissions reduction technologies and advance the characterization and reduction of methane emissions through multi-scale, measurement-informed data collection and analysis that also support environmental justice. If released, this FOA may award up to $1 billion through financial assistance awards to a range of applicants under the three technical Areas of Interest (AOI).

AOI 1: Methane Emissions Reduction for Existing Wells and Infrastructure

This anticipated AOI would be designed to mitigate methane emissions and reduce and prevent pollution and other environmental impacts associated with operating MCWs and other oil and natural gas assets. Under AOI 1, it is anticipated that there will be three subtopics and that under each subtopic, funds would be provided directly to a single lead entity such as an organization that represents oil and natural gas producers, a non-governmental research institution, university, or a Tribal organization. The intent would be for these organizations to manage and optimize the effective distribution of funds within each subtopic to owners/operators with relevant oil and natural gas assets. This would be accomplished through the application of DOE and EPA-defined measurement and mitigation implementation guidelines for a variety of technologies with the goal of accelerating the implementation of commercially available solutions. The three subtopics anticipated for AOI 1 are expected to address:

• Reduction of methane emissions from MCWs through the identification of wells requiring emissions mitigation beyond what is covered in DE-FOA-0003109 and the procurement and installation of retrofit technologies to reduce these emissions to the atmosphere;
• Reduction of methane emissions from other wells and upstream and midstream oil and natural gas assets, which are owned and/or operated by small operators, through the procurement and installation of retrofit technologies to reduce emissions to the atmosphere; and
• Reduction of methane emissions from oil and natural gas assets located on Tribal lands, through identification of wells and associated transport infrastructure requiring installation of retrofit technologies to reduce emissions to the atmosphere (from such wells and associated infrastructure).

This anticipated AOI is intended to further build upon the activities under DE-FOA-0003109, titled “IRA: Mitigating Emissions from Marginal Conventional Wells”, which made funds available to States for the purpose of reducing emissions from MCWs on non-Federal lands.

AOI 2: Accelerating Deployment of Innovative Methane Reduction Solutions

This anticipated AOI may encompass several subtopics that will seek to leverage prior technology investments and advancements in this area to reduce costs and accelerate commercialization of technologies for reducing emissions from gas-fueled compressors and engines, flare stacks, and other methane emitting equipment and processes associated with petroleum and natural gas systems. It is anticipated that one set of subtopic areas would focus efforts toward the rapid deployment of innovative solutions to complex and difficult-to-mitigate emissions sources (e.g., compressor station blowdowns, engine slip, non-routine flaring). It is envisioned that awards under AOI 2 would support the field demonstration and commercialization of solutions that can effectively address emissions from these harder-to-mitigate sources on a large scale, and that also have the potential to help producers cost-effectively comply with ongoing regulatory efforts. It is anticipated that project teams under this AOI would include businesses that intend to commercialize the technologies and industry partners who would adopt those technologies, where applicable.

AOI 3: Regional Methane Emissions Reduction Consortia

This AOI would support the collection of empirical data to accurately characterize and quantify the total methane emissions from oil and natural gas operations across multiple, large geographical regions including key oil and natural gas producing basins and associated transport infrastructure over various time frames. This characterization would be accomplished through measurement-informed methane emissions data integration and analysis, including but not limited to, annual emissions estimates at equipment, facility, and basin-levels. The AOI will provide emissions and other data and/or methane detection technologies as well as training on the use of the data and/or technologies. These provisions may be used by disadvantaged communities with environmental justice concerns to enable these communities to engage in monitoring at the local level and reduce legacy air pollution. The objective would be to address the need for consistent, accurate, granular, and transparent multi-scale (e.g., optical, tower, aerial, satellite) methane emission measurement approaches that can be used to inform EPA’s greenhouse gas emissions inventories and reporting programs and assist State, Tribal and industry mitigation efforts. The intent of this AOI would be to develop region-specific collaborative partnerships among oil and natural gas owners and operators, universities, environmental justice organizations, community leaders, workers, unions, technology developers, Tribes, state regulatory agencies, non-governmental research organizations, and Federally Funded Research and Development Centers and National Laboratories.