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Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed Senate Bill 2463 earlier this month.
The bill sponsor, state Sen. Erica Harriss, R-Glen Carbon, said
the measure addresses a costly problem.
“So the law would ensure that oil well operators, not taxpayers,
are financially responsible for closing and remediating sites
once the drilling operations have ceased,” Harriss explained.
According to the Environmental Defense Fund, more than 150,000
oil, gas, and injection wells have been drilled in Illinois
since 1853. EDF mapped locations for the state’s 4,050 “orphan”
oil wells, most of which are in Southern Illinois.
The EDF website states that oil and gas wells, after they are
done producing, must be properly closed to prevent air and water
pollution, protect the health of the surrounding communities and
restore the property values of the landowner.
When the abandoned wells have no solvent owner of record,
cleanup liability falls on the state or on funding from federal
grants. The average cost to close one well is estimated to be
around $20,000, with remediation costing tens of thousands more.
SB 2463 provides for a third-party-backed bond instead of cash
deposits for future oil rigs, sparing the Illinois Department of
Natural Resources from cleanup costs.
“This bill is about accountability, that taxpayers shouldn’t be
footing that bills when operators walk away from obligations,”
Harris told The Center Square.
Harriss said she worked with the Illinois DNR and the oil and
gas industry on the legislation.
“They were most certainly included in the conversation and this
is not anti-oil and gas at all. This is pro-taxpayer,” Harriss
said.
Senate Bill 2463 passed both chambers of the General Assembly
with no opposition last spring.
The new law takes effect Jan. 1, 2026.
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