Guidance

Decommissioning standalone onshore oil and gas wells: RPS 254

Published 28 January 2022

Applies to England

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This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/decommissioning-standalone-onshore-oil-and-gas-wells-rps-254/decommissioning-standalone-onshore-oil-and-gas-wells-rps-254

This regulatory position statement (RPS) is about decommissioning standalone onshore oil and gas wells drilled before 1 October 2013.

This RPS does not change your legal obligations to:

  • get an environmental permit
  • comply with other relevant legislation

If you follow the conditions in this RPS the Environment Agency will not normally take enforcement action against you if you decommission standalone onshore oil and gas wells without a permit for a mining waste operation.

When this RPS applies

This RPS only applies to onshore oil and gas wells drilled before 1 October 2013.

It does not apply to wells drilled:

Conditions you must comply with

If you meet the following conditions you will not normally:

  • need a permit for a mining waste operation to manage extractive waste from decommissioning oil or gas wells
  • have to carry out any monitoring

You must make sure:

  • you do not use a waste facility to manage extractive waste
  • the only extractive waste you manage is that directly associated with well decommissioning, such as well fluids extracted from the wellbore before it’s sealed
  • the well site you are decommissioning is a standalone site – it must not be part of a larger regulated facility, installation or mining waste operation
  • there is no evidence of pollution
  • you are not doing any groundwater activities

You must comply with:

Before you use this RPS you must:

You must make sure your activities do not endanger human health or the environment. You must not:

  • cause a risk to water, air, soil, plants or animals
  • cause a nuisance through noise or odours
  • adversely affect the countryside or places of special interest

Enforcement

A RPS means that the Environment Agency will not normally take enforcement action against you if:

  • your activity meets the description set out in this RPS
  • you comply with the conditions set out in this RPS
  • your activity does not, and is not likely to, cause environmental pollution or harm human health

When to check back

We will review and update this RPS by 31 December 2023. You will need to check back to see if it still applies.

Contact the Environment Agency

You must have written agreement from the Environment Agency before you use this RPS.

Email: oilandgas@environment-agency.gov.uk

Put this wording in the title of your email:

‘Decommissioning standalone oil and gas wells: RPS 254 – for action’

For more information please contact the Environment Agency.

General enquiries

National Customer Contact Centre
PO Box 544
Rotherham
S60 1BY

Email enquiries@environment-agency.gov.uk

Telephone 03708 506 506

Telephone from outside the UK (Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm GMT) +44 (0) 114 282 5312

Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm.

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