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S 4523 116th Congress Senate Energy Accidents Air quality Civil actions and liability Climate change and greenhouse gases Congressional oversight Emergency planning and evacuation Environmental assessment, monitoring, research Environmental regulatory procedures Government information and archives Government studies and investigations Intergovernmental relations Licensing and registrations Oil and gas Pollution liability

Natural Gas Blowout Prevention, Oversight, and Liability Act of 2020

Introduced: August 12, 2020 Introduced by: Markey, Edward J. Democratic · Massachusetts See on congress.gov
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This bill died when the 116th Congress ended
It never became law before the 116th Congress (2019–2020) adjourned, and bills don't carry over to the next Congress. It would have to be reintroduced. You can still save it for reference, but it won't receive updates.
 Everywhere this bill has been 2 steps
Introduced
In committee
Reported out
Passed House
Passed Senate
To President
Became law
Aug 12, 2020
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.
Aug 12, 2020
Introduced in Senate
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 Plain-English summary Congressional Research Service

Natural Gas Blowout Prevention, Oversight, and Liability Act of 2020

This bill sets forth federal standards related to natural gas blowouts. A blowout is the loss of control of any well that leads to the release of combusted or uncombusted natural gas into the atmosphere.

Specifically, the bill

  • requires operators of wells to report natural gas blowouts to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) within 72 hours after a blowout occurs;
  • directs the EPA to establish and maintain a public database of all blowouts;
  • imposes penalties for natural gas or flared natural gas that is released as a result of a well blowout, based on the volume released;
  • establishes a grant program to reduce the scale and regularity of blowouts and the burden to states and local governments with respect to emergency responses to blowouts; and
  • directs the Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board to submit a report that describes each natural gas blowout from the past 10 years and includes recommendations to reduce the number of blowouts.
What's happening now August 12, 2020

Read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.

 Bill text 1 version

Source documents hosted by congress.gov.

 Committees of jurisdiction 1
Cite this page click to expand
APA
U.S. Congress. (2026). S. 4523: Natural Gas Blowout Prevention, Oversight, and Liability Act of 2020. 116th Congress. Open America. https://openamerica.io/bill/116-S-4523/
MLA
"S. 4523: Natural Gas Blowout Prevention, Oversight, and Liability Act of 2020." 116th Congress, 2026, Open America, https://openamerica.io/bill/116-S-4523/.
Bluebook (legal)
S. 4523, 116th Cong. (2026), https://openamerica.io/bill/116-S-4523/.
Markdown link
[S. 4523: Natural Gas Blowout Prevention, Oversight, and Liability Act of 2020](https://openamerica.io/bill/116-S-4523/)
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