Dexter unveils House bill mandating yearly public updates on offshore oil and gas decommissioning

A bill authored by Rep. Maxine Dexter in the U.S. House would mandate annual reports to enhance public transparency around offshore oil and gas decommissioning, according to the U.S. Congress.

H.R.8099 was submitted on March 26, 2026, during the regular session of the 119th Congress. The summary below is based on the official bill language, and may use interpretation to clarify key measures.

In brief, the bill instructs the Secretary of the Interior to compile a report each year for Congress and make it available to the public online, detailing offshore oil and gas well, platform and pipeline decommissioning. The report must disclose the count of decommissioning applications filed and approved, enforcement actions by the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement for these activities, failures to meet decommissioning deadlines and whether pipelines have been left in place or fully removed, as well as related lengths. Congress requires the initial report within two years of the legislation’s effective date.

Rep. Maxine Dexter (Democrat-OR-3rd District) sponsored the bill, joined by co-sponsors Rep. Suzanne Bonamici (Democrat-OR-1st District), Rep. Julia Brownley (Democrat-OR-26th District), Rep. Jared Huffman (Democrat-OR-2nd District) and five other backers.

So far in the current session, Rep. Dexter has introduced 10 other pieces of legislation, one of which has passed.

A similar measure, S.4239, was presented in the Senate with the same filing date and is officially designated as an identical companion to H.R.8099 by congressional records.

Congressional bills can begin in either the U.S. House of Representatives or the U.S. Senate, apart from revenue bills, which are introduced exclusively in the House. Bills are then referred to committees to be considered, possibly amended, and ultimately debated before coming up for votes in each chamber. When both chambers approve the same version, the item is sent to the president for signing or veto. Each consecutive Congress spans two years and includes two sessions, with official records managed by the U.S. Congress on Congress.gov.

Maxine Dexter serves as a Representative for Oregon, elected as a Democrat to the 119th Congress. She previously held office in the Oregon House of Representatives from 2020 until 2024 and holds a B.A. and M.D. from the University of Washington.

Details in this story were drawn from records of the U.S. Congress. Source data is provided here.