50 CFR § 29.180 - When must I plug my well?

---
identifier: "/us/cfr/t50/s29.180"
source: "ecfr"
legal_status: "authoritative_unofficial"
title: "50 CFR § 29.180 - When must I plug my well?"
title_number: 50
title_name: "Wildlife and Fisheries"
section_number: "29.180"
section_name: "When must I plug my well?"
chapter_name: "UNITED STATES FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR"
subchapter_number: "C"
subchapter_name: "THE NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE SYSTEM"
part_number: "29"
part_name: "LAND USE MANAGEMENT"
positive_law: false
currency: "2026-03-24"
last_updated: "2026-03-24"
format_version: "1.1.0"
generator: "[email protected]"
authority: "5 U.S.C. 301; 16 U.S.C. 460k, 664, 668dd, 685, 690d, 715i, 725, 3161; 30 U.S.C. 185; 31 U.S.C. 3711, 9701; 40 U.S.C. 319; 43 U.S.C. 315a; 113 Stat. 1501A-140."
regulatory_source: "31 FR 16026, Dec. 15, 1966, unless otherwise noted."
cfr_part: "29"
---


# 29.180 When must I plug my well?

Except as provided in § 29.181, you must plug your well, in accordance with the standards and procedures outlined in this subpart, when any of the following occurs:

(a) Your drilling operations have ended and you have taken no further action on your well within 60 calendar days;

(b) Your well, which has been completed for production operations, has no measurable production quantities for 12 consecutive months; or

(c) The period approved in your permit to maintain your well in shut-in status has expired.