ENROLLED
Senate Bill No. 712
(By Senators Anderson, Deem, Helmick, McKenzie, Oliverio and Ross)
____________
[Passed March 9, 2002; in effect ninety days from passage.]
_____________
AN ACT to amend and reenact section twenty-three, article six,
chapter twenty-two of the code of West Virginia, one thousand
nine hundred thirty-one, as amended; and to amend and reenact
section three, article nine, chapter twenty-two-c of said
code, all relating to the plugging of oil and gas wells;
designating the plats required to be filed prior to commencing
plugging operations; providing that lessees are not required
to offer to sell or otherwise transfer interest in well prior
to commencement of plugging operations to lessors or others
with interests in wells; authorizing the use of global
positioning system for identification of well locations; and
authorizing legislative rules relating thereto.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section twenty-three, article six, chapter twenty-two of
the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as
amended, be amended and reenacted; and that section three, article
nine, chapter twenty-two-c of said code be amended and reenacted,
all to read as follows:
§22-6-23. Plugging, abandonment and reclamation of well; notice of
intention; bonds; affidavit showing time and manner.
All dry or abandoned wells or wells presumed to be abandoned
under the provisions of section nineteen of this article shall be
plugged and reclaimed in accordance with this section and the other
provisions of this article and in accordance with the rules
promulgated by the secretary.
Prior to the commencement of plugging operations and the
abandonment of any well, the well operator shall either: (a)
Notify, by registered or certified mail, the
secretary
and the coal
operator operating coal seams, the coal seam owner of record or
lessee of record, if any, to whom notices are required to be given
by section twelve of this article, and the coal operators to whom
notices are required to be given by section thirteen of this
article, of its intention to plug and abandon any such well (using
such form of notice as the
secretary
may provide), giving the
number of the well and its location and fixing the time at which
the work of plugging and filling will be commenced, which time
shall be not less than five days after the day on which such notice
so mailed is received or in due course should be received by the
secretary,
in order that a representative or representatives of the
secretary
and such coal operator, owner or lessee, if any, may be
present at the plugging and filling of the well: Provided, That
whether such representatives appear or do not appear, the well
operator may proceed at the time fixed to plug and fill the well in
the manner hereinafter described; or (b) first obtain the written approval of the
secretary
and such coal operator, owner or lessee,
if any; or (c) in the event the well to be plugged and abandoned is
one on which drilling or reworking operations have been
continuously progressing pursuant to authorization granted by the
secretary
, first obtain the verbal permission of the
secretary
or
the
secretary
's designated representative to plug and abandon the
well, except that the well operator shall, within a reasonable
period not to exceed five days after the commencement of the
plugging operations, give the written notices required by
subdivision (a) above.
The well operator shall not be required to prepare or submit
to the director a plat prior to the commencement of plugging
operations as long as a plat pertaining to the particular well is
on file with the director and accurately identifies the location of
the well
, or so long as there is also on file with the director the
coordinates of the well established by a global positioning system.
The coordinates established by a global positioning system must be
filed with the secretary in either a written or electronic form
prescribed by the secretary. The global positioning system used to
establish the coordinates shall be accurate within the variance
allowed by law for the distance between the actual location of the
well and location shown on the plat that is required to be filed
with a well permit application, or the secretary may establish the
accuracy of the global positioning system by legislative rule
promulgated pursuant to section two of this article.
No well may be plugged or abandoned unless prior to the commencement of plugging operations and the abandonment of any well
the
secretary
is furnished a bond as provided in section twenty-six
of this article. In no event prior to the commencement of plugging
operations shall a lessee under a lease covering a well be required
to give or sell the well to any person owning an interest in the
well, including, but not limited to, the respective lessor, or
agent of the lessor, nor may the lessee be required to grant a
person with an interest in the well, including, but not limited to,
the respective lessor, or agent of the lessor, an opportunity to
qualify under section twenty-six of this article to continue
operation of the well.
When the plugging, filling and reclamation of a well have been
completed, an affidavit, in triplicate, shall be made (on a form to
be furnished by the
secretary
) by two experienced persons who
participated in the work, the
secretary
or the
secretary
's
designated representative, in which affidavit shall be set forth
the time and manner in which the well was plugged and filled and
the land reclaimed. One copy of this affidavit shall be retained
by the well operator, another (or true copies of same) shall be
mailed to the coal operator or operators, if any, and the third to
the
secretary
.
§22C-9-3. Application of article; exclusions.
(a) Except as provided in subsection (b) of this section, the
provisions of this article shall apply to all lands located in this
state, however owned, including any lands owned or administered by
any government or any agency or subdivision thereof, over which the state has jurisdiction under its police power. The provisions of
this article are in addition to and not in derogation of or
substitution for the provisions of article six, chapter twenty-two
of this code.
(b) This article shall not apply to or affect:
(1) Shallow wells other than those utilized in secondary
recovery programs as set forth in section eight of this article;
(2) Any well commenced or completed prior to the ninth day of
March, one thousand nine hundred seventy-two, unless such well is,
after completion (whether such completion is prior or subsequent to
that date):
(A) Deepened subsequent to that date to a formation at or
below the top of the uppermost member of the "Onondaga Group"; or
(B) Involved in secondary recovery operations for oil under an
order of the commission entered pursuant to section eight of this
article;
(3) Gas storage operations or any well employed to inject gas
into or withdraw gas from a gas storage reservoir or any well
employed for storage observation; or
(4) Free gas rights.
(c) The provisions of this article shall not be construed to
grant to the commissioner or the commission authority or power to:
(1) Limit production or output, or prorate production of any
oil or gas well, except as provided in subdivision (6), subsection
(a), section seven of this article; or
(2) Fix prices of oil or gas.
(d) Nothing contained in either this chapter or chapter
twenty-two of this code may be construed so as to require, prior to
commencement of plugging operations, a lessee under a lease
covering a well to give or sell the well to any person owning an
interest in the well, including, but not limited to, a respective
lessor, or agent of the lessor, nor shall the lessee be required to
grant to a person owning an interest in the well, including, but
not limited to, a respective lessor, or agent of a lessor, an
opportunity to qualify under section twenty-six, article six,
chapter twenty-two of this code to continue operation of the well.
Email
Webmaster | © 2024 West Virginia Legislature **
