BILL NUMBER: SB 1054 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE MARCH 29, 2012
INTRODUCED BY Senator Pavley
FEBRUARY 9, 2012
An act to amend Section 3203 of, and to add
Section 3227.7 to Sections 3203.1 and 3203.2 to,
the Public Resources Code, relating to oil and gas.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 1054, as amended, Pavley. Oil and gas: well operation:
reports: electronic submission. notice.
(1) Existing law requires, before commencing the work of drilling
a well, the operator to file a written notice of intention to
commence drilling with the State Oil and Gas Supervisor or district
deputy. Existing law provides that the notice is deemed approved if
the supervisor or the district deputy fails to give a written
response to the notice within 10 working days from the date of
receipt.
This bill would extend the response time by the supervisor from 10
working days to 15 working days.
The bill would also require the owner or operator to provide
notice to, among others certain surface property owners and occupants
no less than 20 calendar days prior to the planned drilling
operations and would require the notice to include information about
the well and the planned operations. The bill would require a well
owner or operator to notify, among others, the supervisor or district
deputy before commencing hydraulic fracturing operations.
The bill would also require the supervisor, beginning January 1,
2014, and on the 10th calendar day of each year thereafter, to submit
to the Legislature an annual written report regarding the
implementation of this notice requirement.
Existing law requires an owner of a well to submit, among other
things, monthly reports to the State Oil and Gas Supervisor
containing specified information regarding the operation of the well.
This bill would authorize the supervisor to require those reports
to be submitted in an electronic format. The bill would require the
supervisor to adopt standard formats for electronic submission of a
required notice or report.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 3203 of the Public
Resources Code is amended to read:
3203. (a) The operator of any well, before commencing the work of
drilling the well, shall file with the supervisor or the district
deputy a written notice of intention to commence drilling. Drilling
shall not commence until approval is given by the supervisor or the
district deputy. If the supervisor or the district deputy fails to
give the operator written response to the notice within 10
15 working days from the date of receipt, that
failure shall be considered as an approval of the notice and the
notice, for the purposes and intents of this chapter, shall be deemed
a written report of the supervisor. If operations have not commenced
within one year of receipt of the notice, the notice shall be deemed
canceled. The notice shall contain the pertinent data the supervisor
requires on printed forms supplied by the division or on other forms
acceptable to the supervisor. The supervisor may require other
pertinent information to supplement the notice.
(b) After the completion of any well, this section also applies as
far as may be, to the deepening or redrilling of the well, any
operation involving the plugging of the well, or any operations
permanently altering in any manner the casing of the well. The number
or designation of any well, and the number or designation specified
for any well in a notice filed as required by this section, shall not
be changed without first obtaining a written consent of the
supervisor.
(c) If an operator has failed fails
to comply with an order of the supervisor, the supervisor may deny
approval of proposed well operations until the operator brings its
existing well operations into compliance with the order. If an
operator has failed fails to pay a
civil penalty, remedy a violation that it is required to remedy to
the satisfaction of the supervisor pursuant to an order issued under
Section 3236.5, or to pay any charges assessed
under Article 7 (commencing with Section 3400), the supervisor may
deny approval to of the operator's
proposed well operations until the operator pays the civil penalty,
remedies the violation to the satisfaction of the supervisor, or pays
the charges assessed under Article 7 (commencing with Section 3400).
SEC. 2. Section 3203.1 is added to the
Public Resources Code , to read:
3203.1. (a) For the purposes of this section, "surface property
owner" means the owner of a real property as shown on the latest
equalized assessment roll or, if more recent information than the
information contained on the assessment roll is available, the owner
of record according to the county assessor or tax collector.
(b) (1) Not less than 20 calendar days prior to the planned start
of drilling operations of a well, the well owner or operator shall
notify all of the following:
(A) Every surface property owner or authorized agent of that
owner, and every surface property occupant whose property line or
place of residence is within a radius of 300 horizontal feet from the
centerline of the planned vertical well-head at the surface.
(B) Every surface property owner or authorized agent of that
owner, and every surface property occupant whose property line or
place of residence is above any underground waters suitable for
irrigation or domestic purposes that the well is reasonably
anticipated to pierce.
(C) Every water supplier who uses any underground waters suitable
for irrigation or domestic purposes that the well is reasonably
anticipated to pierce.
(D) Every municipal government in which recipients of the notice
pursuant to subparagraphs (A) and (B) are located.
(2) The notice shall be mailed or delivered. Notice to a municipal
government, pursuant to subparagraph (D) of paragraph (1), may be
provided electronically by prior written agreement.
(3) The notice shall include all of the following:
(A) The location of the well.
(B) The well identification number, if available.
(C) A description of the planned drilling operations
understandable to a layperson.
(D) The time period when drilling operations are planned to occur.
(E) Instructions on how to obtain additional information on the
status of drilling operations from the well owner or operator.
(F) The contact information for the district deputy.
(G) Information on how to obtain additional information on the
well from the division, including well log data.
(4) The well owner or operator shall provide to the supervisor or
district deputy a complete list of all recipients of the notice
required pursuant to this subdivision, in no less than 10 calendar
days prior to commencing drilling operations.
(5) The well owner or operator shall notify all recipients of the
notice required, pursuant to this subdivision, if the drilling
operations do not occur during the proposed time period.
SEC. 3. Section 3203.2 is added to the
Public Resources Code , to read:
3203.2. (a) For the purposes of this section, the following
definitions apply:
(1) "Surface property owner" means the owner of a real property as
shown on the latest equalized assessment roll or, if more recent
information than the information contained on the assessment roll is
available, the owner of record according to the county assessor or
tax collector.
(2) "Hydraulic fracturing" or "fracking" means a well stimulation
treatment that includes the application of hydraulic fracturing
fluids under pressure into an underground geologic formation to
create or propagate fractures in the formation, thereby causing or
improving the production of oil or gas from a well.
(b) (1) Thirty calendar days prior to the commencement of
hydraulic fracturing operations on a well, the well owner or operator
shall notify all of the following:
(A) The supervisor or district deputy.
(B) Every surface property owner or authorized agent of the owner,
and every surface property occupant whose property line or place of
residence is within a radius of 300 horizontal feet from the
centerline of the vertical well-head at the surface or a distance of
300 feet in any direction from the horizontal projection of the
subsurface portion of the designated well to the surface.
(C) Every surface property owner or authorized agent of the owner,
and every surface property occupant whose property line or place of
residence is above any underground waters suitable for irrigation or
domestic purposes that the well pierces.
(D) Every water supplier who uses any underground waters suitable
for irrigation or domestic purposes that the well pierces.
(E) Every municipal government in which recipients of the notice
pursuant to subparagraphs (B) and (C) are located.
(2) The notice shall be mailed or delivered. Notice to the
division, pursuant to subparagraph (E) of paragraph (1), may be
provided electronically by prior written agreement.
(3) The well owner or operator shall provide notice to all of the
following:
(A) The location of the well.
(B) The well identification number.
(C) A description of the planned fracking well stimulation
technique understandable to a layperson.
(D) The time period when fracking well stimulation is planned to
occur.
(E) Instructions on how to obtain additional information on the
status of drilling operations from the well owner or operator.
(F) The contact information for the district deputy.
(G) Information on how to obtain additional information on the
well, including well log data.
(4) The well owner or operator shall provide to the supervisor or
district deputy a complete list of all recipients of the notice
required pursuant to this subdivision, in no less than 20 days prior
to starting a hydraulic fracturing stimulation treatment.
(5) The well owner or operator shall notify all recipients of the
notice required pursuant to this subdivision if the hydraulic
fracturing well stimulation treatment does not occur during the
proposed time period.
(6) The well owner or operator shall add the actual time period of
the hydraulic fracturing well stimulation treatment to the records
contained in the well log pursuant to Section 3210 and report it
accordingly.
(c) Wells and well operations subject to Section 3234 are not
exempt from the notification requirements under subdivision (b).
(d) Beginning January 1, 2014, and no later than the 10th calendar
day of each year, the supervisor shall submit to the Legislature a
written report on the operation of, effectiveness of, and the extent
of compliance with this section, in order to evaluate compliance and
the regulatory burden imposed. The report shall include the total
number of notices issued, the number of wells with notices, and any
additional information necessary to interpret the results.
SECTION 1. Section 3227.7 is added to the
Public Resources Code, to read:
3227.7. (a) The supervisor may require the submission of a report
required pursuant to this division to be submitted in an electronic
format.
(b) The supervisor shall adopt standard formats for the electronic
submission of a notice or report required by this division.