BILL NUMBER: AB 591 INTRODUCED
BILL TEXT
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Wieckowski
(Principal coauthor: Assembly Member Dickinson)
FEBRUARY 16, 2011
An act to amend Sections 3106, 3107, and 3270 of the Public
Resources Code, relating to oil and gas production.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 591, as introduced, Wieckowski. Oil and gas production:
hydraulic fracturing.
Under existing law, the Division of Oil, Gas, and Geothermal
Resources in the Department of Conservation regulates the drilling,
operation, maintenance, and abandonment of oil and gas wells in the
state. The State Oil and Gas Supervisor supervises the drilling,
operation, maintenance, and abandonment of wells and the operation,
maintenance, and removal or abandonment of tanks and facilities
related to oil and gas production within an oil and gas field
regarding safety and environmental damage.
Existing law also requires the supervisor to supervise the
drilling, operation, maintenance, and abandonment of wells so as to
permit the owners and operators of the wells to utilize all methods
and practice known to the industry for the purpose of increasing the
ultimate recovery of underground hydrocarbons. It is the policy of
the state generally to allow an operator in producing and removing
hydrocarbons to perform certain procedures, as the injection of air,
gas, water, or other fluids, or the application of pressure heat.
This bill would include in that policy the process of hydraulic
fracturing. The bill also would require the district deputy for oil
and gas production in each district of the state to show on maps
through a special designation each well where hydraulic fracturing is
being used, including in restimulation of a well. The bill would
require the division, by regulation, in prescribing minimum facility
maintenance standards for production facilities to compile a list of
any chemicals or components used in the process of hydraulic
fracturing.
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. The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:
(a) Hydraulic fracturing is a technique used in the production of
oil and gas that involves the injection under great pressure of
water, a proppant, such as sand or ceramic beads, and a small mix of
chemicals into an underground geologic formation in order to fracture
the formation, thereby causing the flow of oil or gas to the
surface.
(b) Although hydraulic fracturing is not as widely used in
California as in some parts of the country, it has been used in
California to extract oil and gas and has the potential to be used
more extensively.
(c) The chemicals used in the practice of hydraulic fracturing
have the potential to migrate into nearby strata and aquifers.
(d) The Division of Oil, Gas, and Geothermal Resources in the
Department of Conservation, which has the obligation to protect
public health and the resources of the state, including groundwater
resources, has the authority to regulate all oil and gas drilling in
the state, but has not been regulating hydraulic fracturing,
apparently due to the lack of the adoption of specific regulations.
(e) The state and public should know where hydraulic fracturing is
occurring and what chemicals are being used in the process.
SEC. 2. Section 3106 of the Public Resources Code is amended to
read:
3106. (a) The supervisor shall so supervise
the drilling, operation, maintenance, and abandonment of wells and
the operation, maintenance, and removal or abandonment of tanks and
facilities attendant to oil and gas production, including pipelines
not subject to regulation pursuant to Chapter 5.5 (commencing with
Section 51010) of Part 1 of Division 1 of Title 5 of the Government
Code that are within an oil and gas field, so as
in order to prevent, as far as possible, damage to life,
health, property, and natural resources; damage to underground oil
and gas deposits from infiltrating water and other causes; loss of
oil, gas, or reservoir energy , ; and
damage to underground and surface waters suitable for irrigation or
domestic purposes by the infiltration of, or the addition of,
detrimental substances.
(b) The supervisor shall also supervise the drilling, operation,
maintenance, and abandonment of wells so as
in order to permit the owners or operators of the
wells an owner or operator of a well to utilize
all methods and practices known to the oil industry for the purpose
of increasing the ultimate recovery of underground hydrocarbons and
which, in the opinion of the supervisor, are suitable for this
purpose in each proposed case. To further the elimination of waste by
increasing the recovery of underground hydrocarbons, it is hereby
declared as a policy of this state that the grant in an oil and gas
lease or contract to a lessee or operator of the right or power, in
substance, to explore for and remove all hydrocarbons from any lands
in the state, in the absence of an express provision to the contrary
contained in the lease or contract, is deemed to allow the lessee or
contractor, or the lessee's or contractor's successors or assigns, to
do what a prudent operator using reasonable diligence would do,
having in mind the best interests of the lessor, lessee, and the
state in producing and removing hydrocarbons, including, but not
limited to, the injection of air, gas, water, or other fluids into
the productive strata, the application of pressure heat or other
means for the reduction of viscosity of the hydrocarbons, the
process of hydraulic fracturing, the supplying of additional
motive force, or the creating of enlarged or new channels for the
underground movement of hydrocarbons into production wells, when
these methods or processes employed have been approved by the
supervisor, except that nothing contained in this section imposes a
legal duty upon the lessee or contractor, or the lessee's or
contractor's successors or assigns, to conduct these operations.
(c) The supervisor may require an operator to implement a
monitoring program, designed to detect releases to the soil and
water, including both groundwater and surface water, for aboveground
oil production tanks and facilities.
(d) To best meet oil and gas needs in this state, the supervisor
shall administer this division so as to encourage the wise
development of oil and gas resources.
SEC. 3. Section 3107 of the Public Resources Code is amended to
read:
3107. (a) A district deputy in each
district, designated by the supervisor, shall collect all necessary
information regarding the oil and gas wells in the district, with a
view to determining the presence of oil and gas sands and the
location and extent of strata bearing water suitable for irrigation
or domestic purposes that might be affected. The
(b) The district deputy shall
prepare maps and other accessories necessary to determine the
presence of oil and gas sands and the location and extent of strata
bearing water suitable for irrigation or domestic purposes or surface
water suitable for those purposes. This Each
well where hydraulic fracturing is being used, including in
restimulation of a well, shall be shown on these maps through a
special designation.
(c) This work shall be done with
the view to advising the operators an
operator as to the best means of protecting the oil and gas
sands and the water-bearing strata and surface water, and with a view
to aiding the supervisor in ordering tests or repair work at wells.
All this data shall be kept on file in the office
of the district deputy of the respective district and in the
supervisor's office, and shall be made available to any member of the
public who requests to view it .
SEC. 4. Section 3270 of the Public Resources Code is amended to
read:
3270. (a) The division shall, by regulation, prescribe minimum
facility maintenance standards for all production facilities in the
state. The regulations shall include, but are not limited to,
standards for all of the following:
(1) Leak detection.
(2) Corrosion prevention and testing.
(3) Tank inspection and cleaning.
(4) Valve and gauge maintenance, and secondary containment
maintenance.
(5) Other facility or equipment maintenance that the supervisor
deems important for the proper operation of production facilities and
that the supervisor determines are necessary to prevent damage to
life, health, property, and natural resources; damage to underground
oil and gas deposits from infiltrating water and other causes; loss
of oil, gas, or reservoir energy; and damage to underground and
surface waters suitable for irrigation or domestic purposes by the
infiltration of, or the addition of, detrimental substances.
(6) A complete list of any chemicals or components used in the
process of hydraulic fracturing.
(b) An operator who constructs, acquires, maintains, or alters an
oil well or a production facility shall comply with the standards
prescribed pursuant to subdivision (a).
(c) In a form and at a time prescribed by the division in
regulation, an operator shall notify the supervisor of the
construction, alteration, or decommissioning of a production
facility.
(d) An operator shall maintain at the production facility's local
office records of maintenance and repair operations, tests, and
inspections, and shall provide the supervisor with access to these
records at all times during normal business hours and with copies of
the records immediately, upon request.