Bill Text: CA AB669 | 2013-2014 | Regular Session | Amended

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

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Bill Title: Oil and gas: drilling.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2014-02-03 - Died on inactive file. [AB669 Detail]

Download: California-2013-AB669-Amended.html

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BILL NUMBER: AB 669	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  APRIL 1, 2013

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Stone
    (   Coauthor:   Assembly Member  
Williams   ) 

                        FEBRUARY 21, 2013

   An act to amend  Section 3202   Sections
3108, 3203, and 3227  of the Public Resources Code, relating to
oil and gas.



	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 669, as amended, Stone. Oil and gas: drilling.
   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 further
requires a person who acquires the right to operate a well or
production facility, whether by purchase, transfer, assignment,
conveyance, exchange, or other disposition, to meet specific
requirements before drilling operations.
   This bill would additionally require the operator prior to
drilling  ,   redrilling, or deepening  operations
to submit proof to the supervisor that the applicable regional water
quality control board has approved the  disposal  method and
location of wastewater disposal for the well. 
   Existing law requires the supervisor, on or before the first day
of October of each year, to make public a report on specified
information. Existing law requires an operator of a well, on or
before the end of each month, to file with the supervisor a statement
for the last preceding calendar month detailing specified
information.  
   This bill would additionally require the supervisor to include
information on the origin and total amount of freshwater used in each
county for the production of oil and gas production, the disposal of
wastewater from oil and gas production in each county, and the well
casing failures in each county. The bill would additionally require
the operator of a well to include in the statement information on the
origin and total amount of freshwater used in each well and the
disposal of wastewater. 
   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 3108 of the   Public
Resources Code   is amended to read: 
   3108.   (a)    On or before the first day of
October of each year the supervisor shall make public, for the
benefit of all interested persons, a report in writing showing:

   (a) 
    (1)  The total amounts of oil and gas produced in each
county in the state during the previous calendar year. 
   (b) 
    (2)  The total cost of the division for the previous
fiscal year. 
   (c) 
    (3)  The total amount delinquent and uncollected from
any assessments or charges levied pursuant to this chapter. 
   (4) The origin and total amount of freshwater used in each county
for oil and gas production during the previous calendar year. 

   (5) The surface and underground destinations and total amount of
disposed wastewater from oil and gas production in each county during
the previous calendar year. 
   (6) The total number of well casing failures in each county, the
exact location of these wells, the reason for the failures, and at
what point the failures occurred, such as during well completion,
well stimulation, or well production, during the previous calendar
year.  
   The 
    (b)     The  report shall also include
 such  other information as the supervisor deems
advisable.
   SEC. 2.    Section 3203 of the  Public
Resources Code   is amended to read: 
   3203.  (a) The operator of  any   a 
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 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 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 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
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). 
   (d) Prior to the approval of the commencement of any drilling,
redrilling, or deepening of a well, the operator shall submit written
proof to the supervisor that the applicable regional water quality
control board has approved the disposal method and location of
disposal of the wastewater, including, but not limited to, produced
water and flowback, for the well. 
   SEC. 3.    Section 3227 of the   Public
Resources Code   is amended to read: 
   3227.   (a)    The owner of  any
  a  well shall file with the supervisor, on or
before the last day of each month, for the last preceding calendar
month, a statement, in the form designated by the supervisor, showing
all of the following: 
   (a) 
    (1)  The amount of oil and gas produced from each well
during the period indicated, together with the gravity of the oil,
the amount of water produced from each well, estimated in accordance
with methods approved by the supervisor, and the number of days
during which fluid was produced from each well. 
   (b) 
    (2)  The number of wells drilling, producing, injecting,
or idle, that are owned or operated by the person. 
   (c) 
    (3)  What disposition was made of the gas produced from
each field, including the names of persons, if any, to whom the gas
was delivered, and any other information regarding the gas and its
disposition that the supervisor may require. 
   (d) 
    (4)  What disposition was made of the water produced
from each field, and the amount of fluid or gas injected into each
well used for enhanced recovery, underground storage of hydrocarbons,
or waste water disposal and any other information regarding those
wells that the supervisor may require. 
   (5) The total amount of wastewater, including, but not limited to,
produced water and flowback, generated per well, the amount of
wastewater disposed per disposition type, and the location of each
disposition site.  
   (6) The origin and total amount of freshwater used in each well.
 
   Any 
    (b)     An  operator that produces oil
by the application of mining or other unconventional techniques
shall file a report with the supervisor, on or before March 1 of each
year, showing the amount of oil produced by those techniques in the
preceding calendar year. 
   Upon 
    (c)     Upon  request and making a
satisfactory showing therefor, a longer filing period may be
established by the supervisor for any particular owner or operator.

  SECTION 1.    Section 3202 of the Public Resources
Code is amended to read:
   3202.  (a) A person who acquires the right to operate a well or
production facility, whether by purchase, transfer, assignment,
conveyance, exchange, or other disposition, shall, as soon as it is
reasonably possible, but not later than the date when the acquisition
of the well or production facility becomes final, notify the
supervisor or the district deputy, in writing, of the person's
operation. The acquisition of a well or production facility shall not
be recognized as complete by the supervisor or the district deputy
until the new operator provides all of the following material:
   (1) The name and address of the person from whom the well or
production facility was acquired.
   (2) The name and location of the well or production facility, and
a description of the land upon which the well or production facility
is situated.
   (3) The date when the acquisition becomes final.
   (4) The date when possession was or will be acquired.
   (5) An indemnity bond for each idle well. The bond shall be in an
amount as provided in Section 3204 or 3205. The conditions of the
bond shall be the same as the conditions stated in Section 3204. An
operator that has provided an individual bond required by this
subdivision in an amount as provided in Section 3204 shall not be
required additionally to comply with the requirements of Section
3206. An operator who has provided a blanket indemnity bond in the
minimum amount required in subdivision (a) or (b) of Section 3205
shall additionally comply with Section 3206 for any idle wells not
covered by a bond provided under Section 3204.
   (b) Prior to the approval of the commencement of any drilling or
redrilling of a well, the operator shall submit proof to the
supervisor that the applicable regional water quality control board
has approved the method and location of wastewater disposal for the
well.