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          Session of 1998
                    SENATE BILL No. 685           By Committee on Ways and Means           3-11             9             AN ACT concerning natural gas; relating to certain refunds of Kansas ad
10             valorem tax reimbursements attributable to royalty interest owners.
11            
12           WHEREAS, On September 10, 1997, the federal energy regulatory
13       commission ordered first sellers of natural gas to make refunds of reim-
14       bursements for Kansas ad valorem taxes paid from 1983 to 1988, includ-
15       ing reimbursements attributable to royalty interest owners: Now, there-
16       fore,
17       Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Kansas:
18           Section 1. (a) On and after the effective date of this act, no first seller
19       of natural gas shall maintain any action against royalty interest owners to
20       obtain refunds of reimbursements for ad valorem taxes, ordered by the
21       federal energy regulatory commission on September 10, 1997.
22           (b) It is hereby declared that under Kansas law:
23           (1) Such refunds claimed to be owed by royalty interest owners are
24       uncollectible;
25           (2) first sellers of natural gas are prohibited from utilizing billing ad-
26       justments as a means of recovering from royalty owners any such claimed
27       refunds; and
28           (3) first sellers of natural gas took every opportunity to protect their
29       rights involving Kansas ad valorem tax reimbursements attributable to
30       royalty interest owners.
31           (c) If any decisional authority of competent jurisdiction fails to give
32       full faith and credit to this act or if this act is determined to be uncon-
33       stitutional, in whole or in part, nothing contained in this act shall be
34       construed to have altered the laws of the state of Kansas, including those
35       applicable in any action that a first seller of natural gas maintains against
36       a royalty owner to obtain such a refund.
37           Sec. 2. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after its
38       publication in the Kansas register.
39      
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