Brief ⁽¹⁾

HB 2317 would amend sections of current law dealing with the plugging, restoration, and remediation of oil and gas wells. The bill also would establish a definition for "lease condition" and would define that term to mean any equipment, facility, condition or material which is related to or used or produced in conjunction with current or past oil or gas activities, conducted on or from the leasehold acreage, which are within the commission's jurisdiction. In addition, the bill would make it clear that parties who are responsible for an abandoned oil or gas well also would be responsible for the cleanup of associated "lease conditions" and thus the terms restore and remediate have been added to several statutes. Further, the bill would amend the section of law which outlines how moneys in the Abandoned Oil and Gas Well Fund may be used to include the investigation of abandoned lease conditions from oil and gas activities conducted before July 1, 1996, and for the restoration and remediation of abandoned lease conditions from oil and gas activities conducted before July 1, 1996.

Background

The bill was introduced at the request of the State Corporation Commission. At the hearing on the bill, the only conferee was a spokesperson from the Commission. The spokesperson stated that the bill would fill two regulatory gaps. One gap was the need to confirm that a party who is responsible for an abandoned oil or gas well also is responsible for the other remaining lease conditions, which also may cause pollution. The other gap was to confirm that the Abandoned Oil and Gas Well Fund can be used to cleanup and remediate other lease conditions, even if not directly connected to a specific abandoned well.

No fiscal note was available for this bill.

1. *Supplemental notes are prepared by the Legislative Research Department and do not express legislative intent. The supplemental note and fiscal note for this bill may be accessed on the Internet at http://www.ink.org/public/legislative/fulltext.cgi