3250-3258
PUBLIC RESOURCES CODE
SECTION 3250-3258
3250. The Legislature hereby finds and declares that hazardous and certain idle-deserted oil and gas wells, as defined in this article, are public nuisances and that it is essential, in order to protect life, health, and natural resources that such oil and gas wells be abandoned, reabandoned, produced, or otherwise remedied to mitigate, minimize, or eliminate their danger to life, health, and natural resources. The Legislature further finds and declares that, although the abatement of such public nuisances could be accomplished by means of an exercise of the regulatory power of the state, such regulatory abatement would result in unfairness and financial hardship for certain landowners, while also resulting in benefits to the public. The Legislature, therefore, finds and declares that the expenditure of funds to abate such nuisances as provided in this article is for a public purpose and finds and declares it to be the policy of this state that the cost of carrying out such abatement be charged to this state's producers of oil and gas as provided in Article 7 (commencing with Section 3400). 3251. For the purposes of this article, an oil or gas well is a "hazardous well" if the supervisor determines that the well is a potential danger to life, health, or natural resources and there is no operator determined by the supervisor to be responsible for plugging and abandoning the well under subdivision (c) of Section 3237. Also, for the purposes of this article, an oil or gas well is an "idle-deserted well" if the supervisor determines that the well is deserted under Section 3237 and there is no operator responsible for its plugging and abandonment under Section 3237. 3251.5. (a) Notwithstanding Section 3251, a well shall be deemed a hazardous well if it has been determined by the supervisor to pose a present danger to life, health, or natural resources and has been abandoned in accordance with the requirements of the division in effect at the time of the abandonment 15 or more years before the date of the supervisor's determination that it poses such a danger. (b) Reabandonment initiated by the supervisor shall not be affected by the timeline established in this section. 3252. As used in this article, "natural resources" includes land, water, air, minerals, vegetation, wildlife, historical or aesthetic sites, or any other natural resource which, irrespective of ownership, contributes to the health, safety, welfare, or enjoyment of a substantial number of persons, or to the substantial balance of an ecological community. 3253. If any provisions of this article or the application thereof in any circumstances or to any person or public agency is held invalid, the remainder of this article or the application thereof in other circumstances or to other persons or public agencies shall not be affected thereby. 3254. This article shall be liberally construed and applied to promote its purposes. 3255. (a) Notwithstanding any other provision of this division, the supervisor may order that any of the following operations be carried out on any property in the vicinity of which, or on which, is located any well that the supervisor determines to be either a hazardous or an idle-deserted well: (1) Any inspection or tests necessary to determine what action, if any, would be appropriate to effectuate the purpose of this article. (2) The abandonment of such a well. (3) The reabandonment of such a well. (4) The redrilling and production of an existing well for purposes of remedying, mitigating, minimizing, or eliminating danger to life, health, and natural resources. (5) The drilling and production of a well for purposes of remedying, mitigating, minimizing, or eliminating danger to life, health, and natural resources. (6) Any other remedy or oilfield operation calculated to effectuate the purpose of this article. (b) If, pursuant to this article, the supervisor orders that any operation be carried out with respect to a hazardous or idle-deserted well and such operation will, by virtue of the physical occupation or destruction of all or any part of the property or the extraction of oil or gas from such property, substantially interfere with the enjoyment of the property, the supervisor shall acquire, as provided in Section 3256, such minimal interest in the property as is necessary to carry out such operation. No such acquisition may be made pursuant to this subdivision unless the supervisor finds and determines that the public benefits to be derived therefrom in remedying, mitigating, minimizing, or eliminating danger to life, health, and natural resources will exceed the cost of such acquisition, irrespective of the manner in which such acquisition is to be funded. (c) An order of the supervisor to carry out any of the operations listed in subdivision (a) may be appealed by the owner of the property pursuant to Article 6 (commencing with Section 3350), except that in the case of an emergency no stay of the supervisor's order shall accompany the appeal. 3256. (a) The division is hereby authorized to accept, and hold for and in the name of the state, by gift, exchange, purchase, negotiation, or eminent domain proceedings, any and all property or appurtenances of every kind and description thereto, including land, leases, easements, rights-of-way, oil, gas, or other mineral rights as the supervisor determines to be required and necessary to carry out operations to effect the purpose of this article. (b) When the division cannot acquire any such necessary property or interest therein by agreement with the owner, any such property or interest therein authorized to be acquired under this article shall be acquired pursuant to provisions of the Property Acquisition Law (Part 11 (commencing with Section 15850) of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code); except that, notwithstanding any provision thereof, the division, in the name of and for the state, may take immediate possession and use of any property required to carry out operations to effect the purpose of this article after eminent domain proceedings are first commenced according to law in a court of competent jurisdiction, and thereupon giving such security as the court in which the proceedings are pending directs to secure to the owner of the property sought to be taken immediate compensation for the taking and any damage incident thereto, including damages sustained by reason of an adjudication that there is no necessity for taking the property. 3257. To effect the purpose of this article, the division is authorized to enter into agreements with any person, public agency, corporation, or other entity for the management or operation of property acquired or for the conduct of any operation ordered pursuant to this article. 3258. (a) The division shall not make expenditures pursuant to this article that exceed the following sum in any one fiscal year: (1) Two million dollars ($2,000,000) commencing on July 1, 2008, for the 2008-09 fiscal year, and continuing for three fiscal years thereafter. (2) One million dollars ($1,000,000), commencing with the 2012-13 fiscal year. (b) On October 1, 2011, the department shall report to the Legislature on the number of orphan wells remaining, the estimated costs of abandoning those orphan wells, and a timeline for future orphan well abandonment with a specific schedule of goals.