3260-3266
PUBLIC RESOURCES CODE
SECTION 3260-3266
3260. For purposes of this article, the following definitions apply: (a) "Account" means the Acute Orphan Well Account established under Section 3261. (b) "Acute orphan well" means a well that the supervisor determines could pose an immediate 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 pursuant to subdivision (c) of Section 3237 or who is able to respond. 3261. (a) Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, including the expenditure limitations of Section 3258, the division shall administer and manage the Acute Orphan Well Account, which is hereby established in the Oil, Gas, and Geothermal Administrative Fund. (b) Except as expressly provided in Section 3264, the account shall only be used, upon appropriation, to plug, abandon, and further secure an acute orphan well. Use of the account is limited to the minimum work necessary to eliminate any immediate risk to life, health, or natural resources. 3262. (a) The Conservation Committee of the California Oil and Gas Producers shall act as an advisory committee, for the purposes of this article only, to assist the division in adopting criteria for determining whether a well is acute, and the level of surface or subsurface work necessary to plug and abandon and secure the well to eliminate the immediate risk to life, health, or natural resources. The division shall give substantial deference to these recommendations. (b) If a recommendation of the committee is not followed, the division shall provide a written justification, approved by the supervisor, for not following the recommendation. (c) The supervisor shall periodically consult with the Conservation Committee of the California Oil and Gas Producers to determine if the criteria developed pursuant to this section are being applied consistently, or if the criteria require revision to reflect changing circumstances. 3263. (a) The division shall establish the following fees, up to a maximum of one million dollars ($1,000,000) annually, and payable to the division, for the sole purpose of carrying out the activities described in Section 3261: (1) There shall be imposed annually upon the person operating each oil and gas well in this state, or owning royalty or other interests in respect to the production from the well, a charge that shall be payable to the division and that shall be computed at a uniform rate per barrel of oil and at a uniform rate per 10,000 cubic feet of natural gas produced from the well for the preceding calendar year, other than gas that is used for recycling or otherwise in oil-producing operations, not to exceed an aggregate total of up to five hundred thousand dollars ($500,000) annually from all operating wells in the state. The fees to be paid shall be apportioned among all of those persons in fractional amounts proportionate to their respective fractional interests in respect to the production of the well, but the whole of the discharge shall be payable by the operator, who shall withhold their respective proportionate shares of the charge from the amounts otherwise payable or deliverable to the owners of royalty or other interests. (2) There shall be imposed annually upon the person operating each idle well in this state, as defined in subdivision (d) of Section 3008, a charge that shall be payable to the division. The maximum aggregate charge to be collected by the division shall not exceed five hundred thousand dollars ($500,000) annually. The amount of the charge to be assessed shall be determined by equally dividing the maximum aggregate annual charge to be collected by the total number of idle wells as of December 31 of the preceding year. (b) The fee collections shall commence on March 1, 2006, based on production and idle well statistics as of December 31, 2005. The fee collections for 2007 shall be calculated based on production and idle well statistics as of December 31, 2006. (c) Unless authorized by the Legislature, on or after January 1, 2008, the division shall not collect the fees established pursuant to subdivision (a). 3264. Notwithstanding the limitations contained in Section 3261 upon appropriation, a maximum of 5 percent of the total annual fees deposited in the account may be used by the division to administer the account, and to reimburse the division for any costs associated with developing the criteria required under Section 3262 and any costs incurred for the development of regulations authorized under Section 3266. 3265. If the balance in the account exceeds one million five hundred thousand dollars ($1,500,000) at the start of the fiscal year, the collection of all fees set forth in Section 3263 shall be suspended for that year. 3266. The division may adopt regulations to implement this article.