CHAPTER 2. TEST HOLE POLLUTION CONTROL AND WASTE
IC 14-38-2
Chapter 2. Test Hole Pollution Control and Waste
IC 14-38-2-1
Applicability of chapter
Sec. 1. This chapter applies to a person who desires to drill at
least one (1) test hole:
(1) for fluid disposal investigation, mineral resources
investigation, engineering projects investigation, or geologic
investigation; and
(2) to a depth of at least two hundred (200) feet below ground
surface elevation at the test hole site.
As added by P.L.1-1995, SEC.31.
IC 14-38-2-2
Public interest in preventing pollution, impairment, and waste of
natural resources
Sec. 2. It is in the public interest for the state to provide the means
whereby test holes for or in connection with fluid disposal
investigations, mineral resources investigations, engineering projects
investigations, or geologic investigations are drilled, used, and
plugged in a manner that prevents pollution, impairment, and waste
of natural resources.
As added by P.L.1-1995, SEC.31.
IC 14-38-2-3
"Plug" or "plugging" defined
Sec. 3. As used in this chapter, "plug" or "plugging" means the
stopping of the flow or migration of oil, gas, water, or other fluid or
material up or down a test hole.
As added by P.L.1-1995, SEC.31.
IC 14-38-2-4
"Test hole" defined
Sec. 4. As used in this chapter, "test hole" means an exploratory
hole, except for coal exploration, drilled for the purpose of obtaining
information and data on the character, composition, sequence,
thickness, age, and correlation of underground strata and formations
for at least one (1) of the following and no other purposes:
(1) The feasibility of an area for fluid disposal.
(2) The existence, extent, and characteristics of an underground
mineral deposit or deposits.
(3) The suitability of underground formations for use in or as a
foundation for engineering projects or works.
(4) Expanding the store of scientific knowledge of the geology
of an area.
As added by P.L.1-1995, SEC.31.
IC 14-38-2-5
Enforcement by department
Sec. 5. The department shall carry out and enforce this chapter.
As added by P.L.1-1995, SEC.31.
IC 14-38-2-6
Application and permit fee
Sec. 6. A person must do the following before drilling a test hole:
(1) File a written application for a permit with and receive a
permit from the commission. A single permit may authorize the
drilling of more than one (1) test hole.
(2) Submit a permit fee of one hundred dollars ($100) payable
to the department.
As added by P.L.1-1995, SEC.31.
IC 14-38-2-7
Duties of commission
Sec. 7. The commission shall do the following:
(1) Adopt rules and orders necessary to administer this chapter.
(2) Hold hearings at any place in Indiana for the purpose of
administering this chapter. A hearing may be conducted by a
member of the commission or by the officer, agent, or employee
that is designated by the commission. However, a proposed
finding is not valid unless the commission approves the finding.
(3) Prescribe and adopt the form of an application for a permit
to be filed by an applicant.
(4) Except as provided by subdivision (5), require a person
drilling a test hole under this chapter to furnish at a reasonable
time and place that the commission specifies the following:
(A) A copy of the driller's log of the test hole.
(B) A copy of a geophysical log taken in the drilling of the
test hole.
(C) A copy of the drilling record.
(D) Typical drill cuttings or cores, if taken.
(5) Upon written application certifying that the withholding of
the information is necessary for protection of the permittee:
(A) the commission shall excuse the permittee from
furnishing the items required by subdivision (4); and
(B) the permittee shall furnish the location of each test hole
by county, township, range, and quarter-quarter section,
including the proper legal description and the size and depth
of the hole.
(6) Require a person filing for a permit to drill a test hole,
except for state or federal agencies, to execute and file with the
commission:
(A) a bond not exceeding one thousand dollars ($1,000) for
each test hole drilled; or
(B) a blanket bond not exceeding five thousand dollars
($5,000) for all test holes drilled by the applicant during the
duration of the bond;
to provide for compliance with this chapter and the rules of the
commission adopted under this chapter with respect to the
plugging of the test holes. The bond must be in the form
approved by the commission, and the bond shall be renewed
and continued in effect until the conditions have been fully
complied with.
(7) Enter upon and inspect, at any reasonable time and by any
member of the commission or the commission's agent, any
location where test holes are being or have been drilled for fluid
disposal, mineral resources investigation, engineering projects,
or geologic information for the purpose of ascertaining whether
this chapter and the rules and orders of the commission are
being or have been complied with, including information on the
drilling or completion depth of a test hole.
As added by P.L.1-1995, SEC.31.
IC 14-38-2-8
Expiration of permit
Sec. 8. A permit issued under this chapter expires one (1) year
from the date of issuance unless a test hole is drilled within one (1)
year.
As added by P.L.1-1995, SEC.31.
IC 14-38-2-9
Issuance of permit
Sec. 9. (a) Subject to subsection (b), if an applicant for a permit
to drill or deepen a test hole has complied with this chapter and the
rules of the commission, the commission shall issue a permit.
(b) The commission may refuse to issue a permit if the drilling of
the test hole would violate this chapter or rules adopted under this
chapter.
As added by P.L.1-1995, SEC.31.
IC 14-38-2-10
Plugging and abandoning hole
Sec. 10. Upon the completion of drilling, a permittee shall plug
and abandon the hole in a manner that confines permanently all
fluids or materials in the separate strata originally confining the
fluids or materials by the use of mud-laden fluid, cement, or plugs
used:
(1) singly; or
(2) in combinations approved by the commission.
As added by P.L.1-1995, SEC.31.
IC 14-38-2-11
Notice before plugging
Sec. 11. A permittee may not begin plugging procedures until the
permittee has given notice to the commission or the commission's
designated representative by personal oral or written notice,
telephone, or telegram.
As added by P.L.1-1995, SEC.31.
IC 14-38-2-12
Affidavit of plugging and abandoning
Sec. 12. (a) The commission's designated representative or the
authorized representative of the permittee who supervises the
plugging of the test hole shall make and furnish to the permittee an
affidavit to the effect that the test hole has been plugged and
abandoned in accordance with this chapter, reciting in the affidavit
the pertinent information that is prescribed by the commission.
(b) The commission representative or the authorized
representative of the permittee shall furnish to the commission an
exact copy of the affidavit.
(c) The commission shall permanently retain the affidavit, which
must be open to inspection by all persons.
As added by P.L.1-1995, SEC.31.
IC 14-38-2-13
Actions to restrain violations
Sec. 13. If it appears that a person is violating or is about to
violate this chapter or the rules and orders of the commission
adopted under this chapter or under IC 13-4-5 (before its repeal), the
commission may, in the name of the state of Indiana through the
attorney general, bring an action against the person in the circuit or
superior court of the county in which:
(1) the land involved is located;
(2) the violator resides; or
(3) the authorized agent of a nonresident violator resides;
to restrain the person from continuing the violations.
As added by P.L.1-1995, SEC.31.
IC 14-38-2-14
Secretary of state as agent for service of process upon nonresident
Sec. 14. The ownership, operation, or other interest by a
nonresident or by a nonresident's authorized agent in a test hole in
Indiana is considered equivalent to an appointment by the
nonresident of the secretary of state to be the nonresident's attorney,
upon whom may be served all process in an action or a proceeding
growing out of the operation or ownership by the nonresident or the
nonresident's agent of a test hole in Indiana. The operation or
ownership indicates the nonresident's agreement that the process
served against the nonresident is of the legal force and validity as if
served upon the nonresident personally, unless the nonresident
maintains on file with the commission the designation of a resident
agent for service of process.
As added by P.L.1-1995, SEC.31.
IC 14-38-2-15
Filing action against nonresident; service of process; affidavit;
continuances
Sec. 15. (a) An action against a nonresident may be filed in the
county:
(1) of residence of the plaintiff; or
(2) where the test hole is located;
at the election of the plaintiff.
(b) Service of process shall be made by leaving a copy of the
process, with a fee of two dollars ($2) for the defendant to be served,
with the secretary of state. The service is sufficient service upon a
nonresident if:
(1) notice of the service and a copy of the process are
immediately sent by registered mail to the defendant; and
(2) the defendant's return receipt is appended to the original
process and filed in court.
(c) If the defendant refuses to accept or claim registered mail, the
secretary of state shall return the registered mail to the plaintiff or to
the plaintiff's attorney. The registered mail shall be appended to the
original process, together with an affidavit of the plaintiff or the
plaintiff's attorney or agent to the effect that the summons was:
(1) delivered to the secretary of state, together with a fee of two
dollars ($2); and
(2) returned unclaimed by the United States Postal Service.
(d) The affidavit, together with the returned envelope and the
summons, is considered sufficient service upon the nonresident
defendant.
(e) The court in which the action is brought may order
continuances that are reasonable to afford the defendant an
opportunity to defend the action.
As added by P.L.1-1995, SEC.31.
IC 14-38-2-16
Department, person, or agency entering land to plug, replug, or
repair test hole
Sec. 16. (a) This section does not do any of the following:
(1) Relieve a person otherwise legally responsible from an
obligation to plug, replug, or repair a test hole.
(2) Limit the authority of the commission to require the proper
plugging, replugging, or repair of a test hole.
(b) This section and sections 17 through 20 of this chapter are a
supplemental remedy if any of the following conditions exist:
(1) A person obligated to plug, replug, or repair a test hole fails
to do so.
(2) The identity of the obligated person cannot be determined.
(c) If:
(1) after notice and hearing the department finds that a test hole
drilled has been abandoned and:
(A) is leaking; or
(B) may result in the leaking of;
fluid into a fresh water formation or onto the surface of the land
in the vicinity of the test hole; and
(2) after thirty (30) days from the date of the finding by the
department the test hole has not been properly plugged,
replugged, or repaired to remedy the situation;
the department or a person or an agency authorized by order of the
department may enter upon the land upon which the test hole is
located and plug, replug, or repair the test hole as is reasonably
required to remedy the condition.
As added by P.L.1-1995, SEC.31.
IC 14-38-2-17
Entry onto land without notice or hearing
Sec. 17. If:
(1) an emergency exists; and
(2) the department determines that irreparable injury will result
unless immediate action is taken;
the department may enter or authorize the entry upon the land by
order of the department without notice or hearing for the purpose of
taking the temporary remedial action that the department considers
necessary to prevent or minimize the injury pending the giving of
notice and hearing. The operation shall be conducted in the manner
prescribed by the department.
As added by P.L.1-1995, SEC.31.
IC 14-38-2-18
Liability of persons entering land to plug, replug, or repair test
hole
Sec. 18. (a) This section applies to a person who:
(1) enters upon the land on which a test hole is located to plug,
replug, or repair the test hole; or
(2) supports or contributes to the action under the authority and
in accordance with the order of the department.
(b) A person:
(1) is not liable and may not be held responsible for any
damages resulting from operations reasonably necessary or
proper to plug, replug, or repair the test hole, except damages
to growing crops and improvements;
(2) has not assumed responsibility for future remedial work on
the test hole; and
(3) is not liable in damages or otherwise for conditions
subsequently arising from or in connection with the test hole.
As added by P.L.1-1995, SEC.31.
IC 14-38-2-19
Remedying condition of test hole not admission of liability or
discharge of action
Sec. 19. The fact that a person has initiated or supported a
proceeding before the department or has remedied or attempted to
remedy the condition of a test hole under this chapter:
(1) is not an admission of liability and may not be received in
evidence against the person in an action or a proceeding in
which responsibility for or damages from:
(A) surface or subsurface pollution; or
(B) injury to a fresh water, an oil, a gas, or a mineral bearing
formation;
is or may become an issue; and
(2) does not release or discharge an action, a cause of action, or
a claim against the person in favor of a third person for damages
to property resulting from:
(A) surface or subsurface pollution; or
(B) injury to a fresh water, an oil, a gas, or a mineral bearing
formation;
to the extent that the action, cause of action, or claim preexisted
the initiation or support of the proceeding or the remedying or
attempted remedying of the condition of the test hole.
As added by P.L.1-1995, SEC.31.
IC 14-38-2-20
Cause of action for plugging, replugging, or repairing test hole
Sec. 20. (a) A person who did not have an obligation to plug,
replug, or repair a test hole, but who does so under this chapter, has
the following:
(1) A cause of action against the person who was obligated by
law to properly plug, replug, or repair the test hole for the
reasonable cost and expense incurred in plugging, replugging,
or repairing the test hole.
(2) A lien enforceable upon the interest of the obligated person
in and to the equipment located on the test hole to the extent of
the reasonable cost and expense.
(b) This section does not assign or impute any liability or
obligation upon the owner of the land upon which the test hole is
located, except if the owner is the person who was granted a permit
to drill the test hole.
As added by P.L.1-1995, SEC.31.
IC 14-38-2-21
Violations
Sec. 21. (a) A person who knowingly violates this chapter
commits a Class C infraction.
(b) Each day of violation constitutes a separate infraction.
As added by P.L.1-1995, SEC.31.