SECTIONS 3250-3258 - California Statutes

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.