SECTIONS 3270-3270.4 - California Statutes

PUBLIC RESOURCES CODE

SECTION 3270-3270.4

3270. (a) The division shall, by regulation, prescribe minimum
facility maintenance standards for all production facilities in the
state. The regulations shall include, but are not limited to,
standards for all of the following:
(1) Leak detection.
(2) Corrosion prevention and testing.
(3) Tank inspection and cleaning.
(4) Valve and gauge maintenance, and secondary containment
maintenance.
(5) Other facility or equipment maintenance that the supervisor
deems important for the proper operation of production facilities and
that the supervisor determines are necessary to prevent damage to
life, health, property, and natural resources; damage to underground
oil and gas deposits from infiltrating water and other causes; loss
of oil, gas, or reservoir energy; and damage to underground and
surface waters suitable for irrigation or domestic purposes by the
infiltration of, or the addition of, detrimental substances.
(b) An operator who constructs, acquires, maintains, or alters an
oil well or a production facility shall comply with the standards
prescribed pursuant to subdivision (a).
(c) In a form and at a time prescribed by the division in
regulation, an operator shall notify the supervisor of the
construction, alteration, or decommissioning of a production
facility.
(d) An operator shall maintain at the production facility's local
office records of maintenance and repair operations, tests, and
inspections, and shall provide the supervisor with access to these
records at all times during normal business hours and with copies of
the records immediately, upon request.

3270.1. Within three months of its acquisition of a production
facility or at the time of the initial production at its production
facility, the facility operator shall file with the division a spill
contingency plan.

3270.2. The division shall inspect production facilities to ensure
compliance with the standards prescribed in the regulations
promulgated pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section 3270.

3270.3. In addition to any other remedy provided by law, the
supervisor, upon his or her determination or that of the district
deputy that a production facility is being operated in violation of
the standards prescribed in subdivision (a) of Section 3270, may
issue a cease and desist order to a production facility operator
requiring the operator to cease operation until the operator
demonstrates, to the satisfaction of the supervisor, that the
violation has been corrected.

3270.4. (a) In addition to the bonding requirements under Article 4
(commencing with Section 3200), for an operator with a history of
violating this chapter or that has outstanding liabilities to the
state associated with a well or production facility, the supervisor
may require a life-of-well or life-of-production facility bond in an
amount adequate to ensure all of the following:
(1) The proper plugging and abandonment of each well.
(2) The safe decommissioning of each production facility.
(3) The financing of spill response and incident cleanup.
(b) Upon the failure of an operator to properly plug and abandon a
well, decommission a production facility, or perform the appropriate
spill response and incident cleanup, the supervisor may levy on the
bond to obtain money to pay the cost of the work.
(c) The supervisor may release a life-of-production facility bond
upon the satisfactory decommissioning of a production facility, or
when an operator has provided another valid life-of-production
facility bond.
(d) The supervisor may release a life-of-well bond upon the
satisfactory plugging and abandonment of all wells covered by the
bond or when an operator has provided another valid life-of-well
bond.
(e) Whenever an operator sells, assigns, transfers, conveys,
exchanges, or otherwise disposes to another operator a well or
production facility that is covered by a life-of-well bond or a
life-of-production facility bond, the new operator shall replace the
life-of-well or life-of-production bond, as applicable, and maintain
the new bond for five years before it may be released by the
supervisor.
(f) In lieu of the indemnity bond required by this section, the
supervisor may accept a deposit given pursuant to Article 7
(commencing with Section 995.710) of Chapter 2 of Title 14 of Part 2
of the Code of Civil Procedure, excluding a deposit of money, bearer
bonds, or bearer notes.
(g) The supervisor shall adopt regulations specifying the content,
including the conditions, of the bond or other security instrument
required by this section.