SB 248: Oil and gas.

(1)Existing law requires the Division of Oil, Gas, and Geothermal Resources in the Department of Conservation to regulate the drilling, operation, maintenance, and abandonment of wells and the operation, maintenance, and removal or abandonment of tanks and facilities attendant to oil and gas production. Existing law requires the State Oil and Gas Supervisor, on or before the first day of October of each year, to make public a report on specified information.

This bill would require the supervisor to establish an inspection program for all activities regulated pursuant to these provisions and would require the total number of inspections and results of the inspections to be included in the above-referenced report. The bill would require the divisions regulations, field rules, notices, manuals, and other requirements to be reviewed and revised, as needed, through a public process at least once every 10 years.

The bill would require the division, as part of the Oil and Gas Data Management System developed pursuant to the Budget Act of 2015, to ensure that required well data and well-related submissions are retained and readily available to the public and that publicly available data are machine readable. Unless otherwise incorporated in the Oil and Gas Data Management System, the bill would require the division to post certain information that it receives on its Internet Web site.

The bill would define enhanced oil recovery for purposes of provisions relating to the regulation of oil and gas.

(2)Existing law requires an owner or operator of a well to keep, or cause to be kept, and requires the operator to file with the district deputy at specified times, a careful and accurate log, core record, and history of the drilling of the well. Existing law requires the well history to show the location and amount of sidetracked casings, tools, or other material, the depth and quantity of cement in cement plugs, the shots of dynamite or other explosives, acid treatment data, the results of production and other tests during drilling operations, and all data on well stimulation treatments. Existing law requires the owner of any well to file with the supervisor a monthly statement that provides certain information relating to the well, including the amount of water produced from each well. Existing law provides that a person who fails to comply with specific laws relating to the regulation of oil or gas operations, including failing to furnish a report or record, is guilty of a misdemeanor.

This bill would, in addition, require all operations on or in the well of any form to be systematically, completely, and accurately described and recorded in the well history. The bill would require any fluid injected or emplaced in the well to be fully characterized and reported as part of the history. history, as specified. The bill would require the monthly statement to the supervisor to include the full characterization of the chemical composition of water produced from each well. The bill would also require the operator of a waste disposal well to provide to the supervisor each quarter certain information regarding waste disposal injections. The bill would prohibit, commencing July 1, 2017, a chemical from being injected or emplaced in a well unless the division has in its possession specified information developed through established techniques about its physical, chemical, and biological properties in order to permit assessment of its toxicity, persistence, and mobility in the surrounding environment. The bill would require the division to post a list of chemicals and the measured parameters that meet this criteria on its Internet Web site. The bill would require the division to consult with the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment in establishing the acceptable techniques and the list of measured parameters. Because a violation of these requirements would be a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.

(3)The federal Safe Drinking Water Act regulates certain wells as Class II wells. Under existing federal law, the authority to regulate Class II wells in California is delegated to the Division of Oil, Gas, and Geothermal Resources. Under existing regulations, a well operator is required to obtain approval from the supervisor or a district deputy for a subsurface injection or disposal project, including Class II wells, or any change in a project, as provided.

This bill would require the division, on or before January 1, 2018, to update and revise these regulations, except as specified, according to specified criteria and would require the division to consult with independent experts and stakeholders in the development and review of the regulations. The bill would require the regulations to include certain requirements, including reporting requirements. The bill would require injection wells and well projects existing as of December 31, 2017, to be brought into compliance with these regulations on or before January 1, 2020. The bill would require these provisions to be liberally construed in order to meet specified requirements and to provide public transparency. The bill would provide that where the division shares jurisdiction over an injection well with a federal entity, the divisions rules and regulations are to apply in addition to all applicable federal laws and regulations. The bill would require an injection well subject to specified emergency regulations, or any successor regulations, of the division regarding aquifer exemptions to immediately cease injection operations, other than those required for plugging and abandonment operations, if the well is not in compliance with those regulations by the applicable regulatory deadline. Because a violation of these requirements would be a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.

(5)The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.

This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.