349.105 Procedure for plugging well -- Rights and duties of various parties --
510 words·~2 min read·
/ky/349-105A research copy — for the controlling text, always check the official state or federal source. Not legal advice.
Restoration of surface.
(1)No person shall abandon or remove casings from any coalbed methane well, either
dry or producing, without first plugging the well in a secure manner approved by the
department and consistent with administrative regulations. Upon the department's
plugging of an abandoned coalbed methane well in accordance with the
requirements of this subsection, the department may sell all equipment removed
from that well by sealed bid, or may include the equipment as part of compensation
in the contract for the plugging of the well. Proceeds from the sale shall be
deposited into the coalbed methane well plugging fund, established in KRS
349.120(3).
(2)Not less than thirty
(30)days before advertising for bids for the plugging of coalbed
methane wells, the department shall publish, in a newspaper of general circulation,
and in locally published newspapers serving the areas in which the wells proposed
for plugging are located, notices of all wells on which there is salvageable
equipment, described as to farm name, Carter Coordinate, and state plane
coordinate location, for which the department intends to seek bids for plugging. If a
person other than the operator claims an interest in the equipment of a well
proposed for plugging, the person shall provide documentation of that interest to the
department within thirty
(30)days of the date of publication of the notice of the
department's intent to plug a well. Prior to the department's advertising of bids for
the plugging of a well, the department shall release the well's equipment to the
person deemed to have an interest in that equipment. It shall be the duty of the
interest holder to remove the equipment before the well is plugged. If
documentation as to an asserted interest is not provided to the department in the
manner described in this subsection or if a person deemed to be an interest holder
fails to remove the equipment before a well is plugged, the department may sell or
otherwise dispose of the equipment in accordance with this section.
(3)If a person fails to comply with subsection
(1)of this section, any person lawfully in
possession of land adjacent to the coalbed methane well or the department may
enter on the land upon which the well is located and plug the well in the manner
provided in subsection
(1)of this section, and may maintain a civil action against
the owner or person abandoning the well, jointly or severally, to recover the cost of
plugging the well. This subsection shall not apply to persons owning the land on
which the well is situated, and drilled by other persons.
(4)In conjunction with the plugging and abandonment of any coalbed methane well or
the reworking of any coalbed methane well, the operator shall restore the surface
and any improvements thereon to a condition as near as practicable to their
condition prior to commencement of work. The surface owner and operator may
waive this requirement in writing, subject to the approval of the department that the
waiver is in accordance with its administrative regulations.