§17-52. Corporation Commission - Jurisdiction, power and authority
1,299 words·~6 min read·
/ok/title-17-corporation-commission/17-52·A research copy — for the controlling text, always check the official state or federal source. Not legal advice.
- Environmental jurisdiction of Department of Environmental Quality.
A. 1. Except as otherwise provided by this section, the Corporation Commission is hereby vested with exclusive jurisdiction, power and authority with reference to:
a. the conservation of oil and gas,
b. field operations for geologic and geophysical
exploration for oil, gas and brine, including seismic
survey wells, stratigraphic test wells and core test
wells,
c. the exploration, drilling, development, producing or
processing for oil and gas on the lease site,
d. the exploration, drilling, development, production and
operation of wells used in connection with the
recovery, injection or disposal of mineral brines,
e. reclaiming facilities only for the processing of salt
water, crude oil, natural gas condensate and tank
bottoms or basic sediment from crude oil tanks,
pipelines, pits and equipment associated with the
exploration, drilling, development, producing or
transportation of oil or gas,
f. injection wells known as Class II wells under the
federal Underground Injection Control program, any
aspect of any CO2 sequestration facility, including
any associated Class VI CO2 injection well, and any
CO2 storage unit associated with a CO2 sequestration
facility, over which the Commission is given
jurisdiction pursuant to the Oklahoma Carbon Capture
and Geologic Sequestration Act. Any substance that
the United States Environmental Protection Agency
allows to be injected into a Class II well may
continue to be so injected,
g. tank farms for storage of crude oil and petroleum
products which are located outside the boundaries of
refineries, petrochemical manufacturing plants,
natural gas liquid extraction plants, or other
facilities which are subject to the jurisdiction of
the Department of Environmental Quality with regard to
point source discharges,
h. the construction and operation of pipelines and
associated rights-of-way, equipment, facilities or
buildings used in the transportation of oil, gas,
petroleum, petroleum products, anhydrous ammonia or
mineral brine, or in the treatment of oil, gas or
mineral brine during the course of transportation but
not including line pipes in any:
(1)natural gas liquids extraction plant,
refinery,
reclaiming facility other than for those
specified within subparagraph e of this
paragraph,
(4)mineral brine processing plant, and
(5)petrochemical manufacturing plant,
i. the handling, transportation, storage and disposition
of saltwater, mineral brines, waste oil and other
deleterious substances produced from or obtained or
used in connection with the drilling, development,
producing and operating of oil and gas wells, at:
(1)any facility or activity specifically listed in
this paragraph and paragraph 2 of this subsection
as being subject to the jurisdiction of the
Commission, and
(2)other oil and gas extraction facilities and
activities,
j. spills of deleterious substances associated with
facilities and activities specified in this paragraph
or associated with other oil and gas extraction
facilities and activities, and
k. subsurface storage of oil, natural gas and liquefied
petroleum gas in geologic strata.
2. The exclusive jurisdiction, power and authority of the Corporation Commission shall also extend to the construction, operation, maintenance, site remediation, closure and abandonment of the facilities and activities described in paragraph 1 of this subsection.
3. When a deleterious substance from a Commission-regulated facility or activity enters a point source discharge of pollutants or storm water from a facility or activity regulated by the Department of Environmental Quality, the Department shall have sole jurisdiction over the point source discharge of the commingled pollutants and storm water from the two facilities or activities insofar as Department-regulated facilities and activities are concerned.
4. For purposes of the federal Clean Water Act, any facility or activity which is subject to the jurisdiction of the Corporation Commission pursuant to this subsection and any other oil and gas extraction facility or activity which requires a permit for the discharge of a pollutant or storm water to waters of the United States shall be subject to the direct jurisdiction of the United States Environmental Protection Agency and shall not be required to be permitted by the Department of Environmental Quality or the Corporation Commission for such discharge.
5. The Corporation Commission shall have jurisdiction over:
a.
underground storage tanks that contain antifreeze,
motor oil, motor fuel, gasoline, kerosene, diesel, or
aviation fuel and that are not located at refineries
or at upstream or intermediate shipment points of
pipeline operations, including, but not limited to,
tanks from which these materials are dispensed into
vehicles, or tanks used in wholesale or bulk
distribution activities, as well as leaks from pumps,
hoses, dispensers, and other ancillary equipment
associated with the tanks, whether above the ground or
below; provided, that any point source discharge of a
pollutant to waters of the United States during site
remediation or the off-site disposal of contaminated
soil, media, or debris shall be regulated by the
Department of Environmental Quality,
b. aboveground storage tanks that contain antifreeze,
motor oil, motor fuel, gasoline, kerosene, diesel, or
aviation fuel and that are not located at refineries
or at upstream or intermediate shipment points of
pipeline operations, including, but not limited to,
tanks from which these materials are dispensed into
vehicles, or tanks used in wholesale or bulk
distribution activities, as well as leaks from pumps,
hoses, dispensers, and other ancillary equipment
associated with the tanks, whether above the ground or
below; provided, that any point source discharge of a
pollutant to waters of the United States during site
remediation or the off-site disposal of contaminated
soil, media, or debris shall be regulated by the
Department of Environmental Quality, and
c. the Petroleum Storage Tank Release Environmental
Cleanup Indemnity Fund and Program and the Oklahoma
Leaking Underground Storage Tank Trust Fund.
6. The Department of Environmental Quality shall have sole jurisdiction to regulate the transportation, discharge or release of deleterious substances or hazardous or solid waste or other pollutants from rolling stock and rail facilities. The Department of Environmental Quality shall not have any jurisdiction with respect to pipeline transportation of carbon dioxide.
7. The Department of Environmental Quality shall have sole environmental jurisdiction for point and nonpoint source discharges of pollutants and storm water to waters of the state from:
a. refineries, petrochemical manufacturing plants and
natural gas liquid extraction plants,
b. manufacturing of oil and gas related equipment and
products,
c.
bulk terminals, aboveground and underground storage
tanks not subject to the jurisdiction of the
Commission pursuant to this subsection, and
d. other facilities, activities and sources not subject
to the jurisdiction of the Corporation Commission or
Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, Food, and Forestry
as specified by this section.
8. The Department of Environmental Quality shall have sole environmental jurisdiction to regulate air emissions from all facilities and sources subject to operating permit requirements under Title V of the federal Clean Air Act as amended.
B. The Corporation Commission and incorporated cities and towns shall have exclusive jurisdiction over permit fees for the drilling and operation of oil and gas wells.
C. The Corporation Commission shall comply with and enforce the Oklahoma Water Quality Standards.
D. For purposes of immediately responding to emergency situations having potentially critical environmental or public safety impact and resulting from activities within its jurisdiction, the Corporation Commission may take whatever action is necessary, without notice and hearing, including without limitation the issuance or execution of administrative agreements by the Oil and Gas Conservation Division of the Corporation Commission, to promptly respond to the emergency. Added by Laws 1917, c. 207, p. 385, § 2.
Amended by Laws 1986, c. 250, § 13, emerg. eff. June 13, 1986; Laws 1993, c. 145, § 252, eff. July 1, 1993; Laws 1993, c. 324, § 48, eff. July 1, 1993; Laws 2000, c. 364, § 5, emerg. eff. June 6, 2000; Laws 2009, c. 429, § 7, emerg. eff. June 1, 2009; Laws 2016, c. 77, § 1, emerg. eff. April 18, 2016; Laws 2025, c. 247, § 1, eff. Nov. 1, 2025.