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1    AN ACT concerning regulation.
 
2    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3represented in the General Assembly:
 
4    Section 5. The Illinois Oil and Gas Act is amended by
5changing Sections 6.1 and 21.1 as follows:
 
6    (225 ILCS 725/6.1)  (from Ch. 96 1/2, par. 5410)
7    Sec. 6.1. When the applicant has complied with all
8applicable provisions of this Act and the rules of the
9Department, the Department shall issue the permit. All
10applications for a permit submitted to the Department shall
11either be granted or denied in writing within 20 business days
12after the date of receipt by the Department, unless the
13applicant and Department mutually agree to extend the 20-day
14period. If granted, the written permit shall be issued. If
15denied, the Department shall provide specific requirements for
16additional information or documentation needed for the
17application to be considered and the permit issued. Upon
18submission of the required information and documentation, the
19same process and timeframe as provided in this Section shall
20continue until either the permit is issued or it is determined
21that the permit cannot be issued because of legal or regulatory
22impediments. The Department shall respond in a timely manner to
23any application or submission of additional information and

 

 

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1documentation after initial submission.
2(Source: P.A. 85-1334.)
 
3    (225 ILCS 725/21.1)  (from Ch. 96 1/2, par. 5433)
4    Sec. 21.1. (a) The Department is authorized to issue
5permits for the drilling of wells and to regulate the spacing
6of wells for oil and gas purposes. For the prevention of waste,
7to protect and enforce the correlative rights of owners in the
8pool, and to prevent the drilling of unnecessary wells, the
9Department shall, upon application of any interested person and
10after notice and hearing, establish a drilling unit or units
11for the production of oil and gas or either of them for each
12pool, provided that no spacing regulation shall be adopted nor
13drilling unit established which requires the allocation of more
14than 40 acres of surface area nor less than 10 acres of surface
15area to an individual well for production of oil from a pool
16the top of which lies less than 4,000 feet beneath the surface
17(as determined by the original or discovery well in the pool),
18provided, however, that the Department may permit the
19allocation of greater acreage to an individual well than that
20above specified, and provided further that the spacing of wells
21in any pool the top of which lies less than 4,000 feet beneath
22the surface (as determined by the original or discovery well in
23the pool) shall not include the fixing of a pattern except with
24respect to the 2 nearest external boundary lines of each
25drilling unit, and provided further that no acreage allocation

 

 

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1shall be required for input or injection wells nor for
2producing wells lying within a secondary recovery unit as now
3or hereafter established.
4    (b) Drilling units shall be of approximately uniform size
5and shape for each entire pool, except that where circumstances
6reasonably require, the Department may grant exceptions to the
7size or shape of any drilling unit or units. Each order
8establishing drilling units shall specify the size and shape of
9the unit, which shall be such as will result in the efficient
10and economical development of the pool as a whole, and subject
11to the provisions of subsection (a) hereof the size of no
12drilling unit shall be smaller than the maximum area that can
13be efficiently and economically drained by one well. Each order
14establishing drilling units for a pool shall cover all lands
15determined or believed to be underlaid by such pool, and may be
16modified by the Department from time to time to include
17additional lands determined to be underlaid by such pool. Each
18order establishing drilling units may be modified by the
19Department to change the size thereof, or to permit the
20drilling of additional wells.
21    (b-2) Any petition requesting a drilling unit exception
22shall be accompanied by a non-refundable application fee in the
23amount of $1,500 for a Modified Drilling Unit or Special
24Drilling Unit or a non-refundable application fee in the amount
25of $2,500 for a Pool-Wide Drilling Unit.
26    (c) Each order establishing drilling units shall prohibit

 

 

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1the drilling of more than one well on any drilling unit for the
2production of oil or gas from the particular pool with respect
3to which the drilling unit is established and subject to the
4provisions of subsection (a) hereof shall specify the location
5for the drilling of such well thereon, in accordance with a
6reasonably uniform spacing pattern, with necessary exceptions
7for wells drilled or drilling at the time of the application.
8If the Department finds, after notice and hearing, that surface
9conditions would substantially add to the burden or hazard of
10drilling such well at the specified location, or for some other
11reason it would be inequitable or unreasonable to require a
12well to be drilled at the specified location, the Department
13may issue an order permitting the well to be drilled at a
14location other than that specified in the order establishing
15drilling units.
16    (d) After the date of the notice for a hearing called to
17establish drilling units, no additional well shall be commenced
18for production from the pool until the order establishing
19drilling units has been issued, unless the commencement of the
20well is authorized by order of the Department.
21    (e) After an order establishing a drilling unit or units
22has been issued by the Department, the commencement of drilling
23of any well or wells into the pool with regard to which such
24unit was established for the purpose of producing oil or gas
25therefrom, at a location other than that authorized by the
26order, or by order granting exception to the original spacing

 

 

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1order, is hereby prohibited. The operation of any well drilled
2in violation of an order establishing drilling units is hereby
3prohibited.
4    (f) Any application or petition by any interested person
5for a drilling unit as provided in this Section shall be
6accepted and filed or not accepted and filed by the Department
7within 10 business days after receipt by the Department. If the
8petition is accepted and filed, a public hearing on the
9petition shall be scheduled not less than 30 days, but not more
10than 60 days, after the acceptance and filing by the
11Department. If not accepted, and filed, the Department shall
12provide specific requirements for additional information or
13documentation needed for the petition to be considered,
14accepted, and filed. Upon submission of the required
15information and documentation, the same process and timeframe
16as provided in this subsection (f) shall continue until the
17petition has been accepted and filed at which time a hearing
18shall be scheduled as previously stated in this subsection (f).
19The petition shall not be accepted and filed if it is
20determined by the Department that, under any circumstance,
21legal or regulatory impediments would prevent such acceptance
22and filing. If the Department does not timely respond to any
23petition or the submission of additional information or
24documentation after initial submission, then the petition
25shall be deemed to be in sufficient form for acceptance and
26filing and the Department shall proceed with the scheduling of

 

 

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1a public hearing. The Department, after public hearing, shall
2either grant or deny the petition within 20 working days after
3the conclusion of the hearing.
4    (g) Any petition by an interested person to establish
5drilling units for a pool as provided in this Section shall be
6accepted and filed or not accepted and filed by the Department
7within 10 business days after receipt by the Department. If the
8petition is accepted and filed, a public hearing on the
9petition shall be scheduled not less than 30 days, but not more
10than 60 days, after the acceptance and filing by the
11Department. If not accepted and filed, the Department shall
12provide specific requirements for additional information or
13documentation needed for the petition to be considered,
14accepted, and filed. Upon submission of the required
15information and documentation, the same process and timeframe
16as provided in this subsection (g) shall continue until the
17petition has been accepted and filed at which time a hearing
18shall be scheduled as previously stated in this subsection (g).
19The petition shall not be accepted and filed if it is
20determined by the Department that, under any circumstance,
21legal or regulatory impediments would prevent such acceptance
22and filing. If the Department does not timely respond to any
23petition or the submission of additional information or
24documentation after initial submission, then the petition
25shall be deemed to be in sufficient form for acceptance and
26filing and the Department shall proceed with the scheduling of

 

 

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1a public hearing. The Department, after public hearing, shall
2either grant or deny the petition within 20 working days after
3the conclusion of the hearing.
4(Source: P.A. 97-1136, eff. 1-1-13.)
 
5    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect September
61, 2014.