Rep. Brandon W. Phelps

Filed: 4/8/2014

 

 


 

 


 
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1
AMENDMENT TO HOUSE BILL 5567

2    AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend House Bill 5567 by replacing
3everything after the enacting clause with the following:
 
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

 

 

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1application to be considered and the permit issued. Upon
2submission of the required information and documentation, the
3same process and timeframe as provided in this Section shall
4continue until either the permit is issued or it is determined
5that the permit cannot be issued because of legal or regulatory
6impediments. The Department shall respond in a timely manner to
7any application or submission of additional information and
8documentation after initial submission. If the Department does
9not timely respond to any application or submission of
10additional information and documentation after initial
11submission, then the application shall be deemed granted and
12the permit shall be issued by the Department within 3 working
13days after the expiration of the time to respond.
14(Source: P.A. 85-1334.)
 
15    (225 ILCS 725/21.1)  (from Ch. 96 1/2, par. 5433)
16    Sec. 21.1. (a) The Department is authorized to issue
17permits for the drilling of wells and to regulate the spacing
18of wells for oil and gas purposes. For the prevention of waste,
19to protect and enforce the correlative rights of owners in the
20pool, and to prevent the drilling of unnecessary wells, the
21Department shall, upon application of any interested person and
22after notice and hearing, establish a drilling unit or units
23for the production of oil and gas or either of them for each
24pool, provided that no spacing regulation shall be adopted nor
25drilling unit established which requires the allocation of more

 

 

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1than 40 acres of surface area nor less than 10 acres of surface
2area to an individual well for production of oil from a pool
3the top of which lies less than 4,000 feet beneath the surface
4(as determined by the original or discovery well in the pool),
5provided, however, that the Department may permit the
6allocation of greater acreage to an individual well than that
7above specified, and provided further that the spacing of wells
8in any pool the top of which lies less than 4,000 feet beneath
9the surface (as determined by the original or discovery well in
10the pool) shall not include the fixing of a pattern except with
11respect to the 2 nearest external boundary lines of each
12drilling unit, and provided further that no acreage allocation
13shall be required for input or injection wells nor for
14producing wells lying within a secondary recovery unit as now
15or hereafter established.
16    (b) Drilling units shall be of approximately uniform size
17and shape for each entire pool, except that where circumstances
18reasonably require, the Department may grant exceptions to the
19size or shape of any drilling unit or units. Each order
20establishing drilling units shall specify the size and shape of
21the unit, which shall be such as will result in the efficient
22and economical development of the pool as a whole, and subject
23to the provisions of subsection (a) hereof the size of no
24drilling unit shall be smaller than the maximum area that can
25be efficiently and economically drained by one well. Each order
26establishing drilling units for a pool shall cover all lands

 

 

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1determined or believed to be underlaid by such pool, and may be
2modified by the Department from time to time to include
3additional lands determined to be underlaid by such pool. Each
4order establishing drilling units may be modified by the
5Department to change the size thereof, or to permit the
6drilling of additional wells.
7    (b-2) Any petition requesting a drilling unit exception
8shall be accompanied by a non-refundable application fee in the
9amount of $1,500 for a Modified Drilling Unit or Special
10Drilling Unit or a non-refundable application fee in the amount
11of $2,500 for a Pool-Wide Drilling Unit.
12    (c) Each order establishing drilling units shall prohibit
13the drilling of more than one well on any drilling unit for the
14production of oil or gas from the particular pool with respect
15to which the drilling unit is established and subject to the
16provisions of subsection (a) hereof shall specify the location
17for the drilling of such well thereon, in accordance with a
18reasonably uniform spacing pattern, with necessary exceptions
19for wells drilled or drilling at the time of the application.
20If the Department finds, after notice and hearing, that surface
21conditions would substantially add to the burden or hazard of
22drilling such well at the specified location, or for some other
23reason it would be inequitable or unreasonable to require a
24well to be drilled at the specified location, the Department
25may issue an order permitting the well to be drilled at a
26location other than that specified in the order establishing

 

 

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1drilling units.
2    (d) After the date of the notice for a hearing called to
3establish drilling units, no additional well shall be commenced
4for production from the pool until the order establishing
5drilling units has been issued, unless the commencement of the
6well is authorized by order of the Department.
7    (e) After an order establishing a drilling unit or units
8has been issued by the Department, the commencement of drilling
9of any well or wells into the pool with regard to which such
10unit was established for the purpose of producing oil or gas
11therefrom, at a location other than that authorized by the
12order, or by order granting exception to the original spacing
13order, is hereby prohibited. The operation of any well drilled
14in violation of an order establishing drilling units is hereby
15prohibited.
16    (f) Any application or petition by any interested person
17for a drilling unit as provided in this Section shall be
18accepted and filed or not accepted and filed by the Department
19within 10 business days after receipt by the Department. If the
20petition is accepted and filed, a public hearing on the
21petition shall be scheduled not less than 30 days, but not more
22than 60 days, after the acceptance and filing by the
23Department. If not accepted, and filed, the Department shall
24provide specific requirements for additional information or
25documentation needed for the petition to be considered,
26accepted, and filed. Upon submission of the required

 

 

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

 

 

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1information and documentation, the same process and timeframe
2as provided in this subsection (g) shall continue until the
3petition has been accepted and filed at which time a hearing
4shall be scheduled as previously stated in this subsection (g).
5The petition shall not be accepted and filed if it is
6determined by the Department that, under any circumstance,
7legal or regulatory impediments would prevent such acceptance
8and filing. If the Department does not timely respond to any
9petition or the submission of additional information or
10documentation after initial submission, then the petition
11shall be deemed to be in sufficient form for acceptance and
12filing and the Department shall proceed with the scheduling of
13a public hearing. The Department, after public hearing, shall
14either grant or deny the petition within 20 working days after
15the conclusion of the hearing.
16(Source: P.A. 97-1136, eff. 1-1-13.)
 
17    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect September
181, 2014.".