(225 ILCS 725/1.2) (from Ch. 96 1/2, par. 5403)

Sec. 1.2. The Director shall appoint an Oil and Gas Board consisting of 7 members, 6 of whom shall be actively engaged in the oil and gas industry. In appointing the 6 members representing the oil and gas industry, the Director shall give due consideration to the recommendations of organizations and associations representing the various interests of the oil and gas industry and shall appoint individuals in such a manner as to assure representation of petroleum engineering, petroleum geology, oil and gas operations and production, and the servicing of oil and gas operations and production. The one remaining member shall be appointed by the Director upon consultation with the Illinois Farm Bureau and the member must be active in production agriculture. Members shall be appointed to 2 year terms commencing on the third Monday in January of odd numbered years, and may be reappointed for additional terms provided that no member may be reappointed for a term which would cause his continued service to exceed 8 years. Any appointment to fill a vacancy shall be for the unexpired portion of the term. The Director may remove any member who fails to attend 2 consecutive meetings of the Board without sufficient excuse or for any other good cause as determined by the Director.

Members of the Oil and Gas Board shall be reimbursed for all reasonable and necessary expenses incurred in attending Board meetings and may receive a per diem stipend as determined by the Director from appropriations made available for that purpose.

The Oil and Gas Board shall meet at least quarterly and at such other times as the Department or the Board deems necessary to:

(1) Review all federal and State rules and laws affecting the oil and gas industry in Illinois.

(2) Advise and consult with the Director concerning the adoption of rules pertaining to the conservation of oil and gas.

(3) Review technical information and operations concerning the improvement of methods, conditions, and equipment for the production of oil and gas.

(4) Advise and consult with the Director concerning the proper drilling, casing and plugging of oil wells.

(5) Review the methods and procedures for the issuance of proper permits to drill oil and gas wells.

(6) Advise and consult with the Director in the administration of the Oil and Gas Well Site Plugging and Restoration Program.

(7) Advise and consult with the Director on any and all other subjects about which the Department should seek information in relation to the oil and gas industry.

The Oil and Gas Board, by a record vote of a majority of its membership, may make specific recommendations to the Department on any of the matters enumerated above, but the Board shall act solely as an advisory body to the Department and its recommendations shall have no binding effect on the Department.

Before proposing any new rule or any changes to existing rules implementing the provisions of this Act under Section 5.01 of the Illinois Administrative Procedure Act, and prior to adopting any new form or changing any existing form required to be completed by a person regulated under this Act, the Department shall first present the proposed rule or form to the Oil and Gas Board for its review and recommendations. If the Oil and Gas Board, by a unanimous record vote of its membership, makes specific objection to a proposed new rule or proposed change to an existing rule, the Department shall set forth the objection in its notice of proposed rulemaking together with the reasons for proposing the rule notwithstanding the objection of the Oil and Gas Board.

The Department shall annually publish and present to the Oil and Gas Board a financial report describing the income, expenditures, and obligations of the Underground Resources Conservation Enforcement Fund and the Plugging and Restoration Fund. The annual report shall provide information on the administration of the Oil and Gas Well Site Plugging and Restoration Program, and shall include the number of orphan wells identified and the status of closure of these wells.

In situations involving drilling or operations through veins or seams of mineable coal, the entire authority and discretion of the Department shall be vested in the Mining Board.

(Source: P.A. 91-81, eff. 7-9-99.)