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Public Act 098-0926
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| HB5567 Enrolled | LRB098 19182 ZMM 55641 b |
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AN ACT concerning regulation.
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Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
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represented in the General Assembly:
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Section 5. The Illinois Oil and Gas Act is amended by |
changing Sections 6.1 and 21.1 as follows:
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(225 ILCS 725/6.1) (from Ch. 96 1/2, par. 5410)
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Sec. 6.1.
When the applicant has complied with all |
applicable
provisions of this Act and the rules of the |
Department, the Department
shall issue the permit. All |
applications for a permit submitted to the Department shall |
either be granted or denied in writing within 20 business days |
after the date of receipt by the Department, unless the |
applicant and Department mutually agree to extend the 20-day |
period. If granted, the written permit shall be issued. If |
denied, the Department shall provide specific requirements for |
additional information or documentation needed for the |
application to be considered and the permit issued. Upon |
submission of the required information and documentation, the |
same process and timeframe as provided in this Section shall |
continue until either the permit is issued or it is determined |
that the permit cannot be issued because of legal or regulatory |
impediments. The Department shall respond in a timely manner to |
any application or submission of additional information and |
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documentation after initial submission.
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(Source: P.A. 85-1334.)
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(225 ILCS 725/21.1) (from Ch. 96 1/2, par. 5433)
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Sec. 21.1.
(a) The Department is authorized to issue |
permits for the
drilling of wells and to regulate the spacing |
of wells for oil and gas
purposes. For the prevention of waste, |
to protect and enforce the
correlative rights of owners in the |
pool, and to prevent the drilling of
unnecessary wells, the |
Department shall, upon application of any
interested person and |
after notice and hearing, establish a drilling unit
or units |
for the production of oil and gas or either of them for each |
pool,
provided that no spacing regulation shall be adopted nor |
drilling unit
established which requires the allocation of more |
than 40 acres of surface
area nor less than 10 acres of surface |
area to an individual well for
production of oil from a pool |
the top of which lies less than 4,000 feet
beneath the surface |
(as determined by the original or discovery well in the
pool), |
provided, however, that the Department may
permit the |
allocation
of greater acreage to an individual well than that |
above specified, and
provided further that the spacing of wells |
in any pool the top of which
lies less than 4,000 feet beneath |
the surface (as determined by the
original or discovery well in |
the pool) shall not include the fixing of a
pattern except with |
respect to the 2 nearest external boundary lines of
each |
drilling unit, and provided further that no acreage allocation |
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shall
be required for input or injection wells nor for |
producing wells lying
within a secondary recovery unit as now |
or hereafter established.
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(b) Drilling units shall be of approximately uniform size |
and shape for
each entire pool, except that where circumstances |
reasonably require, the
Department may grant exceptions to the |
size or shape
of any drilling unit
or units. Each order |
establishing drilling units shall specify the size and
shape of |
the unit, which shall be such as will result in the efficient |
and
economical development of the pool as a whole, and subject |
to the
provisions of subsection (a) hereof the size of no |
drilling unit shall be
smaller than the maximum area that can |
be efficiently and economically
drained by one well. Each order |
establishing drilling units for a pool
shall cover all lands |
determined or believed to be underlaid by such pool,
and may be |
modified by the Department from time to time to include
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additional lands determined to be underlaid by such pool. Each |
order
establishing drilling units may be modified by the |
Department to change
the size thereof, or to permit the |
drilling of additional wells.
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(b-2) Any petition requesting a drilling unit exception |
shall be accompanied by a non-refundable application fee in the |
amount of $1,500 for a Modified Drilling Unit or Special |
Drilling Unit or a non-refundable application fee in the amount |
of $2,500 for a Pool-Wide Drilling Unit. |
(c) Each order establishing drilling units shall prohibit |
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the drilling
of more than one well on any drilling unit for the |
production of oil or gas
from the particular pool with respect |
to which the drilling unit is
established and subject to the |
provisions of subsection (a) hereof shall
specify the location |
for the drilling of such well thereon, in accordance
with a |
reasonably uniform spacing pattern, with necessary exceptions |
for
wells drilled or drilling at the time of the application. |
If the Department
finds, after notice and hearing, that surface |
conditions would
substantially add to the burden or hazard of |
drilling such well at the
specified location, or for some other |
reason it would be inequitable or
unreasonable to require a |
well to be drilled at the specified location, the
Department |
may issue an order permitting the well to be drilled at a
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location other than that specified in the order establishing |
drilling
units.
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(d) After the date of the notice for a hearing called to |
establish
drilling units, no additional well shall be commenced |
for production from
the pool until the order establishing |
drilling units has been issued,
unless the commencement of the |
well is authorized by order of the Department.
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(e) After an order establishing a drilling unit or units |
has been issued
by the Department, the commencement of drilling |
of any
well or wells into
the pool with regard to which such |
unit was established for the purpose of
producing oil or gas |
therefrom, at a location other than that authorized by
the |
order, or by order granting exception to the original spacing |
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order, is
hereby prohibited. The operation of any well drilled |
in violation of an
order establishing drilling units is hereby |
prohibited.
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(f) Any application or petition by any interested person |
for a drilling unit as provided in this Section shall be |
accepted and filed or not accepted and filed by the Department |
within 10 business days after receipt by the Department. If the |
petition is accepted and filed, a public hearing on the |
petition shall be scheduled not less than 30 days, but not more |
than 60 days, after the acceptance and filing by the |
Department. If not accepted, and filed, the Department shall |
provide specific requirements for additional information or |
documentation needed for the petition to be considered, |
accepted, and filed. Upon submission of the required |
information and documentation, the same process and timeframe |
as provided in this subsection (f) shall continue until the |
petition has been accepted and filed at which time a hearing |
shall be scheduled as previously stated in this subsection (f). |
The petition shall not be accepted and filed if it is |
determined by the Department that, under any circumstance, |
legal or regulatory impediments would prevent such acceptance |
and filing. If the Department does not timely respond to any |
petition or the submission of additional information or |
documentation after initial submission, then the petition |
shall be deemed to be in sufficient form for acceptance and |
filing and the Department shall proceed with the scheduling of |
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a public hearing. The Department, after public hearing, shall |
either grant or deny the petition within 20 working days after |
the conclusion of the hearing. |
(g) Any petition by an interested person to establish |
drilling units for a pool as provided in this Section shall be |
accepted and filed or not accepted and filed by the Department |
within 10 business days after receipt by the Department. If the |
petition is accepted and filed, a public hearing on the |
petition shall be scheduled not less than 30 days, but not more |
than 60 days, after the acceptance and filing by the |
Department. If not accepted and filed, the Department shall |
provide specific requirements for additional information or |
documentation needed for the petition to be considered, |
accepted, and filed. Upon submission of the required |
information and documentation, the same process and timeframe |
as provided in this subsection (g) shall continue until the |
petition has been accepted and filed at which time a hearing |
shall be scheduled as previously stated in this subsection (g). |
The petition shall not be accepted and filed if it is |
determined by the Department that, under any circumstance, |
legal or regulatory impediments would prevent such acceptance |
and filing. If the Department does not timely respond to any |
petition or the submission of additional information or |
documentation after initial submission, then the petition |
shall be deemed to be in sufficient form for acceptance and |
filing and the Department shall proceed with the scheduling of |