AB 896 — Oil and gas wells and facilities: liens: collections unit.

Summary

Existing law establishes the Geologic Energy Management Division in the Department of Conservation, under the direction of the State Oil and Gas Supervisor, who is required to supervise the drilling, operation, maintenance, and abandonment of wells and the operation, maintenance, and removal or abandonment of tanks and facilities related to oil and gas production within an oil and gas field, so as to prevent damage to life, health, property, and natural resources. Existing law requires the supervisor to order those tests or remedial work that in the judgment of the supervisor are necessary to prevent damage to life, health, property, and natural resources, to protect oil and gas deposits from damage by underground water, to prevent the escape of water into underground formations, or to prevent the infiltration of detrimental substances into underground or surface water suitable for irrigation or domestic purposes, to the best interests of the neighboring property owners and the public. Existing law authorizes the supervisor or district deputy to order the plugging and abandonment of a well or the decommissioning of a production facility that has been deserted whether or not any damage is occurring or threatened by reason of that deserted well or production facility. Existing law requires the owner or operator to commence, in good faith, the work ordered and continue it until completion and, if the work has not been commenced and continued to completion, authorizes the supervisor to appoint necessary agents to enter the premises and perform the work and provides that any amounts expended are a perfected and enforceable state tax lien against real or personal property of the operator. This bill would authorize the division, before performing the work ordered by the supervisor or district deputy, to impose a lien against the real or personal property of the operator in an amount equal to an estimate of the cost of the work based on a bid from a contractor or previous costs to perform comparable work. The bill would require the division's accounting of actual or estimated costs to perform work ordered to be served upon the operator by personal service or certified mail. The bill would require the supervisor, on or before July 1, 2022, to establish a collections unit within the division to be responsible for identifying persons responsible for specified charges, locating assets belonging to those persons, and fully implementing all of the division's authorities for collecting the amounts owed. Until January 1, 2027, to the extent feasible, the bill would require the division to use existing resources and personnel in establishing the collections unit. Existing law requires the operator of any idle well to either (1) no later than May 1 of each year, for each idle well that was an idle well at any time in the last calendar year, file with the supervisor an annual fee, or (2) file a plan with the supervisor to provide for the management and elimination of all long-term idle wells. This bill would require the division, by April 1 of each year, to send a notice to the operator of an idle well identifying the amount of the annual fee due no later than May 1 of that year and stating that if the fee amount in the notice is in error, the operator may apply to the division before May 1 of that year to have the fee amount corrected. Existing law requires the supervisor, on or before July 1, 2019, and annually thereafter until July 1, 2026, to prepare and transmit to the Legislature a comprehensive report on the status of idle and long-term idle wells for the preceding calendar year that includes specified information. For the report due on or before July 1, 2021, and for each report thereafter, existing law requires the division to conduct inspections of production facilities attendant to long-term idle wells and requires that information summarizing violations and pertinent findings in these inspections be included in each report. For the report due on or before July 1, 2023, and each report thereafter, this bill would require the division to provide a description of activities undertaken by the division's collections unit, as specified. This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 3206.3 of the Public Resources Code proposed by SB 84 to be operative only if this bill and SB 84 are enacted and this bill is enacted last.

Bill Text

• Chaptered 10/08/21 - Chaptered Current pdf October 08, 2021
• Enrolled 09/13/21 - Enrolled pdf September 13, 2021
• Amended 08/31/21 - Amended Senate pdf August 31, 2021
• Amended 08/26/21 - Amended Senate pdf August 26, 2021
• Amended 07/13/21 - Amended Senate pdf July 13, 2021
• Amended 05/27/21 - Amended Assembly pdf May 27, 2021
• Introduced 02/17/21 - Introduced pdf February 17, 2021
• AB896 View text html

Action History

1. October 08, 2021

   Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 707, Statutes of 2021.

2. October 08, 2021

   Approved by the Governor.

3. September 20, 2021

   Enrolled and presented to the Governor at 3 p.m.

4. September 09, 2021

   Senate amendments concurred in. To Engrossing and Enrolling. (Ayes 67. Noes 8. Page 2994.).

5. September 08, 2021

   In Assembly. Concurrence in Senate amendments pending.

6. September 08, 2021

   Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Assembly. (Ayes 30. Noes 7. Page 2493.).

7. September 01, 2021

   Read second time. Ordered to third reading.

8. August 31, 2021

   Read third time and amended. Ordered to second reading.

9. August 30, 2021

   Read second time. Ordered to third reading.

10. August 26, 2021

    Read second time and amended. Ordered returned to second reading.

11. August 26, 2021

    From committee: Amend, and do pass as amended. (Ayes 5. Noes 2.) (August 26).

12. August 16, 2021

    In committee: Referred to suspense file.

13. July 13, 2021

    Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on APPR.

14. July 12, 2021

    From committee: Amend, and do pass as amended and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 7. Noes 0.) (July 8).

15. June 16, 2021

    Referred to Com. on N.R. & W.

16. June 02, 2021

    In Senate. Read first time. To Com. on RLS. for assignment.

17. June 01, 2021

    Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Senate. (Ayes 65. Noes 12. Page 1731.)

18. May 27, 2021

    Read third time and amended. Ordered to third reading. (Page 1579.)

19. May 24, 2021

    Read second time. Ordered to third reading.

20. May 20, 2021

    From committee: Do pass. (Ayes 12. Noes 4.) (May 20).

21. April 14, 2021

    In committee: Set, first hearing. Referred to APPR. suspense file.

22. March 25, 2021

    From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 8. Noes 0.) (March 24). Re-referred to Com. on APPR.

23. February 25, 2021

    Coauthors revised.

24. February 25, 2021

    Referred to Com. on NAT. RES.

25. February 18, 2021

    From printer. May be heard in committee March 20.

26. February 17, 2021

    Read first time. To print.

Sponsors

• Steve Bennett · Primary
• Monique Limón · Cosponsor

Votes

Subjects