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1 | AN ACT concerning regulation.
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2 | Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
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3 | represented in the General Assembly:
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4 | Section 5. The Illinois Oil and Gas Act is amended by | ||||||
5 | changing Sections 6.1 and 21.1 as follows:
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6 | (225 ILCS 725/6.1) (from Ch. 96 1/2, par. 5410)
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7 | Sec. 6.1.
When the applicant has complied with all | ||||||
8 | applicable
provisions of this Act and the rules of the | ||||||
9 | Department, the Department
shall issue the permit. All | ||||||
10 | applications for a permit submitted to the Department shall | ||||||
11 | either be granted or denied in writing within 20 business days | ||||||
12 | after the date of receipt by the Department, unless the | ||||||
13 | applicant and Department mutually agree to extend the 20-day | ||||||
14 | period. If granted, the written permit shall be issued. If | ||||||
15 | denied, the Department shall provide specific requirements for | ||||||
16 | additional information or documentation needed for the | ||||||
17 | application to be considered and the permit issued. Upon | ||||||
18 | submission of the required information and documentation, the | ||||||
19 | same process and timeframe as provided in this Section shall | ||||||
20 | continue until either the permit is issued or it is determined | ||||||
21 | that the permit cannot be issued because of legal or regulatory | ||||||
22 | impediments. The Department shall respond in a timely manner to | ||||||
23 | any application or submission of additional information and |
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1 | documentation after initial submission.
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2 | (Source: P.A. 85-1334.)
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3 | (225 ILCS 725/21.1) (from Ch. 96 1/2, par. 5433)
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4 | Sec. 21.1.
(a) The Department is authorized to issue | ||||||
5 | permits for the
drilling of wells and to regulate the spacing | ||||||
6 | of wells for oil and gas
purposes. For the prevention of waste, | ||||||
7 | to protect and enforce the
correlative rights of owners in the | ||||||
8 | pool, and to prevent the drilling of
unnecessary wells, the | ||||||
9 | Department shall, upon application of any
interested person and | ||||||
10 | after notice and hearing, establish a drilling unit
or units | ||||||
11 | for the production of oil and gas or either of them for each | ||||||
12 | pool,
provided that no spacing regulation shall be adopted nor | ||||||
13 | drilling unit
established which requires the allocation of more | ||||||
14 | than 40 acres of surface
area nor less than 10 acres of surface | ||||||
15 | area to an individual well for
production of oil from a pool | ||||||
16 | the top of which lies less than 4,000 feet
beneath the surface | ||||||
17 | (as determined by the original or discovery well in the
pool), | ||||||
18 | provided, however, that the Department may
permit the | ||||||
19 | allocation
of greater acreage to an individual well than that | ||||||
20 | above specified, and
provided further that the spacing of wells | ||||||
21 | in any pool the top of which
lies less than 4,000 feet beneath | ||||||
22 | the surface (as determined by the
original or discovery well in | ||||||
23 | the pool) shall not include the fixing of a
pattern except with | ||||||
24 | respect to the 2 nearest external boundary lines of
each | ||||||
25 | drilling unit, and provided further that no acreage allocation |
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1 | shall
be required for input or injection wells nor for | ||||||
2 | producing wells lying
within a secondary recovery unit as now | ||||||
3 | or hereafter established.
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4 | (b) Drilling units shall be of approximately uniform size | ||||||
5 | and shape for
each entire pool, except that where circumstances | ||||||
6 | reasonably require, the
Department may grant exceptions to the | ||||||
7 | size or shape
of any drilling unit
or units. Each order | ||||||
8 | establishing drilling units shall specify the size and
shape of | ||||||
9 | the unit, which shall be such as will result in the efficient | ||||||
10 | and
economical development of the pool as a whole, and subject | ||||||
11 | to the
provisions of subsection (a) hereof the size of no | ||||||
12 | drilling unit shall be
smaller than the maximum area that can | ||||||
13 | be efficiently and economically
drained by one well. Each order | ||||||
14 | establishing drilling units for a pool
shall cover all lands | ||||||
15 | determined or believed to be underlaid by such pool,
and may be | ||||||
16 | modified by the Department from time to time to include
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17 | additional lands determined to be underlaid by such pool. Each | ||||||
18 | order
establishing drilling units may be modified by the | ||||||
19 | Department to change
the size thereof, or to permit the | ||||||
20 | drilling of additional wells.
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21 | (b-2) Any petition requesting a drilling unit exception | ||||||
22 | shall be accompanied by a non-refundable application fee in the | ||||||
23 | amount of $1,500 for a Modified Drilling Unit or Special | ||||||
24 | Drilling Unit or a non-refundable application fee in the amount | ||||||
25 | of $2,500 for a Pool-Wide Drilling Unit. | ||||||
26 | (c) Each order establishing drilling units shall prohibit |
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1 | the drilling
of more than one well on any drilling unit for the | ||||||
2 | production of oil or gas
from the particular pool with respect | ||||||
3 | to which the drilling unit is
established and subject to the | ||||||
4 | provisions of subsection (a) hereof shall
specify the location | ||||||
5 | for the drilling of such well thereon, in accordance
with a | ||||||
6 | reasonably uniform spacing pattern, with necessary exceptions | ||||||
7 | for
wells drilled or drilling at the time of the application. | ||||||
8 | If the Department
finds, after notice and hearing, that surface | ||||||
9 | conditions would
substantially add to the burden or hazard of | ||||||
10 | drilling such well at the
specified location, or for some other | ||||||
11 | reason it would be inequitable or
unreasonable to require a | ||||||
12 | well to be drilled at the specified location, the
Department | ||||||
13 | may issue an order permitting the well to be drilled at a
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14 | location other than that specified in the order establishing | ||||||
15 | drilling
units.
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16 | (d) After the date of the notice for a hearing called to | ||||||
17 | establish
drilling units, no additional well shall be commenced | ||||||
18 | for production from
the pool until the order establishing | ||||||
19 | drilling units has been issued,
unless the commencement of the | ||||||
20 | well is authorized by order of the Department.
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21 | (e) After an order establishing a drilling unit or units | ||||||
22 | has been issued
by the Department, the commencement of drilling | ||||||
23 | of any
well or wells into
the pool with regard to which such | ||||||
24 | unit was established for the purpose of
producing oil or gas | ||||||
25 | therefrom, at a location other than that authorized by
the | ||||||
26 | order, or by order granting exception to the original spacing |
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1 | order, is
hereby prohibited. The operation of any well drilled | ||||||
2 | in violation of an
order establishing drilling units is hereby | ||||||
3 | prohibited.
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4 | (f) Any application or petition by any interested person | ||||||
5 | for a drilling unit as provided in this Section shall be | ||||||
6 | accepted and filed or not accepted and filed by the Department | ||||||
7 | within 10 business days after receipt by the Department. If the | ||||||
8 | petition is accepted and filed, a public hearing on the | ||||||
9 | petition shall be scheduled not less than 30 days, but not more | ||||||
10 | than 60 days, after the acceptance and filing by the | ||||||
11 | Department. If not accepted, and filed, the Department shall | ||||||
12 | provide specific requirements for additional information or | ||||||
13 | documentation needed for the petition to be considered, | ||||||
14 | accepted, and filed. Upon submission of the required | ||||||
15 | information and documentation, the same process and timeframe | ||||||
16 | as provided in this subsection (f) shall continue until the | ||||||
17 | petition has been accepted and filed at which time a hearing | ||||||
18 | shall be scheduled as previously stated in this subsection (f). | ||||||
19 | The petition shall not be accepted and filed if it is | ||||||
20 | determined by the Department that, under any circumstance, | ||||||
21 | legal or regulatory impediments would prevent such acceptance | ||||||
22 | and filing. If the Department does not timely respond to any | ||||||
23 | petition or the submission of additional information or | ||||||
24 | documentation after initial submission, then the petition | ||||||
25 | shall be deemed to be in sufficient form for acceptance and | ||||||
26 | filing and the Department shall proceed with the scheduling of |
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1 | a public hearing. The Department, after public hearing, shall | ||||||
2 | either grant or deny the petition within 20 working days after | ||||||
3 | the conclusion of the hearing. | ||||||
4 | (g) Any petition by an interested person to establish | ||||||
5 | drilling units for a pool as provided in this Section shall be | ||||||
6 | accepted and filed or not accepted and filed by the Department | ||||||
7 | within 10 business days after receipt by the Department. If the | ||||||
8 | petition is accepted and filed, a public hearing on the | ||||||
9 | petition shall be scheduled not less than 30 days, but not more | ||||||
10 | than 60 days, after the acceptance and filing by the | ||||||
11 | Department. If not accepted and filed, the Department shall | ||||||
12 | provide specific requirements for additional information or | ||||||
13 | documentation needed for the petition to be considered, | ||||||
14 | accepted, and filed. Upon submission of the required | ||||||
15 | information and documentation, the same process and timeframe | ||||||
16 | as provided in this subsection (g) shall continue until the | ||||||
17 | petition has been accepted and filed at which time a hearing | ||||||
18 | shall be scheduled as previously stated in this subsection (g). | ||||||
19 | The petition shall not be accepted and filed if it is | ||||||
20 | determined by the Department that, under any circumstance, | ||||||
21 | legal or regulatory impediments would prevent such acceptance | ||||||
22 | and filing. If the Department does not timely respond to any | ||||||
23 | petition or the submission of additional information or | ||||||
24 | documentation after initial submission, then the petition | ||||||
25 | shall be deemed to be in sufficient form for acceptance and | ||||||
26 | filing and the Department shall proceed with the scheduling of |
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1 | a public hearing. The Department, after public hearing, shall | ||||||
2 | either grant or deny the petition within 20 working days after | ||||||
3 | the conclusion of the hearing. | ||||||
4 | (Source: P.A. 97-1136, eff. 1-1-13.)
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5 | Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect September | ||||||
6 | 1, 2014.
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